Cable TV questions

[ThA tRiXtA]

First off, I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, I didn't see any threads / forums relating specifically to wiring.

I am just about to pipe in TV cable from the point it enters my house into my new dedicated HT room so I can get a digital cable box later in the future... my first question is what is the ideal cable I want to purchase to complete this run? Is it called RG6 or something of the like?

I have read a lot about making sure to get a cable with good shielding among other topics. I was also wondering what kind of terminations do you guys recommend? The twist on types or should I spend the cash and get the crimp on style?

I would need to buy the stripper/crimper tool that cable techs use... anyone know where to get a good one from? I have actually wanted to get a good set of tools for this so I can do my own work at any time I need to so please recommend away.

My only other concern is where the cable enters the house, it is already split three ways. The splitter and the three cables were left here when I bought the house... is that illegal? One run goes to my cable modem, another to a cable tv in my living room and the third run goes off somewhere that I am unsure of where exactly it ends up. (Not that it matters, I disconnected it from the splitter anyways.)

As I said above, I am going to be adding a run that will supply my HD digital cable box after I purchase it... so in total I will be using 3 feeds. One modem, one normal tv and the new HD box.

Through some research I see that some people talk about using an amplifier for the cable signal? Can anyone elaborate if I would need anything of this nature or if my current setup would be sufficient? If I am going to get a HD ready cable box and buy a nice HD TV, the last thing I need is for it to be compromised by poor signal.

Also - the existing splitter doesn't look to be that good of quality and looks pretty old... should I get a new one, and if so, any suggestions?

Thanks for the help, I am a newcomer when it comes to 75 ohm coax cable and it's inherent secrets.

 

[adk highlander]

A good shielded RG6 wire from Radio shak or mono price should do you. I would go with compression connectors. Especially if any of these are outdoors.

Here is the one I have:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=360-046

And the connectors:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=092-491

These are way way better than crimpon and you can also use the tool to make BNC or RCA connections.

I don't know about the legality issues or the amplifier so I will let others comment there.

 

[MDS]

I agree with RG6 or RG6 Quad Shield (used in most new homes) and definitely compression style connectors if you can do it.

It is not illegal to split the cable line and in fact the cable tech will often do just that if you call to have them to run new wire to a different room and your house does not already have structured wiring with all wires leading to a central location.

Every split causes some loss of signal. A 2-way splitter loses 3.5-4 dB per leg and a 4-way will lose 7 dB per leg. That is not usually too big of a deal if the incoming signal strength from the cable company is set correctly.

If you have three devices (cable modem, TV, and set-top box) all you need is a 3-way splitter. If you want to ensure the signal strength remains high enough, especially if the cable runs are long, you can use an RF amplifier but you do NOT want to amplify the leg going to the cable modem. You would use a 2-way splitter with one leg going directly to the cable modem and the other leg going to the amplifier and the outputs of the amplifier going to the other cable lines. You should use terminators on any unused legs of the splitter or amplifier.

My house has 7 cable outlets and although I only use 2 at the moment I wanted them all to be available. I split the incoming line into two using this 2-way splitter: http://www.smarthome.com/7810c2.html and then feed the non-modem leg to an amplifier. My amplifier is an 8-way that provides 4 dB of gain to each leg but I can't find it on the SmartHome site right now. Here is an example of a different ChannelVision amplifier than the one I use: http://www.smarthome.com/7750.html If the amplifier is single input and single output, you'd have to split it's output again if you have more than one cable to amplify.

Terminators for unused ports on a splitter/amplifier/cable wall outlets: http://www.smarthome.com/7808.html Home Depot and Lowes sell the terminators and also carry various brands of splitters and amplifiers (usually Leviton). If you use an amplifier, make sure it is bi-directional and has a bandwidth of 1 GHz.

 

[ThA tRiXtA]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I will probably buy that connection tool, it looks good. Does it come with instructions by chance so I don't mangle my first few attempts?

So how do I know whether I will require an amplification unit on my line? I had no idea those amps were worth $100, so I don't want to get one if I don't have to. If I do need one so be it but I'm not going to waste the money on an off chance.

My cable runs are not long (in my amateur opinion). I will get a three way splitter similar to the one MDS linked.

Just to confirm, anything I install in my cable run needs to be bi-directional, have a bandwidth of 50 mHz to 1 gHz and I should use compression connctors... anything I missed?

Do you think I can get all those parts from home depot, or should I order them online from the sites you listed?

 

[jcPanny]

Cable distribution

One of the AH wiring articles covers cable TV distribution, amplifiers and connection schemes:

http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/home-wiring-construction/whole-house-wiring-basics-4

 

[Midcow2]

Are you able to get Satellite ?

...I am just about to pipe in TV cable from the point it enters my house into my new dedicated HT room ...

Can you get satelllite or fiber optics where you live? The picture quality form either satellite or fiber optics is so much better than cable, even HD cable.

Good Luck!

 

[ThA tRiXtA]

I live in Canada, and I can get satellite however I'm not sure I want to get the satellite over the HD / Digital cable... I am having some roof issues and I am hesitant to mount the satellite dish on my roof... I can be persuaded however if it is quite the jump of quality or service...

Can you offer me any data that will twist my arm? (Now is the time, because the walls are all open!) How much of a quality difference is there? How come the satellite is much better?

 

[Midcow2]

Only My personal experience, but .....

I live in Canada, and I can get satellite however I'm not sure I want to get the satellite over the HD / Digital cable... I am having some roof issues and I am hesitant to mount the satellite dish on my roof... I can be persuaded however if it is quite the jump of quality or service...

Can you offer me any data that will twist my arm? (Now is the time, because the walls are all open!) How much of a quality difference is there? How come the satellite is much better?

The regular, non-HD, stations on satellite (I have DishNetwork) are as crisp in resolution as the HD are on cable. The HD satellite stations blow you away.

Now you can get, at least in USA, up to six(6) independently controlled TV feeds. I like good audio , but also like good video. I have a 722 DVR HD satellite feeding via HDMI to a marantz receiver. The output goes via HDMI to an LCD 37" Vizio TV. The picture and sound are phenomenal. I also have a panasonic DMP-30BD DVD connected to the AVR. The PQ is the same execeleltn quality, as far I can tell between the satellite and DVD. However, to be fair, I have only viewed a couple of Blu Ray DVDs, most are standard to date.

Another thing about satellite is the DVR recording. The show you are watching is automatically recorded and can be paused for up to an hour without loss of the picture (you can record longer for a permanent recording). Also, a neat feature last night I found. Wife want to wathc American Idol but we were gone when it began recording. She was able to watch the recording from the beginning before the show ended. in other words it was still recording.

Only downside of satellite I have found is that in heavy rain or fog ( or sun spots) you can lose the signal temporarily.

Cheers (Mic Ultra),

 

[MDS]

Just to confirm, anything I install in my cable run needs to be bi-directional, have a bandwidth of 50 mHz to 1 gHz and I should use compression connctors... anything I missed?

Do you think I can get all those parts from home depot, or should I order them online from the sites you listed?

You can get a splitter and terminators at Home Depot and they do have some amplifiers too that are about $30. I would start with just a 3 or 4 way splitter and see how it works before considering an amplifier.

Splitters are bi-directional. If you look at amplifiers you just want to make sure it says it is bi-directional and has a return path between 5 and 42 MHz (for the interactive features of the cable box).

 

[jaysonbarnett]

DIrect tv

You want direct tv it looks so much better than cable. i have two 42 inch panasonic's and did a side by side comparison of cable and direct tv. Direct tv sounded better as well.

 

[ThA tRiXtA]

I went to home depot tonight and loaded up on supplies.

I purchased this splitter. The package says it's 5 mHz to 1 gHz 3 way digital cable tv splitter. In a highlighted area it says 50+ channels or something confused

How does your splitter dictate how many channels you can receive?

On the back it states "over 120 dB of RFI shielding."

How does this splitter look?

 

[MDS]

The splitter is fine. I have a few of the Ideal splitters around.

The splitter doesn't do anything with regard to number of channels. They're just highlighting the bandwidth. I believe channels are 6 MHz wide so with a range of 5 MHz to 1 GHz it can deal with a lot of channels.

 

[ThA tRiXtA]

On the splitter above one output it states 4 dB which I assume it's the amount of loss through that leg. I guess I would want that one to go to my cable modem? The other 2 legs both say 8 dB (loss?)

I thought the first leg would have been a 3 to 3.5 dB loss and each subsequent leg would have been another 3.5 on top of that so the second leg should have been 7 dB instead of 8, no?

Thanks for your patience.

 

[MDS]

Splitters vary in their insertion loss although not by much. It is usually 3.5 dB loss for a 2 way split but there are many, like the Ideal, that say 4 dB.

Internally it is probably two 2-way splits. The input is split into two and then one leg of that 2-way is split again. The losses are cumulative so you get 8 db loss for the other legs. I would use the 4 dB leg for the modem.

Before I got the amplifier and redid my wiring, my house had a single 4-way splitter with 7 dB loss on each leg and I didn't really notice any reception problems.