Is this RG-6 coax good enough?

[Marchboom]

I have some Priority Wire & Cable brand RG-6U cable that I plan to use to connect a scanner and a discone antenna. Mostly using for aircraft and emerg bands. The coax has 60% braid coverage and rated at 3 Ghz. I have no idea what those last 2 numbers are. Will this coax do the job?

Also, what are good PL-259 connectors and where is the best place to get them?

Thanks

 

[N5UKZ]

RG-6 normally has 2 layers of shielding, braid over foil; your cable has 60% braid coverage over the foil which is pretty standard for RG-6 (there's also quad shield which has 2 layers each of foil and braid). The 3 GHz means the cable has been tested for loss up to that frequency. It should work OK for that application. PL-259's for RG-6 are out there, but not common; you'll have an easier time using a BNC or F connector and using an adapter to go to a PL-259.

 

[Marchboom]

Thanks N5UKZ. Great explanation. A BNC on both ends will probably be the best as the scanner has that connection. I have a PL-259-to-BNC adapter.

 

[prcguy]

I would install compression F connectors and use an F to PL-259 adapter.

 

[N5UKZ]

I would install compression F connectors and use an F to PL-259 adapter.

Yep, compression F's are a good way to go..

 

[Marchboom]

Yep, compression F's are a good way to go..

I have put on many crimp-style F connectors for our video system and they work fine. Is the compression style better?

 

[prcguy]

They are a little better, I estimate 500 to 700% better if that means anything. A 5Mhz or less video signal can get by with a strand or two of braid connected but for satellite signals past 2GHz and general RF use like a scanner antenna the compression types are a must. They are nearly loss less over the frequency range with use with police scanners and acceptable for use through about 2.5GHz.

As an example of this its "illegal" for a DirecTV or Dish installer to use anything but an approved compression type F connector on your install. Its written into their instructions and taught by their training instructors. I had a contractor use some crimp types without our knowledge on a large DirecTV Latin America system in a building with RG-11 trunk lines and RG-6 feeders to multi-switches and receivers all over the building. When it was done a bunch of channels would not work and looking at the system with a spectrum analyzer I found two huge frequency suck outs within the 950 to 1450Mhz distribution system.

Turns out the RG-11 crimp connectors had a problem at one frequency and the RG-6 crimp connectors had a problem at another frequency and with a few hundred connectors in the system the frequency suckouts were well over 20dB. I had the contractor replace every connector in the system with compression and we finally had a smooth frequency response that we needed and expected.

I would also use compression types for video cameras also as they are trouble free and have built in O rings to keep moisture out.

I have put on many crimp-style F connectors for our video system and they work fine. Is the compression style better?

 

[Marchboom]

They are a little better, I estimate 500 to 700% better if that means anything. A 5Mhz or less video signal can get by with a strand or two of braid connected but for satellite signals past 2GHz and general RF use like a scanner antenna the compression types are a must. They are nearly loss less over the frequency range with use with police scanners and acceptable for use through about 2.5GHz.

As an example of this its "illegal" for a DirecTV or Dish installer to use anything but an approved compression type F connector on your install. Its written into their instructions and taught by their training instructors. I would use them for video cameras also as they are trouble free and have built in O rings to keep moisture out.

Thank you so much for that info. I'll get a compression tool and the related F connectors.
I knew there was a reason for coming onto this forum.

 

[prcguy]

duplicate....

 

[jim202]

They are a little better, I estimate 500 to 700% better if that means anything. A 5Mhz or less video signal can get by with a strand or two of braid connected but for satellite signals past 2GHz and general RF use like a scanner antenna the compression types are a must. They are nearly loss less over the frequency range with use with police scanners and acceptable for use through about 2.5GHz.

As an example of this its "illegal" for a DirecTV or Dish installer to use anything but an approved compression type F connector on your install. Its written into their instructions and taught by their training instructors. I would use them for video cameras also as they are trouble free and have built in O rings to keep moisture out.

I use to work for a company that supported Hughes dishes after the install contractor left his mess. It was very common to find compression F connectors that were able to be spun on the end of the RG6 coax. Have been on a number of service calls where the customer was reporting sparks coming from the back of their receiver box or the signal going out all together. All of it was caused by incorrect installation of the F connectors.

Not trying to change the main focus of this thread, but it is very important to install the compression connectors correctly to get the results your looking for using the RG6 coax cable.

 

[N5UKZ]

As an example of this its "illegal" for a DirecTV or Dish installer to use anything but an approved compression type F connector on your install. Its written into their instructions and taught by their training instructors.

On a related note, the first thing our local cable company does on a service call is cut off every existing F connector and replace them with their own flavor of compression connectors.

 

[prcguy]

At one point DirecTV officially approved PPC brand compression connectors, but I think there was a payoff to someone to use that brand. They are good and my favorite is T&B Snap-N-Seal after testing many brands. I've specified probably tens of thousands of T&B F connectors for various jobs. You must use a proper stripper and compression tool and follow instructions, otherwise you can have problems like below.

The industry standard stripper is the Cable Prep CPT6590 and for the compression tool Ripley Cablematic CAT-AS series.

I use to work for a company that supported Hughes dishes after the install contractor left his mess. It was very common to find compression F connectors that were able to be spun on the end of the RG6 coax. Have been on a number of service calls where the customer was reporting sparks coming from the back of their receiver box or the signal going out all together. All of it was caused by incorrect installation of the F connectors.

Not trying to change the main focus of this thread, but it is very important to install the compression connectors correctly to get the results your looking for using the RG6 coax cable.

 

[prcguy]

duplicate...