CABLE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE 203 



The return tape, teredo tape, and fabric tape were applied from taping 

 heads, and the bedding jute and binding string were appHed from serving 

 heads in a tandem operation. Another set of tandem operations inchided 

 the appHcation of armor wires, outer jute layers and the appropriate 

 asphaltum-tar flooding compounds. In the American suppliers plant, 

 both sets of tandem operations were combined into one continuous pro- 

 duction line. In the British plant, these operations were divided into two 

 separate production lines. A view of the armoring machine area is shown 

 in Fig. 6. Following the application of the flooding compounds, whiting 

 is applied either at the take-up capstan on the armoring line or in the 

 storage tanks as the cable is coiled. 



To avoid core damage, the flow of hot flooding compound w^as stopped 

 when the cable in the armoring line was stopped. One of the major 

 sources of such stoppages was the reloading of the various applicating 

 heads. 



STORAGE AND TESTING 



In a continuous haul-off operation, the cable was conveyed from the 

 armoring machine to the tank house for storage. The cable was coiled 

 in spiral layers, called flakes. Each flake started at the outside rim of the 

 tank and worked toward the central cone. Several 37-nautical mile re- 

 peater sections were stored in each tank. 



Water was circulated through the cable tanks to establish uniform 

 temperature conditions throughout the mass of cable. When thermo- 

 couples located at appropriate points in the tank indicated that the cable 

 temperature was uniform, measurements were made of attenuation, in- 

 ternal impedance irregularities and terminal impedances, dc resistance, 

 dc capacitance, insulation resistance, and dielectric strength. 



To facilitate these tests without interrupting production, successive 

 repeater section lengths were placed in alternate tanks. By this pro- 

 cedure, a group of four or five sequential repeater section lengths, called 

 an "ocean block", was stored in two tanks. The ends of each repeater 

 section were brought out of the tank to a splicing location. After all tests 

 were completed and the specification requirements met, the repeaters 

 were spliced in. Testing of the ocean block for transmission performance 

 completed the manufacturing operations. 



RAW MATERIALS 



Stringent requirements were placed on all raw materials used in the 

 manufacture of the transatlantic cable. Detailed specifications covered 



