Hello,

I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable. I have seen posts from a few years back mentioning
Belden, Carol, and Commscope, but I just wanted to get an updated
list. I have seen Carol and Zenith brands at local stores recently,
are these any good? Mainly going to use this cable for running feeds
from HDTV & analog TV antennas in the walls of a house.

Thank you very much for all feedback,
--
Chris

"szilagyic" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,

I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable. I have seen posts from a few years back mentioning
Belden, Carol, and Commscope, but I just wanted to get an updated
list. I have seen Carol and Zenith brands at local stores recently,
are these any good? Mainly going to use this cable for running feeds
from HDTV & analog TV antennas in the walls of a house.

Thank you very much for all feedback,
--
Chris

Just do not worry about the cable; put 1/2" or preferably 3/4" ducts in the
walls.

Never place RF (or any) cable directly in concrete or masonry. If, for some
reason, you end up with a bad cable (soaked with rain water for instance)
you just have to pull it out and replace it. So you don't really need to go
for top brands and overrated and expensive cables.

If you intend to place short stretches (less than 10 or 15 meters) for the
VHF range, use RG6 with solid polyethylene dielectric. If you have to place
important lengths for UHF of satellite MF bands, use RG11 with polystyrene
or foam dielectric. I used train loads of Commscope cable without to many
problems. They gave weird names to their cables like 6ST??? for RG6 type and
11ST??? for RG11. Always use RF cable with copper clad core as they work
best with F type connectors. Stay away from jacketted cables with "flooding
compoud", even for underground placement.

Philo wrote:
"szilagyic" wrote in message
ups.com...

Hello,

I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable. I have seen posts from a few years back mentioning
Belden, Carol, and Commscope, but I just wanted to get an updated
list. I have seen Carol and Zenith brands at local stores recently,
are these any good? Mainly going to use this cable for running feeds
from HDTV & analog TV antennas in the walls of a house.

Thank you very much for all feedback,
--
Chris


Just do not worry about the cable; put 1/2" or preferably 3/4" ducts in the
walls.

Never place RF (or any) cable directly in concrete or masonry. If, for some
reason, you end up with a bad cable (soaked with rain water for instance)
you just have to pull it out and replace it. So you don't really need to go
for top brands and overrated and expensive cables.

Kind of depends on who's building your house. Conduit would be quite
unusual in most residential construction, and would be likely very
expensive. I suspect you could run 10 parallel runs of high quality
RG-6 without conduit and still cost a lot less than the conduit. Just
abandon a run if it fails. The labor for conduit installation
(especially if they are not already installing it) is high..

In most houses, the wiring is done after the structure is built, and the
electricians go through with a drill and spade bit and drill the studs
to run the cables. They have the flexibility to run the cable anywhere
convenient (for instance, around plumbing that is in the way).

You would want to remind the folks doing the installation that the
standard is to keep low and high voltage separated by more than 12", and
particularly (because it's not in the code) that you want decent bend
radii. Otherwise, they tend to string the cable and just pull it snug,
which will almost always bend it too tightly, particularly where they
come down from the attic through the header at the top of a wall.


There are flexible (plastic) conduits available which are somewhat
easier to route, but still, you run into a problem with drilling lots of
1.5" holes (to clear the od of the conduit) in studs that are only
3.5" wide. The inspectors don't like to see it, especially if all the
holes are lined up in a straight line. To them it starts to look like
the edge of a perforated ticket stub saying "tear here".



If you intend to place short stretches (less than 10 or 15 meters) for the
VHF range, use RG6 with solid polyethylene dielectric. If you have to place
important lengths for UHF of satellite MF bands, use RG11 with polystyrene
or foam dielectric. I used train loads of Commscope cable without to many
problems. They gave weird names to their cables like 6ST??? for RG6 type and
11ST??? for RG11. Always use RF cable with copper clad core as they work
best with F type connectors. Stay away from jacketted cables with "flooding
compoud", even for underground placement.

szilagyic wrote:
I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable. I have seen posts from a few years back mentioning
Belden, Carol, and Commscope, but I just wanted to get an updated
list. I have seen Carol and Zenith brands at local stores recently,
are these any good? Mainly going to use this cable for running feeds
from HDTV & analog TV antennas in the walls of a house.

My experience with a few Carol Cable products (including coax) has been
good. I would consider that the Zenith brand name appears to be rented
out to the best bidder these days (peruse a.h.r for recent stories about
Heath/Zenith products) and expect that the manufacturer spent most of the
cost of making that coax on the marketing of that coax.

--
Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.
That's why stereo has two channels.

clifto wrote:
szilagyic wrote:

I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable.

Belden 1694A is a nice cable, as is Canare L-5CFB.

I built a component cable set for my front projector out of the Canare
V3-5CFB, which is basically similar to the L-5CFB but has three cables
wrapped together in a single jacket. Works very well.

Chris

On Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:43:47 -0500, clifto wrote:

szilagyic wrote:
I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable. I have seen posts from a few years back mentioning
Belden, Carol, and Commscope, but I just wanted to get an updated
list. I have seen Carol and Zenith brands at local stores recently,
are these any good? Mainly going to use this cable for running feeds
from HDTV & analog TV antennas in the walls of a house.

My experience with a few Carol Cable products (including coax) has been
good. I would consider that the Zenith brand name appears to be rented
out to the best bidder these days (peruse a.h.r for recent stories about
Heath/Zenith products) and expect that the manufacturer spent most of the
cost of making that coax on the marketing of that coax.

Belden, Alpha and Carol are all good. As important as the cable are
the connectors. The compression type are the way to go, IMO. Invest
in a good QS stripper and a compression tool. Don't bother with crimp
tools and don't even think about twist-on.

HTH,

Paul

"Paul Franklin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:43:47 -0500, clifto wrote:

szilagyic wrote:
I am just trying to get an updated list of the top brands of RG-6 quad
shield coax cable. I have seen posts from a few years back mentioning
Belden, Carol, and Commscope, but I just wanted to get an updated
list. I have seen Carol and Zenith brands at local stores recently,
are these any good? Mainly going to use this cable for running feeds
from HDTV & analog TV antennas in the walls of a house.

My experience with a few Carol Cable products (including coax) has been
good. I would consider that the Zenith brand name appears to be rented
out to the best bidder these days (peruse a.h.r for recent stories about
Heath/Zenith products) and expect that the manufacturer spent most of the
cost of making that coax on the marketing of that coax.

Belden, Alpha and Carol are all good. As important as the cable are
the connectors. The compression type are the way to go, IMO. Invest
in a good QS stripper and a compression tool. Don't bother with crimp
tools and don't even think about twist-on.

HTH,

Paul


Hi Paul

What is the problem with "twist-ons"? I dont question your judgement,
but I have found them to be good for my 2 meter application.

Now I am considering doing some work at 2 GHz. This is a good time for me
to learn about cable and F connectors.

Thanks
Jerry

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 03:27:04 GMT, "Jerry Martes"
wrote:
snip
Belden, Alpha and Carol are all good. As important as the cable are
the connectors. The compression type are the way to go, IMO. Invest
in a good QS stripper and a compression tool. Don't bother with crimp
tools and don't even think about twist-on.

HTH,

Paul


Hi Paul

What is the problem with "twist-ons"? I dont question your judgement,
but I have found them to be good for my 2 meter application.

Now I am considering doing some work at 2 GHz. This is a good time for me
to learn about cable and F connectors.

Thanks
Jerry

Two reasons I don't like twist-ons. First, I don't find them to make
that great of a mechanical connection and can therefore be pulled off
the cable fairly easily.

Second, and I admit I don't have network analyzer plots to back this
up or anything, I've always found them to make a mess of the shields
when you twist them. That could lead to more of an impedance bump at
the connector than with other types. Probably not an issue at 2
meters, but more important as the frequency goes up.

Paul

In message , Paul Franklin
writes
On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 03:27:04 GMT, "Jerry Martes"
wrote:
snip
Belden, Alpha and Carol are all good. As important as the cable are
the connectors. The compression type are the way to go, IMO. Invest
in a good QS stripper and a compression tool. Don't bother with crimp
tools and don't even think about twist-on.

HTH,

Paul


Hi Paul

What is the problem with "twist-ons"? I dont question your judgement,
but I have found them to be good for my 2 meter application.

Now I am considering doing some work at 2 GHz. This is a good time for me
to learn about cable and F connectors.

Thanks
Jerry

Two reasons I don't like twist-ons. First, I don't find them to make
that great of a mechanical connection and can therefore be pulled off
the cable fairly easily.


If you can pull them off, you are probably not putting them on
correctly.
(Tip: Ignore instructions, and use cunning.)

Second, and I admit I don't have network analyzer plots to back this
up or anything, I've always found them to make a mess of the shields
when you twist them. That could lead to more of an impedance bump at
the connector than with other types. Probably not an issue at 2
meters, but more important as the frequency goes up.

While the connector thread will crush the outer somewhat (causing a very
short piece of low Zo), it's unlikely to be a problem in most
applications, even at 2GHz.

Ian.
--

In article ,
Paul Franklin wrote:
On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 03:27:04 GMT, "Jerry Martes"
wrote:
snip
Belden, Alpha and Carol are all good. As important as the cable are
the connectors. The compression type are the way to go, IMO. Invest
in a good QS stripper and a compression tool. Don't bother with crimp
tools and don't even think about twist-on.



What's the diff between a compression tool and a crimp tool?


OT: I inherited break/fix responsibility (billable by the hour) on a
business thinwire lan that was installed by a TV cable guy. He used
twist-ons and no crimp rings. That site paid my rent for a couple
years, until I eventually replaced all the connectors with proper
ends.

For that reason, I've always looked fondly on twist-ons, in a bizzare
way.

--
a d y k e s @ p a n i x . c o m
Don't blame me. I voted for Gore. A Proud signature since 2001