Feed line

Twin lead is used to connect FM radios and television receivers with their antennas, although it has been largely replaced in the latter application by coaxial cable, and as a feedline for low power transmitters such as amateur radio transmitters. It consists of two wire conductors running parallel to each other with a precisely constant spacing, molded in polyethylene insulating material in a flat ribbon-like cable. The distance between the two wires is small relative to the wavelength of the RF signal carried on the wire. Furthermore, the RF current in one wire is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the RF current on the other wire (it is inverted). Thus, if both wires radiate energy equally, the radiated energies will cancel each other out and there will be near zero radiation at any distance from the wire. Twin lead is also immune to external noise or RF energies. Any unwanted external noise or unwanted RF energy induced on the wire from external energy sources will be induced in both wires at the same time and equally in magnitude and direction. At the end of the transmission line the inverted signal wire is restored to normal (non-inverted now) and added back to the original non-inverted signal wire by the receiving circuitry. Any noise will now be equal in magnitude and opposite in direction and cancel itself out.

Twin lead is considered a Balanced line.

Coaxial cable feedline emerging from a VHF ground plane antenna.

Coaxial cable is probably the most widely used type of feedline, used for frequencies below the microwave (SHF) range. It consists of a wire center conductor and a braided or solid metallic "shield" conductor, usually copper or aluminum surrounding it. The center conductor is separated from the outer shield by a dielectric, usually plastic foam, to keep the separation between the two conductors precisely constant. The shield is covered with an outer plastic insulation jacket. In hard coax cable, used for high power transmitting applications like television transmitters, the shield is a rigid or flexible metal pipe containing a compressed gas such as nitrogen, and the internal conductor is held centered with periodic plastic spacers. It is a type of unbalanced line, the shield conductor is usually connected to electrical ground. Coaxial cable's advantage is that the enclosing shield conductor isolates the cable from external electromagnetic fields, so it is very immune to interference.

Complicated waveguide feed of a military radar

Waveguide is used at microwave (SHF) frequencies, at which other types of feedline have excessive power losses. A waveguide is a hollow metallic conductor or pipe. It can have a circular or square cross-section. Waveguide runs are often pressurized with nitrogen gas to keep moisture out. The RF signal travels through the pipe similarly to the way sound travels in a tube. The metal walls keep it from radiating energy outwards and also prevent interference from entering the waveguide. Because of the cost and maintenance waveguide entails, microwave antennas often have the output stage of the transmitter or the RF front end of the receiver located at the antenna, and the signal is fed to or from the rest of the transmitter or receiver at a lower frequency, using coaxial cable.

A waveguide is considered an unbalanced transmission line.

This is a comparison of a few common feed line characteristics. Larger lists are available in other articles, references, and directly from manufacturers.