Argosy has introduced Hyperflex, a new design of SMPTE camera cables and associated products for HD and Ultra HD. As its name suggests, the cable is designed to be flexible yet robust, contributing to a long, reliable working life.

With Hyperflex, the fibres and copper are enclosed in an outer jacket made of a custom-developed polyurethane rubberised compound. This provides a high degree of resilience and resistance to damage.

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The cables are available in any length

In particular, its flexible nature avoids the common problem with other SMPTE cables where voltage leaks due to slight damage to the copper conductors results in the CCU failing to connect to the camera.

“SMPTE cables, inherently, have a definite lifecycle,” said Josh Simons, technical director of Argosy. “Our customers told us that replacing cables was a significant ongoing operational expense and asked us to look at extending the working life of a camera cable. Working with our key supplier Draka that is what we have achieved.

“In the harsh environments that camera cables find themselves, Hyperflex is bombproof. Add to that the greatly reduced lifetime costs thanks to the resilience and Hyperflex delivers a valuable cut in operational costs.”

As well as the cables – available in any length to suit the user – Argosy also supplies a number of accessories. These include compact splice trays, suitable for outside broadcast trucks, and wall boxes.

“Compared to making repairs to fibres on the truck tailboard, which is very complex, with our splice trays a user with no specialist training can swap out a damaged end in 10 minutes,” according to Simons.