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:
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

On Apr 5, 9:50 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:
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

What are the common issues with the crimp-on connectors? I've been
using them here and there mainly because they are cheap. So far I
haven't really noticed any problems, but maybe it's because I haven't
used anything else to see an improvement. Thanks!!

--
Chris

wrote in message
oups.com...

What are the common issues with the crimp-on connectors? I've been
using them here and there mainly because they are cheap. So far I
haven't really noticed any problems, but maybe it's because I haven't
used anything else to see an improvement. Thanks!!

it not that they are so bad it just that the compression fittings are the
way to go.

On 6 Apr 2007 08:29:32 -0400, (Al Dykes) wrote:

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.

The compression fitting have a captive sleeve on the cable end of the
fitting. You strip the cable more or less as usual, slide it up
through the connector as you would with a crimp type. But then the
compression tool presses the sleeve up into the body of the connector.
The inside is tapered, so when the sleeve is pressed in, it compresses
against the cable, locking it tightly into place.

Here's a pictu

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.as...=411&sku=41077

They are also available with seals for water resistant outdoor use.
(In fact, the picture is of a connector with seals.)

Here's what the tool looks like:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.as...1403&sku=38011

Try 'em, you'll like 'em!

Paul

Twist-in connectors do not provide the shielding that a CATV system needs.
They are a HUGE source of ingress/egress, and the return loss is rather low
(the higher the better. Hex-crimp fittings have ~18dB, and compression are
30dB). Plus, It actually takes more time to put on a twist-on connector
that it does to put on a real connector.

Compression fittings may cost a little more for the connector and the
installation tools, but cost less in labor (time) to install. Not to
mention the materials/time spent in replacing the twist-on connectors with
real ones when they don't work properly.

--

CIAO!

Ed N.


"Jerry Martes" wrote in message
news:c6jRh.4844$_43.4338@trnddc02...

"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

In article ,
Paul Franklin wrote:
On 6 Apr 2007 08:29:32 -0400, (Al Dykes) wrote:

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.

The compression fitting have a captive sleeve on the cable end of the
fitting. You strip the cable more or less as usual, slide it up
through the connector as you would with a crimp type. But then the
compression tool presses the sleeve up into the body of the connector.
The inside is tapered, so when the sleeve is pressed in, it compresses
against the cable, locking it tightly into place.

Here's a pictu

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.as...=411&sku=41077

They are also available with seals for water resistant outdoor use.
(In fact, the picture is of a connector with seals.)

Here's what the tool looks like:

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.as...1403&sku=38011

Try 'em, you'll like 'em!

Paul



OK. It's a large, well engineered crimp tool and fitting.

I actually have tools, some cable, and a bag of ends that fit that
description. I just considered them standard tools and parts for
serious work. They came to me by accident. I was the "customer" for a
a pre-ethernet LAN built on CATV plant that spanned a 40 floor
building.
--
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

Hex-crimp fittings have 6 points where the connector is pinched into the
cable creating small impedance mismatches. Impedance mismatch creates
reflection. If the reflection(s) is(are) severe enough, whatever is at
that(those) frequency (frequencies) may not work. Plus, their return loss
is a fair amount lower than that of compression connectors (~18dB as
compared to 30dB).

I've replaced hex-crimp fittings on DirecTV systems because of hex-crimp
fittings which were causing some channels to not work.

Go to http://www.cencom94.com/Download.html and check out DBS Tutorial.
Pages 12 & 13 illustrates why you don't want to use hex-crimp fittings.

--

CIAO!

Ed N.


wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 5, 9:50 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:
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

What are the common issues with the crimp-on connectors? I've been
using them here and there mainly because they are cheap. So far I
haven't really noticed any problems, but maybe it's because I haven't
used anything else to see an improvement. Thanks!!

--
Chris

On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 08:21:15 -0600, "Ed Nielsen"
wrote:

Twist-in connectors do not provide the shielding that a CATV system needs.
They are a HUGE source of ingress/egress, and the return loss is rather low
(the higher the better. Hex-crimp fittings have ~18dB, and compression are
30dB). Plus, It actually takes more time to put on a twist-on connector
that it does to put on a real connector.

Compression fittings may cost a little more for the connector and the
installation tools, but cost less in labor (time) to install. Not to
mention the materials/time spent in replacing the twist-on connectors with
real ones when they don't work properly.

A couple of years ago the house took a lightning strike that I deduced
damaged cabling provided by the cable system(Time-Warner). I removed
my additions and placed a service call. When the truck arrived I
showed them where I had dropped my stuff off the system and restored
their original configuration. After they fixed the connector arc-overs
they ran there signal leakage test. Then they requested I restore my
alterations and one by one they chased down ALL of the twist-on and
crimp connections that I had made and replaced them with their own
compression fittings. The results were better picture quality, zero RF
influence from the Ham Xmtr, and higher speed Internet.

I think I better invest in the connectors and tool to keep things
tidy.

John Ferrell W8CCW
"Life is easier if you learn to
plow around the stumps"

In article ,
John Ferrell wrote:
On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 08:21:15 -0600, "Ed Nielsen"
wrote:

Twist-in connectors do not provide the shielding that a CATV system needs.
They are a HUGE source of ingress/egress, and the return loss is rather low
(the higher the better. Hex-crimp fittings have ~18dB, and compression are
30dB). Plus, It actually takes more time to put on a twist-on connector
that it does to put on a real connector.

Compression fittings may cost a little more for the connector and the
installation tools, but cost less in labor (time) to install. Not to
mention the materials/time spent in replacing the twist-on connectors with
real ones when they don't work properly.

A couple of years ago the house took a lightning strike that I deduced
damaged cabling provided by the cable system(Time-Warner). I removed
my additions and placed a service call. When the truck arrived I
showed them where I had dropped my stuff off the system and restored
their original configuration. After they fixed the connector arc-overs
they ran there signal leakage test. Then they requested I restore my
alterations and one by one they chased down ALL of the twist-on and
crimp connections that I had made and replaced them with their own
compression fittings. The results were better picture quality, zero RF
influence from the Ham Xmtr, and higher speed Internet.

I think I better invest in the connectors and tool to keep things
tidy.


The 40-floor internal CATV system I was a customer of was very close
to, and LOS with the Empire State Building antennas. The cabling
engineers described the CATV system as one big antenna. Problems that
poped up tended to be a bad connector or a grounding problem. It wasa
data lan so if there was a problem we couldn't just tell theuser to
watch the ghosts until we got around to fixing it.





--
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

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:11:13 GMT, John Ferrell
wrote:

On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 08:21:15 -0600, "Ed Nielsen"
wrote:

Twist-in connectors do not provide the shielding that a CATV system needs.
They are a HUGE source of ingress/egress, and the return loss is rather low
(the higher the better. Hex-crimp fittings have ~18dB, and compression are
30dB). Plus, It actually takes more time to put on a twist-on connector
that it does to put on a real connector.

Compression fittings may cost a little more for the connector and the
installation tools, but cost less in labor (time) to install. Not to
mention the materials/time spent in replacing the twist-on connectors with
real ones when they don't work properly.

A couple of years ago the house took a lightning strike that I deduced
damaged cabling provided by the cable system(Time-Warner). I removed
my additions and placed a service call. When the truck arrived I
showed them where I had dropped my stuff off the system and restored
their original configuration. After they fixed the connector arc-overs
they ran there signal leakage test. Then they requested I restore my
alterations and one by one they chased down ALL of the twist-on and
crimp connections that I had made and replaced them with their own
compression fittings. The results were better picture quality, zero RF
influence from the Ham Xmtr, and higher speed Internet.

I think I better invest in the connectors and tool to keep things
tidy.

You'll wonder how you ever did without them. Ebay is a great source
for compression fittings. Keyword Digicon. I got my first tool for
Thomas and Betts and the T&B system. When the fittings became pricey,
I switched to Digicons. Since I didn't want to convert my tool all
the time, I grabbed an LCCT tool and fittings. My guy in the Detroit
area (about 50 miles away) sells me a few hundred at a time. I paid
$108 with shipping for 300 the last time and had them in about 30
hours from the time I placed my order.

Carl






John Ferrell W8CCW
"Life is easier if you learn to
plow around the stumps"

"Ed Nielsen" wrote in message
. ..
Hex-crimp fittings have 6 points where the connector is pinched into the
cable creating small impedance mismatches. Impedance mismatch creates
reflection. If the reflection(s) is(are) severe enough, whatever is at
that(those) frequency (frequencies) may not work. Plus, their return loss
is a fair amount lower than that of compression connectors (~18dB as
compared to 30dB).

I've replaced hex-crimp fittings on DirecTV systems because of hex-crimp
fittings which were causing some channels to not work.



Funny how it works where a bad connector will blank out just a couple of
cable chanels. First time this hapened to me about 20 years ago the cable
guy came out and said it was a bad connection. Almost laughed at him,but he
replaced the connector at the outside of the house and it cleared right up.

Carl, is ebay item 320099467506 along the right lines?

--
Steve Barker




"Carl Navarro" wrote in message
...

You'll wonder how you ever did without them. Ebay is a great source
for compression fittings. Keyword Digicon. I got my first tool for
Thomas and Betts and the T&B system. When the fittings became pricey,
I switched to Digicons. Since I didn't want to convert my tool all
the time, I grabbed an LCCT tool and fittings. My guy in the Detroit
area (about 50 miles away) sells me a few hundred at a time. I paid
$108 with shipping for 300 the last time and had them in about 30
hours from the time I placed my order.

Carl






John Ferrell W8CCW
"Life is easier if you learn to
plow around the stumps"

Belden and Commscope are the top names in CATV/Satellite cables and
compression connectors are now the standard for all satellite installs.
T&B Snap-N Seal is considered the best of the compression connectors.
The two big satellite companies not only spec compression connectors but
also solid copper center conductor RG-6 due to the lower DC resistance
for powering equipment down the cable. If you use say, Belden 7915A
cable and T&B SNS1P6U connectors, nobody can ever say you skimped.
Bob


szilagyic wrote:
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

Don't forget Times Fiber at the top right there with CommScope and Belden.
As far as compression fittings, Snap-N-Seal definitely is in the top group,
right along with PCT, Digicon, Gilbert, & PPC. The whole shebang started
with PPC.

--

CIAO!

Ed N.


"Bob" wrote in message
news
Belden and Commscope are the top names in CATV/Satellite cables and
compression connectors are now the standard for all satellite installs.
T&B Snap-N Seal is considered the best of the compression connectors. The
two big satellite companies not only spec compression connectors but also
solid copper center conductor RG-6 due to the lower DC resistance for
powering equipment down the cable. If you use say, Belden 7915A cable and
T&B SNS1P6U connectors, nobody can ever say you skimped.
Bob


szilagyic wrote:
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

On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 15:58:29 -0500, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Carl, is ebay item 320099467506 along the right lines?



Yep, that's the tool, here's the reference to my Detroit Connection

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-DIGICON-DS6Q...QQcmdZViewItem

Carl

Times make great cable but I don’t see any used in CATV or direct to
home satellite installs in my area. If you get the Ripley CAT Universal
tool for the RG-6 compression connectors it will fit all the brands you
mention.
Bob


Ed Nielsen wrote:
Don't forget Times Fiber at the top right there with CommScope and
Belden. As far as compression fittings, Snap-N-Seal definitely is in the
top group, right along with PCT, Digicon, Gilbert, & PPC. The whole
shebang started with PPC.

cool. I already got the green connector today from another seller $16 for a
hundred plus $16 to ship G . Still a deal. Going after the tool now.

thanks for the info.


--
Steve Barker




"Carl Navarro" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 15:58:29 -0500, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Carl, is ebay item 320099467506 along the right lines?



Yep, that's the tool, here's the reference to my Detroit Connection

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-DIGICON-DS6Q...QQcmdZViewItem

Carl

I started using Times when I started in cable in '85. Have used the other 2
aforementioned brands, but still spec Times for our systems.

That tool, as well as three of the ones listed here
http://www.cencom94.com/gpage.html2.html (CT-FBR, PCT-DRS-CT, &
PCT-DRS-CT-AS), Cable Pro's LCCT-1, and many others fit those fittings.
Only sort of exception in that group of fittings is PPC. They originally
started out with the EX Series, which is about 19mm in length. Then others
started making compression connectors that were 21mm in length, which is
what the majority of them are. A few years ago, AT&T Broadband pushed PPC
into making a 21mm fitting, which they labeled EXXL. PCT also has a
Universal connector (TRS Series) which is a different length.
--

CIAO!

Ed N.


"Bob" wrote in message
t...
Times make great cable but I don’t see any used in CATV or direct to home
satellite installs in my area. If you get the Ripley CAT Universal tool
for the RG-6 compression connectors it will fit all the brands you
mention.
Bob


Ed Nielsen wrote:
Don't forget Times Fiber at the top right there with CommScope and
Belden. As far as compression fittings, Snap-N-Seal definitely is in the
top group, right along with PCT, Digicon, Gilbert, & PPC. The whole
shebang started with PPC.

On Apr 6, 2:27 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"Ed Nielsen" wrote in message

. ..

Hex-crimp fittings have 6 points where the connector is pinched into the
cable creating small impedance mismatches. Impedance mismatch creates
reflection. If the reflection(s) is(are) severe enough, whatever is at
that(those) frequency (frequencies) may not work. Plus, their return loss
is a fair amount lower than that of compression connectors (~18dB as
compared to 30dB).

I've replaced hex-crimp fittings on DirecTV systems because of hex-crimp
fittings which were causing some channels to not work.

Funny how it works where a bad connector will blank out just a couple of
cable chanels. First time this hapened to me about 20 years ago the cable
guy came out and said it was a bad connection. Almost laughed at him,but he
replaced the connector at the outside of the house and it cleared right up.


Very good info. The interesting thing is since my original post I
went and bought a 500 ft roll of Carol Brand RG-6 QS from Home Depot,
and made some cables with the crimp-on connectors I already had. When
I swapped these new RG-6 QS cables with ones I made a while back with
regular RG-6 with the same crimp-on connectors, I got surprisingly
horrible results. A couple of analog channels don't come in at all
(ch 28 and 56), where they used to come in with a fairly good picture.
Yet other channels on lower frequencies, such as VHF appear to be the
same. I inspected the connectors and they appear to be OK, but I am
guessing there must be an issue with these connectors and the RG-6 QS,
where it's causing the issues that were described above with loss. Is
this possible?? It seems to be affecting various UHF channels (ch.
28, 56, 62).

Thank you very much for the help.

--
Chris

In message .com,
writes
On Apr 6, 2:27 pm, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"Ed Nielsen" wrote in message

. ..

Hex-crimp fittings have 6 points where the connector is pinched into the
cable creating small impedance mismatches. Impedance mismatch creates
reflection. If the reflection(s) is(are) severe enough, whatever is at
that(those) frequency (frequencies) may not work. Plus, their return loss
is a fair amount lower than that of compression connectors (~18dB as
compared to 30dB).

I've replaced hex-crimp fittings on DirecTV systems because of hex-crimp
fittings which were causing some channels to not work.

Funny how it works where a bad connector will blank out just a couple of
cable chanels. First time this hapened to me about 20 years ago the cable
guy came out and said it was a bad connection. Almost laughed at him,but he
replaced the connector at the outside of the house and it cleared right up.


Very good info. The interesting thing is since my original post I
went and bought a 500 ft roll of Carol Brand RG-6 QS from Home Depot,
and made some cables with the crimp-on connectors I already had. When
I swapped these new RG-6 QS cables with ones I made a while back with
regular RG-6 with the same crimp-on connectors, I got surprisingly
horrible results. A couple of analog channels don't come in at all
(ch 28 and 56), where they used to come in with a fairly good picture.
Yet other channels on lower frequencies, such as VHF appear to be the
same. I inspected the connectors and they appear to be OK, but I am
guessing there must be an issue with these connectors and the RG-6 QS,
where it's causing the issues that were described above with loss. Is
this possible?? It seems to be affecting various UHF channels (ch.
28, 56, 62).

Thank you very much for the help.

--
Chris


I've worked in the cable TV industry for nearly 44 years, and have NEVER
found that a certain type of male F-connector is, in itself, responsible
for 'horrible results' in terms of RF throughput. Provided that (a) the
shell makes good contact with a few strands of the braid, (b) you
haven't managed to wind a strand of the braid around the inner
conductor, and (c) you haven't left a thin film of the dielectric on the
surface of the inner conductor (yes, I've done all of these!), the
connector WILL appear to work normally. All that suffers is the
screening effectiveness and mechanical reliability.

Regarding whether some male connectors create a significant mismatch due
to crushing of the dielectric, even if this does happen, is not going to
be significant in normal use (up to at least 2GHz) until the outer
conductor is almost touching the inner. You can easily prove this for
yourself by looking at the RF throughput of a piece of coax, while
progressively crushing it with a large pair of pliers.

The thing which causes the most noticeable impedance mismatch is
normally the female part of the connection. Connectors with a
'duck-bill' inner (two parallel fingers) tend to be more capacitive than
those with a 'tulip' (three or four fingers). They are also likely to
make a less reliable ohmic contact.

Don't get me wrong. I do not advocate sloppy practices when fitting
connectors. In the UK, the compression and 'snap-and-seal' types are the
de facto standard. However, I would not hesitate to use crimp or
screw-on types for home use, provided you know how to fit them properly.
And I do.

Ian.
--

At a trade show several years ago, a vendor demonstrated the effects
stapling cables could have on signal transmission. He took a VCR, a ch. 3
modulator and a piece of drop cable and attached the cable to a piece of
wood utilizing a regular staple gun that you buy at any home improvement
store. Used the gun as most people would, and inspection of the cable
showed it to be fine (undamaged). By the seventeenth staple, ch. 3 was
completely gone..

It doesn't take major crushing to create mismatch, and as to whether it is
significant sort of depends on what happens to be trying to get through at
the particular point where the mismatch occurs.


At http://www.cencom94.com/gpage.html9.html, there is a picture of a sweep
trace of some cable with hex-crimp connectors (gotta scroll down a little).
--

CIAO!

Ed N.


"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
...
Regarding whether some male connectors create a significant mismatch due
to crushing of the dielectric, even if this does happen, is not going to
be significant in normal use (up to at least 2GHz) until the outer
conductor is almost touching the inner. You can easily prove this for
yourself by looking at the RF throughput of a piece of coax, while
progressively crushing it with a large pair of pliers.

Ian.
--

Ed Nielsen wrote:
At a trade show several years ago, a vendor demonstrated the effects
stapling cables could have on signal transmission. He took a VCR, a ch.
3 modulator and a piece of drop cable and attached the cable to a piece
of wood utilizing a regular staple gun that you buy at any home
improvement store. Used the gun as most people would, and inspection of
the cable showed it to be fine (undamaged). By the seventeenth staple,
ch. 3 was completely gone..

It doesn't take major crushing to create mismatch, and as to whether it
is significant sort of depends on what happens to be trying to get
through at the particular point where the mismatch occurs.

A periodically repeating mismatch, such as the one produced by the
staple demonstration, can cause extreme effects as the demonstration
showed. This is a very much worse case than a single mismatch.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

In message , Roy Lewallen
writes
Ed Nielsen wrote:
At a trade show several years ago, a vendor demonstrated the effects
stapling cables could have on signal transmission. He took a VCR, a
ch. 3 modulator and a piece of drop cable and attached the cable to a
piece of wood utilizing a regular staple gun that you buy at any home
improvement store. Used the gun as most people would, and inspection
of the cable showed it to be fine (undamaged). By the seventeenth
staple, ch. 3 was completely gone..
It doesn't take major crushing to create mismatch, and as to whether
it is significant sort of depends on what happens to be trying to get
through at the particular point where the mismatch occurs.

A periodically repeating mismatch, such as the one produced by the
staple demonstration, can cause extreme effects as the demonstration
showed. This is a very much worse case than a single mismatch.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Stapling - or any other small mismatch repeated at regular intervals -
can indeed produce a severe structural mismatch (with the associated
suckout) at frequencies where the intervals are one wavelength, and
multiples thereof. However, the presence of a one-off connector where
the match is distinctly questionable will usually go completely
un-noticed (except to the most discerning of engineers). I still
maintain that any problem will be because there is no proper continuity
through the connector, or possibly an inner-to-outer short (maybe
partial). I must admit, I haven't used an RF TDR in earnest for over 20
years. I have found that, if it buzzes out OK at DC, it will generally
be OK at RF.
Ian.
--

"Ed Nielsen" writes:

It doesn't take major crushing to create mismatch, and as to whether it is
significant sort of depends on what happens to be trying to get through at
the particular point where the mismatch occurs.

At http://www.cencom94.com/gpage.html9.html, there is a picture of a sweep
trace of some cable with hex-crimp connectors (gotta scroll down a little).

That particular sweep seems to be from a highrise building which had hex
crimp connectors every 25 feet all the way up the building. A single
hex crimp, or a bunch of hex crimps spaced irregularly, would have far
less effect. So whether this matters partly depends on whether you're
wiring an apartment building or just a house.

Dave

With all due respect, that's a rather frightening position to maintain.
I've had to replace both .750 and .500 because of dings. Complaints were
that certain channels were out. A couple of years ago I had to replace a 4
foot piece of RG 6 inside a wall (splitter to outlet) that had the
attenuation of a 100 foot cable. 950MHz to 1450MHz worked (though not near
as well as it should have), but the rest of the bandwidth up to 2200MHz
didn't work at all. Electricians had greatly exceeded the minimum bend
radius when they made up the outlet.

DC does not necessarily mean that RF will work, nor does RF necessarily mean
that DC will work.

--

CIAO!

Ed N.


"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
...
years. I have found that, if it buzzes out OK at DC, it will generally be
OK at RF.
Ian.
--

In message , Ed Nielsen
writes

"Ian Jackson" wrote in
message ...
years. I have found that, if it buzzes out OK at DC, it will
generally be
OK at RF.
Ian.

With all due respect, that's a rather frightening position to maintain.
I've had to replace both .750 and .500 because of dings. Complaints
were that certain channels were out. A couple of years ago I had to
replace a 4 foot piece of RG 6 inside a wall (splitter to outlet) that
had the attenuation of a 100 foot cable. 950MHz to 1450MHz worked
(though not near as well as it should have), but the rest of the
bandwidth up to 2200MHz didn't work at all. Electricians had greatly
exceeded the minimum bend radius when they made up the outlet.

DC does not necessarily mean that RF will work, nor does RF necessarily
mean that DC will work.


Ed, I'm sure what you say is true. However, one-off moderate mismatches
(or even repeated moderate mismatches which are buffered by
attenuation), such as might be caused by the use of poor quality
connectors, should not cause a failure of service unless the service
would have been marginal if the connectors were good.

As for bends in cable, if you can, tie a loose knot in a piece of coax,
run a wideband sweep through it, and observe the output. Now pull the
knot tight. Let me know when the output starts to be affected.

Let me say again, I'm not advocating sloppy practices and poor
workmanship. Manufacturers' specs and industry standards should always
be adhered to. This avoids endless truck-rolls (God - I hate that
Americanism!) to the 1% of customers where some bright spark has cut one
corner too many. But, especially in the amateur world, we should maybe
not worry too much about using things which industry has rejected, often
for reasons which have absolutely no impact on what we are trying to do.
So I'm NOT throwing out my stash of crimp and screw-on F-connectors!

Ian.
--

Let's just agree to disagree. We both hold positions based, at least in
part, on many years of experiences.

I did not say that hex-crimp fittings WILL cause issues, I said they COULD
cause issues.

As for the knot/sweep thing; no need. I have already seen the results.

--

CIAO!

Ed N.


"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
...
In message , Ed Nielsen
writes

"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
...
years. I have found that, if it buzzes out OK at DC, it will
generally be
OK at RF.
Ian.

With all due respect, that's a rather frightening position to maintain.
I've had to replace both .750 and .500 because of dings. Complaints were
that certain channels were out. A couple of years ago I had to replace a
4 foot piece of RG 6 inside a wall (splitter to outlet) that had the
attenuation of a 100 foot cable. 950MHz to 1450MHz worked (though not
near as well as it should have), but the rest of the bandwidth up to
2200MHz didn't work at all. Electricians had greatly exceeded the minimum
bend radius when they made up the outlet.

DC does not necessarily mean that RF will work, nor does RF necessarily
mean that DC will work.


Ed, I'm sure what you say is true. However, one-off moderate mismatches
(or even repeated moderate mismatches which are buffered by attenuation),
such as might be caused by the use of poor quality connectors, should not
cause a failure of service unless the service would have been marginal if
the connectors were good.

As for bends in cable, if you can, tie a loose knot in a piece of coax,
run a wideband sweep through it, and observe the output. Now pull the knot
tight. Let me know when the output starts to be affected.

Let me say again, I'm not advocating sloppy practices and poor
workmanship. Manufacturers' specs and industry standards should always be
adhered to. This avoids endless truck-rolls (God - I hate that
Americanism!) to the 1% of customers where some bright spark has cut one
corner too many. But, especially in the amateur world, we should maybe not
worry too much about using things which industry has rejected, often for
reasons which have absolutely no impact on what we are trying to do. So
I'm NOT throwing out my stash of crimp and screw-on F-connectors!

Ian.
--

On Apr 5, 12:53 pm, "szilagyic" wrote:
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

I'm almost certain that I'm out of my league (having read some of the
previous replies), but for some reason feel bound to input my 2 cents
worth (unsure of equivalent value in the mother country United
Kingdom).

1). periodicity, as I understand it, is more likely to "suck out" ONE
particular channel frequency, not several. On the surface, it sounds
more like ingress, or some kind of beat.

2). say what you will about crimp and screw on connectors, but the
fact is that I make a living as a "noise / leakage" technician, and
replace a LOT of them having tracked them down with a spectrum
analyzer. Lot's of home builders and home owners use them because
they're less expensive, but not installed correctly. Perhaps a trained
and experienced installer can put them on properly, but those are few
and far between ........ screw on connectors especially SUCK in my
humble opinion.

3). I'm wondering about perhaps a "store bought" / inferior brand of
splitter that might also have been replaced along with the connectors,
or perhaps a cross-threaded, corroded (or otherwise inferior)
connection, that might be creating the problem. Though unlikely, might
be bad cable (even if it IS new "brand name" wire .... stranger things
have happened).

Subtle problem, more info is needed. Ideally, a good tech with the
proper equipment could look at it and track down the problem. In here,
it's all speculation and educated guesses.

I only have 30 + yrs experience in the cable industry, so I'm
apparently the FNG in this thread.

Good luck.

On Apr 7, 12:38 am, "Steve Barker"
wrote:
cool. I already got the green connector today from another seller $16 for a
hundred plus $16 to ship G . Still a deal. Going after the tool now.

thanks for the info.

--
Steve Barker

"Carl Navarro" wrote in message

...

On Fri, 6 Apr 2007 15:58:29 -0500, "Steve Barker"
wrote:

Carl, is ebay item 320099467506 along the right lines?

Yep, that's the tool, here's the reference to my Detroit Connection

http://cgi.ebay.com/100-DIGICON-DS6Q...TORS-FOR-RG6-Q...

Carl


I too purchased some of the Digicon fittings (DS6 and DS6Q) on Ebay.
Have already replaced some of my crimp-on fittings on some older RG-6
and also the new RG-6 QS, and noticed some signal improvement on a few
stations. They have completely eliminated some minor interference we
were seeing from our 30 db amp. These are great fittings, especially
for the price.

Just wanted to mention that I also got the Zenith ZDS-5061 compression
tool for $15 on Ebay, and it works great with these fittings.

Thanks again for all of the info!

--
Chris

On Apr 7, 11:14 am, "Ed Nielsen" wrote:
I started using Times when I started in cable in '85. Have used the other 2
aforementioned brands, but still spec Times for our systems.

That tool, as well as three of the ones listed herehttp://www.cencom94.com/gpage.html2.html(CT-FBR, PCT-DRS-CT, &
PCT-DRS-CT-AS), Cable Pro's LCCT-1, and many others fit those fittings.
Only sort of exception in that group of fittings is PPC. They originally
started out with the EX Series, which is about 19mm in length. Then others
started making compression connectors that were 21mm in length, which is
what the majority of them are. A few years ago, AT&T Broadband pushed PPC
into making a 21mm fitting, which they labeled EXXL. PCT also has a
Universal connector (TRS Series) which is a different length.


There are many compression tols out here. The one that I started with
is the Ideal tool. It can be gotten in any Home Depot, but it cost far
more than it's worth. I think it is still about $58, and will only
crimp one size of compression connector. The other tool I bought is
designed like the one you reference above. It has orange handles, and
can crimp RCA, BNC, and all compression connectors. I paid in the mid
$30's for mine, but I've seen them priced as high as the Ideal tool as
well.
Someone at work gave me an old compression tool that was left at there
house by a cable tech many years ago. It is very old and similar to
the Ideal tool, but not as heavy. The tool I have can crimp the short
compression connectors, as well as the long ones My tool is made by
Stern, and says Perma-Seal-II on it. It has a cutter on it, and the
extra dies to make it work with BNC, and RCA are secured to the inside
of the handle by being screwed into the inside edge. It is a great
design.