"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2010 6:49 AM, ransley wrote:

I have a house that isnt wired for any cable, I contracted with
Comcast to instal cable in 5 rooms but canceled the instal because
nobody at comcast would give me any type of estimate on cost.

Maybe they didn't know what the guy who does the dowsing would charge. I
kid thee not, I watched a Comcast crew installing fiber optic cable six or
seven years back and they had a guy with dowsing rods going ahead of the
crew to spot water lines and so on.. I wish I'd taken some photos....

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:25:17 -0400, aemeijers wrote:

wrote:
(snip)
Surprised nobody has a wireless TV router aimed at consumer market.

Like:

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4318

OMFG! A thousand bucks?!?! All my TVs and stereos together barely add
up to that much money. Nice concept, but definitely still at the rich
early adapter stage. Maybe in a few years when it is down to a couple
hundred bucks, it might look like a viable alternative to stringing cable.

I didn't look at the price of that one. I've seen similar for $100, or so.
OTOH, I really haven't done much research.

Does anyone remember the story a couple months ago? Man needed a hole
through the exterior wall for his cable. Wife is on the other side,
waiting to pull cable. He got a gun, and shot a hole through the wall.

Sadly, he wasn't observing gun safety. Know what is your target, and
know what is behind your target.

Now, he's waiting to get out of prison, and his wife is dead.

Incidentally, you should be able to figure that question based on
knowledge of bullet performance. FMJ, look it up. What kind of hole
does it make. Versus JHP. What kind of hole do you need, for a wire?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"J O E" wrote in message
...

wrote:

I ran my cable under the house. Didn't have to
drill, specially through that stupid short shag carpeting. Jes put
a 44 mag round through the floor. Big fun and
worked great!

Kewl beans - Do I need to use a jacketed hollow-point round, or will
ball ammo work?

Joe

Baloon construction. Fireman's nightmare.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...

Not a big problem in many homes - just drop the cable town the center
wall to the basement, then back up to the first floor.

Up till recently Dish was a good value company. As of Feb 1st 2010
that all changed.

extra receivers fees were jacked up from 5 or 7 bucks to 17 bucks,
when you cancel service they charge you 15 bucks per receiver to mail
back their leased receiver, if your leased receiver breaks during the
time you have it they charge you for repairs.

their contract stated dish can change anything at any time. Channels
are dropped often if its your familys favorite your stuck, they dont
let you out of the contract and phone reps are no longer allowed to
give credits to make people happy.

After being a sub for 13 years I cancelled over the fee jacking my
bill went up 30 bucks overnight. I was a dealer for a while too, but
given the new dish wouldnt recommend them to anyone. they have gotten
greedy and the CEO admitted on his latest charlie chat were expensive
keep sending us your paychecks. He appeared impaired on the air and
the chat wasnt complete, it appears a technical person pulled the plug
after what was being said on air....

incidently gross profit was way up, but they churned 750,000 subs last
quarter and shrank by 19,000..... thats fewer subscribers people arent
stupid

Its very sad seeing a once great company being ruined by beancounters
greed, and management that appeared impaired on air......

Direct TVs extra receiver fees are still 5 bucks each, that
reasonable.

I went back to cable, and got a TIVO, that and comcast on demand works
great.

My bill was about 130 bucks a month for Dish before the fee jacking.

Now I am paying about 130 bucks for TV, Internet 16 meg down and a
unlimited phone line

Dishes greed got me shopping a dumb thing to do with any customer.

Of the 750,000 churned subs it cost them about $700 bucks each to
replace all those subs leaving

Dish stock will tank when the next quarters sub loss becomes
public.......

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:38:14 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:38:57 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

aemeijers wrote:
If the cable drop terminates at the facia, you can run cable on the
exterior to the target room and punch in through the wall. This
technique is, by far, the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to get
a cable to the target room. Whether you can stand the TV being against
the outside wall is
another story.


Fast, cheap, and easy /= the correct way, in most cases. Putting
wiring on the outside, aside from looking UGLY, leads to early
failures of cable and connections. And those wall-throughs are just
another place for water and bugs to get in. I often see them where
the installer didn't even bother to put a drip loop on the cable, or
made loops and turns so tight as to degrade the signal.

Huh?

"Looks ugly" - Well, there's that. You COULD do what architects do when they
make a mistake or something doesn't look right: cover it with ivy.

"Early failure" - There should be no early failure. You use the same cable
as the provider uses from the pole to your house. In fact there should be
LESS failure inasmuch as you can locate the run protected from the elements.

"Drip loop" and "water/bugs" - Can both be eliminated by the credo of this
group "Do it yourself and do it right."

I did raise the problem of having to locate the TV next to an exterior wall
if you wire from the outside, admittedly less than ideal. Now I'll throw the
ball back to you:

I suggest it will take more than "a couple of hours" to run a drop TO an
outside wall if you're trying to do so from the attic. You can't even GET to
the top plate.

Also consider putting a TV jack in a first-floor room via the attic.
Shudder.

Not a big problem in many homes - just drop the cable town the center
wall to the basement, then back up to the first floor.

Not to defend Bub, but large parts of US build houses on slabs- no
basement or crawl available. On houses like that, if attic isn't an
option for whatever reason, through-the-wall is the only practical (but
still ugly) option. But even if you do through-the wall, you can still
do it with SOME class- don't just staple it to the siding- tuck it under
something wherever you can. If the house has vinyl (which is ugly enough
all by itself), see if you can unzip one horizontal joint and hide it
behind that. If no way to do it discreetly on the house, I'd be tempted
to spring for burial-rated cable, and do a shovel-blade-deep slit around
the house to where the entry points were, and bring it up over the
exposed foundation in conduit (with sealer to eliminate bug entry path,
of course.)

But like I said- outside the house would always be my LAST choice for a
cable path. Along centerline of attic, and down through dead spaces or
in blind corner of closets. There is almost always some path to get to
where you want to go, even if it means pulling baseboards and tucking it
under drywall.

Surprised nobody has a wireless TV router aimed at consumer market.
There used to be a tv distribution unit that used single untwisted
pair #28 os finer cable to send the signal to wherever you wanted it.
VCR Rabbitt was ons such device = so THAT technology exists. Could run
that cable in under baseboards, fish it under carpet, and hide it in
corners very easily.

There IS wireless TV distribution available in the consumer market as
well - would have to do some searching, but I think X10 had something.
Then there is always the "powerline jack" technology - also a "smart
house" product - possibly also sold by X-10

Just checked - AITECH and X-10 both have product listed.
Then there is also TERK Leapfrog.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:14:40 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wrote:
On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:39:23 -0400, Kurt Ullman
wrote:

In article ,
"HeyBub" wrote:


If you want the cable to enter the attic then branch to five
different rooms through the walls, I can't offer a suggestion.
BUT...

So, someone Riddle me this.. If I put the dish in the right place
and run on cable to the attic where I have the signal splitter for
the cable, why can't I just distriute the dish that way?

You can, and should.
Assuming the cable is up to snuff - And more likely to be OK running
the dish on cable from cable provider than the other way around IF
there was a problem.

The OP used the magic word "dish."

You can do what you suggest with cable TV service (i.e., Comcast,
Time-Warner). You cannot do it with satellite TV (i.e., DirectTV or Dish
Network).

Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:27:16 -0700, "DGDevin"
wrote:


"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2010 6:49 AM, ransley wrote:

I have a house that isnt wired for any cable, I contracted with
Comcast to instal cable in 5 rooms but canceled the instal because
nobody at comcast would give me any type of estimate on cost.

Maybe they didn't know what the guy who does the dowsing would charge. I
kid thee not, I watched a Comcast crew installing fiber optic cable six or
seven years back and they had a guy with dowsing rods going ahead of the
crew to spot water lines and so on.. I wish I'd taken some photos....

Cost us 5 grand to have cable installed TO the building when we moved
the insurance office this spring - and I did all the interior wiring.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 19:30:50 -0400, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

Baloon construction. Fireman's nightmare.
Nope - not balloon. Balloon requires LOOONG studs. In my house, for
example, the center bearing wall is offset about 3 inches. To pull
cable from top to bottom I tied a 3/8" nut on a peice of fishline and
dropped it down the wall from the top.(beside a heat pipe) A bit of
swinging it around and it went down onto the main-floor wall, till it
hit the sill at floor level. Metal-detector type studd finder located
the nut - I punched a hole up from the basement into the wall, stuch a
mechanics magnetic pickup wand up the hole and pulled the nut down
through, tied on the cable and pulled it up.

About an hour's work, and no holes in the drywall.
Choosing a stud bay that had piping in it made sure I did not need to
contend with cross-ties (aka fire-stops)

wrote:
Up till recently Dish was a good value company. As of Feb 1st 2010
that all changed.

extra receivers fees were jacked up from 5 or 7 bucks to 17 bucks,
when you cancel service they charge you 15 bucks per receiver to mail
back their leased receiver, if your leased receiver breaks during the
time you have it they charge you for repairs.


[...]

Heh!

It's not just Dish.

After being a DirectTV customer for seven years, I dropped the service after
the local cable company made me be a better deal.

Three weeks after canceling service with DirectTV, I got a letter from their
lawyers demanding $5,500 for stealing signals!

I wrote them back, firmly declining their request for five thousand dollars.
I summarized my reasoned reply with:

"In view of your demand, I guess a blow-job is out of the question?"

Never heard another word.

wrote:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:14:40 -0500, "HeyBub"

The OP used the magic word "dish."

You can do what you suggest with cable TV service (i.e., Comcast,
Time-Warner). You cannot do it with satellite TV (i.e., DirectTV or
Dish Network).

Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

Because the wire from the satellite dish to the receiver does not carry only
RF signals. It also carries command information and about 50 volts. The
satellite dish is NOT just an antenna that grabs signals from the air and
conveys them to a receiver; it is an active electronic device.

Without proper additional electronics, tapping into the wire going to the
dish would be equivalent to multiple walkie-talkies on the same channel. Or
worse.

A better analogy might be a multi-station intercom system with everybody
having and open mike.

On 8/29/2010 9:49 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:27:16 -0700, "DGDevin"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2010 6:49 AM, ransley wrote:

I have a house that isnt wired for any cable, I contracted with
Comcast to instal cable in 5 rooms but canceled the instal because
nobody at comcast would give me any type of estimate on cost.

Maybe they didn't know what the guy who does the dowsing would charge. I
kid thee not, I watched a Comcast crew installing fiber optic cable six or
seven years back and they had a guy with dowsing rods going ahead of the
crew to spot water lines and so on.. I wish I'd taken some photos....

Cost us 5 grand to have cable installed TO the building when we moved
the insurance office this spring - and I did all the interior wiring.

Not at all unusual. Thats why it cracks me up when folks who don't want
neighbors decide someone else should pay for their lifestyle choice. I
border on what used to be a rural area. One nearby road is over two
miles long and has maybe 10 new homes situated on giant lots. The cable
company has refused to build out so much infrastructure for so few
customers. The residents are making as much noise as possible to let
everyone know about their terrible situation.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:50:21 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:14:40 -0500, "HeyBub"

The OP used the magic word "dish."

You can do what you suggest with cable TV service (i.e., Comcast,
Time-Warner). You cannot do it with satellite TV (i.e., DirectTV or
Dish Network).

Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

Because the wire from the satellite dish to the receiver does not carry only
RF signals. It also carries command information and about 50 volts. The
satellite dish is NOT just an antenna that grabs signals from the air and
conveys them to a receiver; it is an active electronic device.

Without proper additional electronics, tapping into the wire going to the
dish would be equivalent to multiple walkie-talkies on the same channel. Or
worse.

A better analogy might be a multi-station intercom system with everybody
having and open mike.

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.
Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

ransley wrote:
On Aug 28, 7:28 am, aemeijers wrote:
ransley wrote:
I have a house that isnt wired for any cable, I contracted with
Comcast to instal cable in 5 rooms but canceled the instal because
nobody at comcast would give me any type of estimate on cost. I
emailed and spoke to severasl people at comcast and could get no
idea on price, they have no office in my area of Chicago. What
could the aproximate cost be for running 5 rooms, a 60ft brick 2
story house, all cable would come in one side easily accesable.
Trees block satelite dishes, UVerse isnt here yet, so its comcast.
If its 500 or over I could hire a friend and do it cheaper, does
anyone have any idea on what they will charge me. Without any
estimate I could imagine a 1000$ bill I dont want.

I can't speak to the cost, but I wouldn't let comcast or any other
cable/satt company do the in-house wiring on a bet. Every 'company'
install I have ever seen was done the cheapest most hillbilly way
possible, usually on the outside of the house, or if it was in the
basement or attic, the cable was just draped or stapled wherever.
Comcast uses subcontractors for work like that, at least around here,
and they are paid by the drop. No in-wall boxes ever, just holes in
wall or floor with the cable stuck through them. I would definitely
call your friend for a walk-through, and see what he says. Is
basement ceiling open? If putting boxes in walls is too complex, you
can still do a through-the floor to a wiremold-style box attached to
baseboard, and have it look halfway decent. If there is no good path
to attic from basement, you can do one outside wire from demarc
location up the side of house to soffit, and get into attic that
way. Tuck it behind a downspout or something, and then come down
from attic through walls, or even tucked in a blind corner of the
bedroom closets, and have it look halfway decent. If your friend
seems hesitant, look in local ad paper for that part of town- almost
all have semi-retired or moonlighting ma bell or other wire-pullers
that do jobs like this. Insist on a name brand rg6 quad cable, not
the cheap generic stuff, and good quality compression, not crimped,
connectors.

Are you sure you can't get Satt at the location? If you can't see SW
sky, Dish has other birds where you can point to the SE and get
signal. The dish also does not have to be on the roof- it can be on
a post in the yard, assuming the neighbors won't break or steal it.

I would also keep a roof or attic antenna for OTA reception as a
backup, even if you have to buy converter boxes for old TVs. Lotsa
local stations around metro Chicago, so you would still have TV when
the cable was out or the dish was iced up.

--
aem sends...

I will call Dish for the SE sattelite, Dish would be great, alot
cheaper than comcast HD

my directv dish is pointed se-ish.

wrote:
Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

Because the wire from the satellite dish to the receiver does not
carry only RF signals. It also carries command information and about
50 volts. The satellite dish is NOT just an antenna that grabs
signals from the air and conveys them to a receiver; it is an active
electronic device.

Without proper additional electronics, tapping into the wire going
to the dish would be equivalent to multiple walkie-talkies on the
same channel. Or worse.

A better analogy might be a multi-station intercom system with
everybody having and open mike.

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.

Generally, yes. Cable uses RG-58 and Satellite uses RG-6. The cables are
mostly interchangable however (they differ in some electrical
characteristics).

Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

You can move the satellite cable connection from one receiver to another -
if you're careful to avoid being shocked (remember, the satellite cable
carries upwards of 50 volts).

"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.

Generally, yes. Cable uses RG-58 and Satellite uses RG-6. The cables are
mostly interchangable however (they differ in some electrical
characteristics).

Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

You can move the satellite cable connection from one receiver to another -
if you're careful to avoid being shocked (remember, the satellite cable
carries upwards of 50 volts).


Unless it is an unusual system, neither satellite or cable ever used RG-58
.. That is a 50 ohm cable and usually 70 ohm cable is used for both systems.
Perhaps you mean RG-59. That cable is not used anymore by most systems.
Just about everything has switched to the RG-6 type cable. It is a low loss
cable of 70 ohms. There are several versions of it depending on the ammount
of shielding.

The cable system needs beter shielding than satellite systems. This is to
keep all the signals in the cable and to keep signals out of the cable.

All the unused connectors in the rooms or splitters should be terminated or
capped off with the special resistor type terminators. There are several
reasons for this.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:28:34 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wrote:
Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

Because the wire from the satellite dish to the receiver does not
carry only RF signals. It also carries command information and about
50 volts. The satellite dish is NOT just an antenna that grabs
signals from the air and conveys them to a receiver; it is an active
electronic device.

Without proper additional electronics, tapping into the wire going
to the dish would be equivalent to multiple walkie-talkies on the
same channel. Or worse.

A better analogy might be a multi-station intercom system with
everybody having and open mike.

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.

Generally, yes. Cable uses RG-58 and Satellite uses RG-6. The cables are
mostly interchangable however (they differ in some electrical
characteristics).

Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

You can move the satellite cable connection from one receiver to another -
if you're careful to avoid being shocked (remember, the satellite cable
carries upwards of 50 volts).

On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:28:34 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

wrote:
Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

Because the wire from the satellite dish to the receiver does not
carry only RF signals. It also carries command information and about
50 volts. The satellite dish is NOT just an antenna that grabs
signals from the air and conveys them to a receiver; it is an active
electronic device.

Without proper additional electronics, tapping into the wire going
to the dish would be equivalent to multiple walkie-talkies on the
same channel. Or worse.

A better analogy might be a multi-station intercom system with
everybody having and open mike.

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.

Generally, yes. Cable uses RG-58 and Satellite uses RG-6. The cables are
mostly interchangable however (they differ in some electrical
characteristics).

Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

You can move the satellite cable connection from one receiver to another -
if you're careful to avoid being shocked (remember, the satellite cable
carries upwards of 50 volts).

Actrully, my cable is RG59 - bonded foil 7% braid - (F5967 BVV) -
supplied and installed by rogers for digital TV and internet.
When I had a distribution amplifier on my line I also had 50 volts DV
on the coax.

On Aug 28, 6:49*am, ransley wrote:
I have a house that isnt wired for any cable, I contracted with
Comcast to instal cable in 5 rooms but canceled the instal because
nobody at comcast would give me any type of estimate on cost. I
emailed and spoke to severasl people at comcast and could get no idea
on price, they have no office in my area of Chicago. What could the
aproximate cost be for running 5 rooms, a 60ft brick 2 story house,
all cable would come in one side easily accesable. Trees block
satelite dishes, UVerse isnt here yet, so its comcast. If its 500 or
over I could hire a friend and do it cheaper, does anyone have any
idea on what they will charge me. Without any estimate I could imagine
a 1000$ bill I dont want.

I know nothing about ComCast other than that they are a TON slower
than RoadRunner, at least in CT. My DH was stuck in CT during a 6
month computer nerd contract, and for whatever reason, the complex he
rented an apt. in would NOT allow RR, just CC. Well, they showed up on
time, were very fast, but the connection was so HEINOUSLY SLOW, he
realized that it was FASTER to stay home here in NY and use the RR
connection instead of being just .5 miles from the site. He scrapped
the apt and is now home 25 days a month and just rents a hotel on the
few days necessary. Yes, if he is in an office in CT it's still 20%
faster than if he's home in NY, but being in the apt. in CT was about
30% slower than being at home in NY, for free!

So...maybe comcast sucks, maybe not, but their service, in my DH's
experience, is EPICALLY SLOW. Of course, YMMV.

Ralph Mowery wrote:

Unless it is an unusual system, neither satellite or cable ever used
RG-58 . That is a 50 ohm cable and usually 70 ohm cable is used for
both systems. Perhaps you mean RG-59. That cable is not used anymore
by most systems. Just about everything has switched to the RG-6 type
cable. It is a low loss cable of 70 ohms. There are several
versions of it depending on the ammount of shielding.

You are right. Thanks for the correction.

tmclone wrote:

I know nothing about ComCast other than that they are a TON slower
than RoadRunner, at least in CT. My DH was stuck in CT during a 6
month computer nerd contract, and for whatever reason, the complex he
rented an apt. in would NOT allow RR, just CC. Well, they showed up on
time, were very fast, but the connection was so HEINOUSLY SLOW, he
realized that it was FASTER to stay home here in NY and use the RR
connection instead of being just .5 miles from the site. He scrapped
the apt and is now home 25 days a month and just rents a hotel on the
few days necessary. Yes, if he is in an office in CT it's still 20%
faster than if he's home in NY, but being in the apt. in CT was about
30% slower than being at home in NY, for free!

So...maybe comcast sucks, maybe not, but their service, in my DH's
experience, is EPICALLY SLOW. Of course, YMMV.

Evidently service varies dramatically depending on your location.

Standby one...

I just ran the speedtest.net test against our Comcast service and got:

Ping: 11 msec
Download: 25.7 Mb/sec
Upload: 2.37 Mb/sec

On 8/30/2010 4:54 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
...
wrote:

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.

Generally, yes. Cable uses RG-58 and Satellite uses RG-6. The cables are
mostly interchangable however (they differ in some electrical
characteristics).

Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

You can move the satellite cable connection from one receiver to another -
if you're careful to avoid being shocked (remember, the satellite cable
carries upwards of 50 volts).


Unless it is an unusual system, neither satellite or cable ever used RG-58
. That is a 50 ohm cable and usually 70 ohm cable is used for both systems.
Perhaps you mean RG-59. That cable is not used anymore by most systems.
Just about everything has switched to the RG-6 type cable. It is a low loss
cable of 70 ohms. There are several versions of it depending on the ammount
of shielding.

The cable system needs beter shielding than satellite systems. This is to
keep all the signals in the cable and to keep signals out of the cable.

All the unused connectors in the rooms or splitters should be terminated or
capped off with the special resistor type terminators. There are several
reasons for this.



Ummm, I thought RG-59 and RG-6 was 75 ohm impedance cable? At least it
was the last time I checked. Actually, RG-59/U runs 72-75 ohm impedance.

TDD

On Aug 30, 8:35*am, George wrote:
On 8/29/2010 9:49 PM, wrote:



On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:27:16 -0700, "DGDevin"
*wrote:

*wrote in message
...
On 8/28/2010 6:49 AM, ransley wrote:

I have a house that isnt wired for any cable, I contracted with
Comcast to instal cable in 5 rooms but canceled the instal because
nobody at comcast would give me any type of estimate on cost.

Maybe they didn't know what the guy who does the dowsing would charge. *I
kid thee not, I watched a Comcast crew installing fiber optic cable six or
seven years back and they had a guy with dowsing rods going ahead of the
crew to spot water lines and so on.. *I wish I'd taken some photos.....

Cost us 5 grand to have cable installed TO the building when we moved
the insurance office this spring - and I did all the interior wiring.

Not at all unusual. Thats why it cracks me up when folks who don't want
neighbors decide someone else should pay for their lifestyle choice. I
border on what used to be a rural area. One nearby road is over two
miles long and has maybe 10 new homes situated on giant lots. The cable
company has refused to build out so much infrastructure for so few
customers. The residents are making as much noise as possible to let
everyone know about their terrible situation.


Those homeowners should build out the infrastructure on their own
and then charge the cable company money to provide services on it...

~~ Evan

On 8/30/2010 5:28 PM, HeyBub wrote:
wrote:
Why not? You would need to change the "splitter" but why not use the
cable?

Because the wire from the satellite dish to the receiver does not
carry only RF signals. It also carries command information and about
50 volts. The satellite dish is NOT just an antenna that grabs
signals from the air and conveys them to a receiver; it is an active
electronic device.

Without proper additional electronics, tapping into the wire going
to the dish would be equivalent to multiple walkie-talkies on the
same channel. Or worse.

A better analogy might be a multi-station intercom system with
everybody having and open mike.

Is it different cable than cable tv uses?
If not, you can use it.

Generally, yes. Cable uses RG-58 and Satellite uses RG-6. The cables are
mostly interchangable however (they differ in some electrical
characteristics).


RG-58 is never used for cable TV. Maybe you are thinking about RG-59
which used to be common but isn't used anymore because it has higher
losses than the commonly used RG-6 or RG-11.


Mabee only one outlet at a time, but that would be true whatever cable
you used, and no matter how it was installed, not???

You can move the satellite cable connection from one receiver to another -
if you're careful to avoid being shocked (remember, the satellite cable
carries upwards of 50 volts).


I don't believe 13 or 18 VDC (the voltages used to power the LNB
depending on what antenna polarity is called for by the receiver) is
capable of delivering a shock but it sure sounds like a great story.

"Mark Lloyd" wrote in message
.com...
[snip]

If you hire your friend make sure they use good connectors such as snap
seals (same thing the cable company uses) and not those novelty class
twist on connectors.

At one time I used twist on connectors. They didn't work very well. They
pulled off too easily, and the connections have poor shielding. Crimp
connectors help, but compression connectors are better.

I believe that we once had an exchange (a long time ago) in CHA (or some
other forum) after you had switched to compression fittings but I had not
where I defended (foolishly) screw-on connectors as being "good enough."
What I soon discovered was that after just a few tugs for any reason the
screw-ons started to fail. I then bought a compression tool, partly on your
advice, and changed most of my runs to RG6QS. What a difference. Just a
little bit of RF leakage can really screw up the image, especially in a home
CATV/CCTV hybrid network.

The best part is that once you get a good hand stripper set to the proper
dimensions, it's a very quick process and every fitting looks perfect. I've
had to get a T-handle wrench to ram the connector's shield cylinder into the
cable jacket because of loss of hand strength issue. Before, I just used a
nut driver and before that, just my fingers )-:

Allelectronics has a compression tool for $15 that's in the little kit I
keep at the "head end" of the HA system.

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a...CTORS/-/1.html

Ironically, it's mislabeled as a hex crimper. I thought I *was* buying a
hex crimper because I wanted to use up all the old hex fittings I have
around but D'oh, there's no place I'd ever use them instead of compression
fittings. As luck would have it, it was a compression unit so it's now part
of a small toolkit at the circuit box and alarm panel. I really should just
toss the hex fittings - they are just nowhere near as reliable as a good
compression fitting. Maybe I'll round 'em up and put them on Ebay since I
don't even have hex crimper.

The screw-on ones are actually still useful for making very temporary ends
for cable before I make a final trim. I still use them for that task when
running CCTV, which is only thin RG-59. (I've learned to stay away from the
80% braid - just not enough material to make good physical contact,
especially if you're not perfect at skinning the jacket.)

The AllElectronics crimper is nowhere near as good as the Platinum
super-adjustable, but good enough. With two, I can set one up for the thick
RG6QS and the other for the RG-59U and really rip through cabling jobs. Not
sure how long CCTV is going to stay analog (the rest of the time I live
here, it will!) but running RG-59 and CAT-6 are pretty similar tasks. The
CAT-6 gets 4 channels to the one RG-59 carries, so it will win out,
eventually.

So, anyway, thanks Mark for singing the praises of compression fittings on
CATV cabling. It finally paid off for me. By doing it myself, I've saved
more than enough to be able to afford the gold plated connectors.

--
Bobby G.