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I think the electrical engineers around here are going to suffer, now that that one is out.

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Physics and electrical engineers never did mix very well!

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I do enjoy reading your replies

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Well, at least it makes a change from posts about download speeds, although I doubt that many would share your interest!

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Well, at least it makes a change from posts about download speeds, although I doubt that many would share your interest!

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Just a passing interest

>Well, at least it makes a change from posts about download speeds, although I doubt that many would share your interest

Fascinating info, just don't start on about the quantum stuff, I find the behaviour at that level far too creepy.

Took a while for me to get to grips with "try it in the master socket".

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So the electrical signal travels through the insulation and is prevented from leaking out by the conductor. Point well made. I think the electrical engineers around here are going to suffer, now that that one is out.

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Strange though it may seem he is (sort-of) right so the sarcasm was in vain. DC principals don't apply to RF I'm afraid which doesn't need any conductors at all to propogate (or insulators either come to that). Need proof - just take a look at the sun (assuming it will one day be visible again if only for a fleeting instant) there's 93million miles of vacuum between your eyea and the sun but that didn't stop the light reaching you at all.

But to get the little amount of energy there is in a phone signal to where you need it, a wire/fibre is needed.

Yep it is. Furthermore the better the quality of the conductor the more signal will get through because the conductors do carry the signal. My response was to the commentry on coaxial cable.

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Strange though it may seem he is (sort-of) right so the sarcasm was in vain. DC principals don't apply to RF

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I didn't take the comment as sarcasm but rather as pointing out the irony of what actually happens (energy travelling in the insulation) compared to common understanding (energy travelling in the copper). The same applies to DC by the way - AC doesn't carry energy in a fundamentally different way to DC.

You still need the copper of course, where electricity is concerned. With electricity the electromagnetic wave wouldn't exist without the electron current flowing in the conductor (which creates the magnetic component of the field). Neither is the current alone sufficient - you also need a voltage difference between the conductors (which creates the electric component of the field, between but not within the conductors).

Googling around, there's quite a nice detailed non-mathematical explanation here for anybody that's interested.

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the conductors do carry the signal

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I disagree. The conductors are responsible for the signal being carried, but they don't actually carry it. See above.

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the conductors do carry the signal

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I disagree. The conductors are responsible for the signal being carried, but they don't actually carry it. See above.

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ADSL and voice telephony are a lot more complicated than I thought!

I will admit to thinking that the conductor actually carried the signal (whether it be voice or a broadband signal)

I was wrong but at least I know now.