Electrical soft copper antenna
Electrical soft copper antennas are flexible antennas made from high-purity soft copper. They are widely used in communications, broadcasting, radar detection, navigation, and other fields, transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves. Their main body is typically composed of multiple strands of fine copper wire, wrapped in an insulating layer or protective sheath. This retains copper’s excellent conductivity for efficient signal transmission while maintaining excellent flexibility, allowing them to bend, fold, or stretch depending on the application scenario, adapting to complex installation environments. Whether used for signal transmission in mobile communication base stations, ground-based reception for satellite communications, or in communication systems for ships and aerospace equipment, electrical soft copper antennas are key components due to their reliable performance.
The production of electrical soft copper antennas requires numerous meticulous steps, including raw material processing, wire twisting, insulation coating, and forming calibration. First, electrolytic copper rods with a purity exceeding 99.95% are drawn into ultra-fine soft copper wire with a diameter of 0.05-0.2 mm. A specialized emulsion is used for lubrication and cooling during the drawing process to prevent scratches on the wire surface. The drawing speed is controlled at 8-15 m/s to ensure uniform wire size with a diameter tolerance of no more than ±0.005 mm. Hundreds or even thousands of fine copper strands are then braided into a conductor core using a regular twisting or bundle twisting method. The twist pitch is set at 8-12 times the conductor diameter to balance flexibility and structural stability, preventing breakage or loosening during use. Next, an insulating layer is applied to the outside of the conductor core. Common materials include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), or fluoroplastics. This is achieved through an extrusion molding process. The thickness of the insulation layer is controlled at 0.1-1 mm depending on the voltage level and environmental requirements, ensuring insulation performance without affecting the flexibility of the antenna. For antennas that need to be exposed outdoors, a weather-resistant protective cover such as neoprene or silicone rubber is also required to be added to the outside of the insulation layer to resist ultraviolet rays, wind and rain erosion. Finally, the antenna is shaped and calibrated using specialized equipment to ensure that it maintains stable electrical performance even in a bent state. The finished product must undergo rigorous inspections such as impedance testing and standing wave ratio testing to ensure compliance with communication standards.
The performance advantages of electrical soft copper antennas are closely related to their material properties and structural design. First, high conductivity is their core advantage. Made from high-purity soft copper, they achieve a conductivity exceeding 95% IACS (Insulated Electron Copper Arrays). This effectively reduces signal transmission losses, ensuring efficient transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves. This is particularly important in high-frequency communications, where it reduces signal attenuation. Second, their excellent flexibility allows them to adapt to a variety of complex installation configurations, such as wrapping around a bracket, bending at specific angles, or hanging overhead. The minimum bend radius can reach three times their diameter, and they maintain stable electrical performance after repeated bending, making them crucial for mobile devices or installations with limited space. Third, their excellent fatigue resistance ensures long-term reliability. The multi-strand twisted structure disperses stress under external forces such as wind and vibration, preventing fatigue fracture of individual copper strands and resulting in a service life of over 10 years. Fourth, their high customizability allows them to meet the needs of various frequencies, power levels, and environments by adjusting the number of copper strands, twisting method, insulation material, and antenna length. They can be manufactured to meet the needs of various frequencies, power levels, and environments, ranging from small device antennas measuring a few centimeters to large base station antennas measuring tens of meters.
Electrical soft copper antennas are used in a variety of applications. In mobile communications, omnidirectional and directional antennas in 4G/5G base stations often use electrical soft copper as a conductor. Its flexibility facilitates installation at various angles on towers, ensuring maximum signal coverage. In the broadcasting and television industry, these antennas are often used in transmitting antennas on television transmission towers and in the feed lines of parabolic antennas at satellite ground receiving stations. Their high conductivity ensures clear transmission of broadcast and television signals. In aerospace, aircraft and satellite communication antennas must be lightweight and vibration-resistant. Electrical soft copper antennas, through optimized structural design, meet these weight reduction requirements while maintaining stable operation in extreme environments. In marine communications, marine very high frequency (VHF) antennas and satellite communication antennas must withstand seawater corrosion and wind and wave impact, making electrical soft copper antennas coated with weather-resistant protective sleeves an ideal choice. In IoT devices, miniaturized electrical soft copper antennas are integrated into smart terminals to enable short-range wireless communication between devices. With the continuous advancement of communication technology, the performance requirements for antennas are increasing, and the application of electrical soft copper antennas in emerging fields such as millimeter-wave communications and satellite internet is gradually expanding.
Industry trends indicate that electrical soft copper antennas are moving towards higher frequencies, greater integration, and improved environmental resistance. To meet the high-frequency requirements of 5G and future 6G communications, thin-diameter, high-purity copper wire materials are being developed. By increasing copper purity to over 99.99% and optimizing the twisting structure, skin effect losses in high-frequency signals are reduced. Integrated design integrates antennas with components such as feeders and filters, reducing connection losses and improving overall system performance. For applications in extreme environments, new insulation materials and protective layers are being developed that are resistant to high and low temperatures, radiation, and chemical corrosion. For example, polytetrafluoroethylene insulation and fluororubber protective sleeves enable antennas to operate in temperatures ranging from -60°C to 200°C. Furthermore, green production concepts are driving the industry to adopt environmentally friendly insulation materials and recycling processes, reducing pollutant emissions during production and increasing copper recycling rates. In the future, with the comprehensive upgrade of communication networks and the emergence of new application scenarios, electrical soft copper antennas will continue to achieve breakthroughs in material innovation, structural optimization, and performance enhancements, providing more reliable information transmission.
