On Thu, 06 Aug 2020 16:54:57 -0400, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Thu, 06 Aug 2020 01:01:10 -0400, micky
wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 5 Aug 2020 21:17:50 -0700, Bob F
wrote:
On 8/5/2020 2:11 PM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Wed, 05 Aug 2020 16:45:40 -0400, micky
wrote:
Monoprice warns me on the item page that shipping is delayed.
I'm pretty sure Lowes waited until I had paid to tell me that "Store
Pickup: Our stores are currently experiencing higher than normal volume.
Please wait to receive confirmation that your order is ready to be
picked up before heading to the store."
Their webpage was slow as a slow dog, too.
I forgot to say that maybe, even though they say delayed, it will be
ontime.
But 9 minutes after I got the confirmation email, I got two emails
saying it was indeed delayed. 8 DAYS.
One item was that roll of co-ax. The webpage said it had 1.
The other was someething they should have loads of.
HD had a delay on the first one too, but I feel like going back there.
Lowes is the last place I'd think of for coax, price/quality wise.
But then, I get mine at the local metal recycling place priced by the
pound. (RG59 quad shield) Got a couple hundred compression fittings
there too. Picked up ~500 foot roll of waterproof CAT6 there too for a
few bucks. Of course, I have to shop ahead for those prices. I'm set for
a long time.
I've been watching my mail orders recently and have seen much longer
times sitting in PO centers than I used to see.
I'm not in the mood to shop. I want to order online, park the car outf
front and have someone bring it out to me.
Turns out the webpage was too compicated for me and I did go in. Not
counting some social situations, probably everyone in Baltimore wears a
mask without being forced to, employees and customers, young and old,
black and white, plus I wore my gloves and mask.
The sell new fancy F-connnectors now,
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ideal-Om...-019/202825156
and
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-To...-606/203578626
Does the second one, and even the first, require the spcial new tool
they have
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-To...-048/202102678
Or can I still use the plliers type crimper that I already have (both
the $14 and the $40 ones)
**Some people of all sorts even wear the mask when walking alone on the
street or alone in the car!
Adding to Bob's reply, if you're going to use compression connectors, which
I strongly recommend, then you'll need the crimper tool that's specifically
made for that type of connector. I bought mine off of Ebay some 15 years
ago for $11, so HD's price of $22 seems high. I see that Amazon has a good
selection of tools, as does Ebay.
The actual connectors that I use are by a company called Thomas & Betts and
I picked those because all of the cable installers in my area swear by
them. They come in colors for different sizes of coax - I use the purple
ones for my RG6.
Also, +1 on Bob's recommendation to pick up a coax stripper. Technically,
you can use a razor blade or a knife, but the stripper makes it drop dead
easy to properly prepare the coax for use in a compression fitting.
Between the stripper, the compression connectors, and the compression
crimper, you can make patch cables as good as anything you can find.
I assume you're shopping at HD because it's more convenient, but you'll be
paying for that convenience. Ebay and Amazon will save you some money.
One last bit of advice. Watch for stingers. Those are stray strands of the
outer braided conductor that accidentally get pulled in to where they touch
the center conductor. If it happens, and it generally doesn't, just cut off
the connector and start again with a new one. Once compressed, you can't
reuse a compression connector.