I need to do some re-cabling in my MH for TV and Satellite. My question is do I use RG59 or RG6? I know RG6 is not the best for plasma but do those same restriction apply to LED and LCD TV's?
Bill and Linda said
08:14 AM Jan 16, 2012
Trabuco wrote:
I need to do some re-cabling in my MH for TV and Satellite. My question is do I use RG59 or RG6? I know RG6 is not the best for plasma but do those same restriction apply to LED and LCD TV's?
Yes, RG-6 is the preferred cable and if possible the best choice, especially for some satellite systems.However, with the exception of a really long run– like 50 feet - (being general here Bill A) RG-59 will work if you can’t deal with RG-6.It has nothing to do with the type of “TV” as such. It has do with the signals in the cable, protecting them from interference and in some cases voltage drops.
That said run RG-6 if you can. It can eliminate problems that you don’t know you have until you have them and then can’t find them.
You need to get the proper tool to put on the connectors if you want all your work to be the most effective.Just using a pair of pliers to crimp the connectors isn’t really that good an idea.
Bill
Jack Mayer said
09:36 AM Jan 16, 2012
As Bill said, RG6 is the right cable to use for everything. If you have RG59 prewired in your rig you can use that and likely get away with it. But anything you add should be RG6. Youcan buy the ends and crimper at HD or Lowes. Or, you can buy the twist on RG6 ends. Which I do not recommend. It is far better to crimp if you can. And it is not necessary to get quad shielded cable or connectors.
Bill Adams said
09:53 AM Jan 16, 2012
What say we all just pretend that twist one coax connector don't exist, OK?! They are a great emergency replacement until a good connection can be made but they should never be a part of any permanent installation. As to the cabling, see above!
Trabuco said
11:07 AM Jan 16, 2012
Based on my research I thought RG6 was the way to go just wanted to confirm.
The cable TV and satellite external entry points on my coach are at the very rear of the coach. I have no signal by the time it gets to the front of the coach on both cables, ohm's out just fine but no TV. When I run a cable externally up to the front TV everything works just fine. Since the problem affects both cables there must be a connection point somewhere along the run The electrical prints show no splitter or j-box on the entire run from back to front.
After many hours of looking I think I going about abandon the original runs and make a new external enrty point towards the front of the coach and run the RG6 like you guys have suggested.
3Gstore_Matt said
04:19 PM Jan 16, 2012
As others have said RG6 is pretty much the standard for most cable/satellite installations. I've never tested RG59 with a TV system so I can't comment on the difference in picture quality though.
Bill and Linda said
04:33 PM Jan 16, 2012
3Gstore_Matt wrote:
As others have said RG6 is pretty much the standard for most cable/satellite installations. I've never tested RG59 with a TV system so I can't comment on the difference in picture quality though.
I’ll do the testing for you. JIf the signal through any coax is “digital” (we’re talking RF here, not analog video) then it’s kind of like a cell phone.It’s either perfect, or it breaks up / isn;t there.
There is no picture “degradation” as such.It’s either there, and perfect, or it isn’t (or breaking up.)That’s one reason why you want to install the proper cable and proper connectors.It’s pretty much either works, or it doesn’t and trouble shooting is a problem for most people not familiar with RF or base band digital video.(Analog was / is a whole other conversation.)
There you go without getting into too much techo speak.
Bill
Bill Adams said
04:56 PM Jan 16, 2012
The signal traveling through the coax is not digital and therefore not subject to the all or nothing test. The signal strength will simply become less and less as the run gets longer. We have used the RG-59 inside 1000's of RV's for many years without issue. I suspect that even at 100' with RG-59 you would be hard pressed to notice any substantial difference in signal quality with a good piece of cable. However, RG-6 would still be the choice as it provides better quality over a long time period so there would be no reason to use the other.
Bill and Linda said
05:07 PM Jan 16, 2012
Bill Adams wrote:
The signal traveling through the coax is not digital and therefore not subject to the all or nothing test. The signal strength will simply become less and less as the run gets longer. We have used the RG-59 inside 1000's of RV's for many years without issue. I suspect that even at 100' with RG-59 you would be hard pressed to notice any substantial difference in signal quality with a good piece of cable. However, RG-6 would still be the choice as it provides better quality over a long time period so there would be no reason to use the other.
Bill, Matt’s post was about “picture quality.”So I gave a TV-101 answer as to the picture quality, like resolution, of the picture.I noted the signal was “RF.” But yes, the RF signal is carrying a digitally encoded stream - like ATSC @ 1939 MB/s. So varring RF levels, including multipath / impedance reflections, etc. make the RF and decoding react as pretty much as a "digital signal"
I agree with you that you can run 1000 feet of 59 and have it work.But that wasn’t the question as I understood it.
Anyway, doesn’t matter.
Cheers
Bill
Kerry said
05:22 PM Jan 16, 2012
I agree with using RG6, but I would go 1 step further and make sure it is Quad-shield instead of Dual-shield. I did pretty much research on this a few years ago when I was building my house and determined that this would work best for my CATV and satellite system. Just be sure that you get connectors that are rated for quad-shield as well so they will fit properly.
Bill Adams said
07:50 PM Jan 16, 2012
I have never found any need of any kind for quad-shield coax in an RV installation (hundreds of feet in a home plus the electrical plus the phones plus the Ethernet, plus, plus, might be different). YMMV, but I would not spend the extra money in an RV. As to my previous post, I stand behind the fact that they will be no substantial signal strength difference between a run of RG-59 and RG-6 at 100'. Therefore, if there is no signal difference there will also be no difference in the final end product. I still would not install RG-59 should RG-6 be available but if the coach already had good working RG-59 I would not remove it in favor of RG-6.
Trabuco said
08:33 PM Jan 16, 2012
Based on the info you guys supplied I will be using the RG6 to replace my non-working RG59. Thanks for the input.
Bill Adams said
08:34 PM Jan 16, 2012
Cool! Let us know how the project turns out.
Jack Mayer said
05:06 PM Jan 17, 2012
What Bill Adams said is totally correct....not that he needs MY approval . I have run hundreds of feet of RG59 for a tripod system many times with no issue. But don't use it....use RG6. And for SURE you do not need quad shielded in an RV...as I said in my original post.
A good crimper and connectors pay off. And please spend the $5 on the stripper.....you will be glad you did.
-- Edited by Jack Mayer on Tuesday 17th of January 2012 05:07:01 PM
Bill Adams said
07:48 PM Jan 17, 2012
While not needed, anytime Jack says I am on target it's like getting an extra star on the chart in grade school! Thanks Jack!
Trabuco said
08:01 PM Jan 17, 2012
Actually Jack I purchased ready made lenghts that I started installing today. I did not use quad shielded as you suggested so I sved a couple of $$. Again thanks for the input!
I need to do some re-cabling in my MH for TV and Satellite. My question is do I use RG59 or RG6? I know RG6 is not the best for plasma but do those same restriction apply to LED and LCD TV's?
Yes, RG-6 is the preferred cable and if possible the best choice, especially for some satellite systems. However, with the exception of a really long run– like 50 feet - (being general here Bill A) RG-59 will work if you can’t deal with RG-6. It has nothing to do with the type of “TV” as such. It has do with the signals in the cable, protecting them from interference and in some cases voltage drops.
That said run RG-6 if you can. It can eliminate problems that you don’t know you have until you have them and then can’t find them.
You need to get the proper tool to put on the connectors if you want all your work to be the most effective. Just using a pair of pliers to crimp the connectors isn’t really that good an idea.
Bill
The cable TV and satellite external entry points on my coach are at the very rear of the coach. I have no signal by the time it gets to the front of the coach on both cables, ohm's out just fine but no TV. When I run a cable externally up to the front TV everything works just fine. Since the problem affects both cables there must be a connection point somewhere along the run The electrical prints show no splitter or j-box on the entire run from back to front.
After many hours of looking I think I going about abandon the original runs and make a new external enrty point towards the front of the coach and run the RG6 like you guys have suggested.
I’ll do the testing for you. J If the signal through any coax is “digital” (we’re talking RF here, not analog video) then it’s kind of like a cell phone. It’s either perfect, or it breaks up / isn;t there.
There is no picture “degradation” as such. It’s either there, and perfect, or it isn’t (or breaking up.) That’s one reason why you want to install the proper cable and proper connectors. It’s pretty much either works, or it doesn’t and trouble shooting is a problem for most people not familiar with RF or base band digital video. (Analog was / is a whole other conversation.)
There you go without getting into too much techo speak.
Bill
Bill, Matt’s post was about “picture quality.” So I gave a TV-101 answer as to the picture quality, like resolution, of the picture. I noted the signal was “RF.” But yes, the RF signal is carrying a digitally encoded stream - like ATSC @ 1939 MB/s. So varring RF levels, including multipath / impedance reflections, etc. make the RF and decoding react as pretty much as a "digital signal"
I agree with you that you can run 1000 feet of 59 and have it work. But that wasn’t the question as I understood it.
Anyway, doesn’t matter.
Cheers
Bill
I agree with using RG6, but I would go 1 step further and make sure it is Quad-shield instead of Dual-shield. I did pretty much research on this a few years ago when I was building my house and determined that this would work best for my CATV and satellite system. Just be sure that you get connectors that are rated for quad-shield as well so they will fit properly.
As to my previous post, I stand behind the fact that they will be no substantial signal strength difference between a run of RG-59 and RG-6 at 100'. Therefore, if there is no signal difference there will also be no difference in the final end product. I still would not install RG-59 should RG-6 be available but if the coach already had good working RG-59 I would not remove it in favor of RG-6.
What Bill Adams said is totally correct....not that he needs MY approval
. I have run hundreds of feet of RG59 for a tripod system many times with no issue. But don't use it....use RG6. And for SURE you do not need quad shielded in an RV...as I said in my original post.
A good crimper and connectors pay off. And please spend the $5 on the stripper.....you will be glad you did.
-- Edited by Jack Mayer on Tuesday 17th of January 2012 05:07:01 PM
Thanks Jack!