Updated November 13, 2011

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New for November 2011! When you are building up a waveguide experiment or system, you often end up with two waveguides that you need to connect, but you don't have a piece that is an exact fit between them, and you don't have the time and money to fabricate one. Fear not, there is flexible waveguide for just such an emergency. Sometimes referred to by the portmanteau "flexguide", there are two primary types of flexible waveguide. One is flexible and twistable, the other is non-twistable. A picture of the latter type is shown here:

Flexguide (non-twistable)

Can someone send us a picture of the twistable type of flex-guide?

This picture came from David, and appears in our Microwave Mortuary. It is no coincidence that flexguide is often the culprit in microwave failures, it is often used in rough environments.

Mil specs for flexguide

MIL-DTL-287 is the mil-spec for flexible waveguide:

MIL-DTL-287, Waveguide Assemblies, Flexible, Twistable and Nontwistable, General Specification

"This specification covers the general requirements for twistable and nontwistable, flexible waveguide assemblies. Twistable and nontwistable, flexible waveguide assemblies are intended for operation in the microwave region of the spectrum, to facilitate complex installations, provide for misalignments, and permit relative motion between connected components. They have satisfactory electrical as well as mechanical characteristics to supplement rigid wave-guide assemblies."