OTA Cabling: RG-6, RG-59, RG-11, Twin-Lead, Crimping, Other Tips

[sparky mtl]

Where did you see Quad shield Rg-6 cable?

The RG-6 quad was at Access Electronique at 43-b Brunswick Blvd, DDO. It was $9.99/100 ft with "Philips" clearly stamped on the cable. I went back to-day and the Philips cable was gone from the bin and replaced with a no-name RG-6U for the same price - could have all been sold because there were only about 5 or 6 rolls in the bin.

I checked at the back where the large cable rolls are kept and, hanging on a hook were 79' lengths of RG-6U Quad Shield clearly stamped on it along with "swept to 3000 Mhz". The price was 40 cents/ft.

Maybe just as well - "Tri-shield" seemss like it is better cable if you are looking for lower loss, according to hoopitup2000 but, I didn't see any on display.

sparky mtl

[300ohm]

The RG-6 quad was at Access Electronique at 43-b Brunswick Blvd, DDO. It was $9.99/100 ft with "Philips" clearly stamped on the cable.

Heh, the Phillips Quad Shield sold at Walmart has "3 times the speed of regular RG-6" advertized on the package. When you do the calculation, thats about twice the speed of light !!!!

[hoopitup2000]

Originally Posted by sparky mtl

Maybe just as well - "Tri-shield" seemss like it is better cable if you are looking for lower loss, according to hoopitup2000 but, I didn't see any on display.

sparky mtl

I use Carol Cable tri-shield RG-6 from Home Depot. It was .18 per foot about a year ago (~18.00 for 100 feet). It provides excellent results. Using a 91-XG (un-amplified), & 75 feet of cable, I receive 37 analog & digital UHF stations, 24/7.(Not counting digital sub-channels)

[intravino]

At Addison they have the following coax:

What about Rg-6 60 % braid and 90 % braid, what are the benefits for OTA applications?


Thanks,

[300ohm]

use Carol Cable tri-shield RG-6 from Home Depot. It was .18 per foot about a year ago (~18.00 for 100 feet). It provides excellent results.

Yeah, I got that too about a year ago, and it worked great so far. It has since gone up to $.20 or .22 or .24 per foot the last time I looked. But I think it may go down. Home Depot is cutting their prices faster than Lowes. Im waiting for the price of cheap roofing shingles to go down to redo the garage roof. In January of 2008 it was like $14.50 (still high) a bundle (need 3 bundles for a square). Then around April 2008, it went up to $23.50 a bundle. That price IMO cannot be sustained. What happened ? Did we run out of tar and stones ??? heh.

[300ohm]

what are the benefits for OTA applications?

Basically none, unless you are in a high electrical RF noise situation. Then use the Quad Shield.

[peekaboo]

Originally Posted by 300ohm

Yeah, Radio Shack sells a short flat 75ohm cable section that should work to get the cable and antenna outside without drilling holes. There is of course some loss associated with more connections.

I have tried numerous places to get flat cable but no luck thus far including "The Source" aka RadioShack. FWIW my cable run is around 10-12m. I tried some time ago placing my PC right next to the window thus cutting the run length to less than 1m but the channel list is EXACTLY the same.

[300ohm]

but no luck thus far including "The Source" aka RadioShack

Do they have a Canadian website ? Maybe its special order in Canada.

[tvlurker]

Do they have a Canadian website ? Maybe its special order in Canada.

The "Source by Circuit City" and Radio Shack are not related -- Circuit City bought the Canadian company that ran Radio Shack a while ago.

As part of the Circuit City restructuring, Bell Canada has agreed to buy The Source later this year. (This is ostensibiliy to get the Rogers Wireless exclusive contract out of the Source stores, and Bell Wireless put in instead.)

[ManBOOYA]

Originally Posted by peekaboo

I have tried numerous places to get flat cable but no luck thus far including "The Source" aka RadioShack. FWIW my cable run is around 10-12m. I tried some time ago placing my PC right next to the window thus cutting the run length to less than 1m but the channel list is EXACTLY the same.

You can get the flat cord at Homedepot. I bought mine there

[300ohm]

can get the flat cord at Homedepot

Now that you mention it, I do recall the short flat coax cable at my Home Depot about a year ago. But I havent seen it there for the past few months. It could be a store to store stocking thing.

[peekaboo]

Originally Posted by ManBOOYA

You can get the flat cord at Homedepot. I bought mine there

I'll look into that. Thx

[DdDave]

I was at the Home Depot in Aurora (Ontario) yesterday. They have "flat" coax that is 1/8" thick by about 1/4" wide (rectangular cross-section). The 7ft cable is 19.99, and they also had an 11 ft cable, and possibly a longer one.

Not sure if the Radio Shack coax is any thinner.

[300ohm]

The 7ft cable is 19.99, and they also had an 11 ft cable, and possibly a longer one.

Wow, that is pretty long for flat cable. The Rat Shack one is only about a foot.

[stampeder]

I'm thinking its probably (?) braided-core too. If so, cutting or crimping it any shorter would be a real hassle without tinning the ends with a soldering gun.

For some uses it would be great though.