Quad Shield RG6

[StarvingForHDTV]

I was referred to get Quad Shield RG6 cable on another thread here.  What kind of tool do I need to put on the connectors?  It looks pretty expensive to buy them with connectors on.  Plus I want custom lengths.  An exact link to the right tool would be helpful.  Preferably one you have used, and know it works good.  I'm a newbie with this.  Also I need to know what types of connectors I will need.  

I'm hooking one end up to antenna with one of those two pronged wire things on one end, and the coax male on the other.  The other side of that cable will go to the back of my OTA HD receiver.

The other cable will hook up to Time Warner just inside my house, and then run to the back of my cable modem.

I'm not sure if any of these devices are supposed to be using RG6 connectors.  I'm a newbie.

Any detailed instructions would be greatly appreciated

Starving

[Greg Oman]

The subject was interesting, so I looked for your referral, it was this post I think:  http://www.milwaukeehdtv.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=14132#post14132

A few years ago I went through the same questions, before this board was up the Spot was helpful for this kind of stuff.  What I learned there was that the quad shield really is beneficial in high noise environments, not necessarily better in most cases (unless you occasionally fire up an arc welder or something).  I went with standard RG-6U.  Here's a page that shows one sample of the difference:

http://www.starkelectronic.com/jscoax.htm

What would be more important is to make sure that you've got an 18 guage inner conductor, that would be lower loss than a 20 or 22 guage inner.  Here's another helpful link:

http://www.pelco.com/support/videosecbasics/cableoverview.aspx

My 2 cents would be not to go the quad route unless you're really having noise problems.  If the run is short (say 30') your line losses probably are not that significant, and if the picture gets effected by blenders, and vacuums, the powerline may be carrying the offending noise, which some surge supressors can block with limited success.  If you've got a long run (like me, 100') then a more suitable solution is probably a pre-amp.  As suggested in the other thread, I just bought the 500' spool from HD, it was about $45 if I remember correctly.  Buy the heavier duty crimper, a bulk 50 of ends, and the coax stripper is worth the $12.  RS and HD sell all this stuff.  Then, you've got it and it's simple to make new cables as the system grows over time.

Hope this helps, I realize it's a little off topic from the question, but I wanted to clarify what problem you're trying solve with quad to justify the additional cost.

Greg O.

[Dan the Man]

Starving,

Working with RG6 is easy. I think the same goes for the quad cable, EXCEPT the quad cable uses a larger diameter connector becasue the cable is larger.

Honestly, I feel that a good RG6 cable is adequate, unless you think you are getting allot of RF interferance.

I bought a large spool of RG6 and the tool, connectors, etc. at Home Depot. The price is reasonable. I once did buy some quad at HD, but didn't have the right connectors. I tried to force the RG6 connectors on, and did get them to fit, but it was  real hassle. I don't remember seeing quad connectors at HD.

Using the stripper/crimper tool is a snap. If everyone knew how easy it was, people probably would stop calling TWC to come out to fix cables. Of course, the really hard part is fishing the cable  through the walls, but that's not that bad either.

[Paul S.]

Originally posted by Dan the Man

I bought a large spool of RG6 and the tool, connectors, etc. at Home Depot. The price is reasonable. I once did buy some quad at HD, but didn't have the right connectors. I tried to force the RG6 connectors on, and did get them to fit, but it was  real hassle. I don't remember seeing quad connectors at HD.

 

Could ya give me an idea of the price with about 10-15ft of RG6?
thanks!

[StarvingForHDTV]

Thank you everyone for your help.  I will head out to Home Depot.  Was the stripper/crimper one tool or two?  Maybe it will  be obvious when I get there.

Starving

[mhz40]

You could also try Marmax.  I think they are on 68th & Drexel.  I'm sure they carry better cable than the Home Depots of the world.  Make sure the coax has a foil shield + 80-90% braid.  IMO, RG6 for short runs is overkill.  If less than 100' stick with RG59.  RG6's center conductor is very f-a-t and can damage consumer RF input connectors if you are not carefull... so be carefull!:D

[Dan the Man]

The tool is a combo stripper and crimper. They have a few versions, but the basic models work just fine.

They work with RG6, RG59 and also this smaller size cable which is probably good for nothing.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Dan the Man, Thanks for the tip, I will get a combo tool.

Mhz40, In what way should I be careful when plugging the RG6 in to the back of my HDTV set top box?  Obviously I don't want to damage it.  Thank you for your advice.

Starving

[StarvingForHDTV]

Originally posted by mhz40
I'm sure they carry better cable than the Home Depots of the world.  Make sure the coax has a foil shield + 80-90% braid.

The specs for the Home Depot cable:  http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1274453849.1074788225@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccdeadckhkjhkdecgelceffdfgidgkj.0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=storehome/pg_storehome.jsp&MID=9876&pos=p02

Are different than what you are suggesting.  At least for this Quad Shield version it is.  I don't know if you would consider that to be "good enough".  To put things in perspective, everything is coming in right now on some Menard's RG59 that had the connectors already attached to the cable when I bought it.  The connectors are gold plated, but the whole cable and the connectors still look "cheap" to me.

I want to get nice cable lines, so I don't have to worry about them being an issue at all.  I also want custom lengths, since I am going through the trouble of re-doing it.

Starving

[Greg Oman]

I can look at my spool at home tonight, but seriously, it's not going to be that big of a deal unless you have very long runs.  All of the ATSC and NTSC channels are allocated in 6mhz increments starting at 54mhz (channel 2) up to 890mhz (channel 83).  In this bandwidth range, the line losses which are generally stated in db, increase as the frequency increases.  Meaning the signal from channel 4 for example (66-72mhz) will have less line loss than channel 58 (734-740mhz) over the identical cable.  In addition to the links above, ChannelMaster (one brand of antenna maker) has a document that I found very helpful, it's here:

http://www.channelmaster.com/pdf/AntInstallGuide.pdf

Since you appear to be coming from RG59, which is really only rated to about 900mhz (suitable for off air antenna), going to RG6 gives you the flexibility of carrying a satellite signal as well.  I presume that it's larger center conductor and slightly better shielding make the line losses in the 900-2200mhz range much less than if RG59 was used.

Again, I'd really only worry about quad shield if you have a very noisy environment.  For most installs, the Home Depot RG6u cable will be just fine.  Much of this stuff boils down to common physics, which has not changed much.  Focus on getting a good, clean install of the ends, that's more likely to be a source of problems in custom length cables.  Don't be afraid to experiment a little, the ends and bulk cable are not that expensive, you can buy a 500' spool, 100 ends, and the cutting and crimping tool for less than a 2 meter monster component video cable.  After a couple of attempts, you'll be making custom length cables like a pro.

Greg O.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Nice link Greg, thank you.  That's a good guide for antenna installation, and coax is covered as well.  I don't think my runs are that long.  Maybe 50-100 ft.  I'll probably end up with standard RG6

Thanks for the help,

Starving

[mhz40]

Originally posted by StarvingForHDTV
Dan the Man, Thanks for the tip, I will get a combo tool.

Mhz40, In what way should I be careful when plugging the RG6 in to the back of my HDTV set top box?  Obviously I don't want to damage it.  Thank you for your advice.

Starving

There is usually a plastic cap on the end of an F-connector barrel.  Depending on the design, the hole in the cap is too small for the diamater of the RG6.  Also, there are two tiny springs inside the f-barrel.  Once you shove in a relatively larger RG6 stinger into it, the springs sometimes can not spring back enough to accomodate smaller guage coax.  A work around is to use an F barrel and transition to a few feet of RG59 before connecting to your gear.
If you are feeding a TV or VCR, I'd be especially carefull.  If you are going into a satellite receiver, they usually design the unit to allow the larger stinger of the RG6.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Thank you mhz40.  I will be careful.  I understand what you are saying.  I'll pick up some RG59 connectors in case I need to make a tiny cable with those connectors on it.  I have the coupler type things (f barrels) already.  Good advice.

Starving