just a quick question, is RG-6 from an old satellite TV dish ok for an outdoor scanner antenna feedline?
my thinking exacly!!!!!Diddley said:The advantage of doing this is that I don't have to drill any new holes or route the cable through any walls... I'm actually even using the old bracket from the dish itself to mount my new antenna with... Very simple project!
Good luck!
Diddley
Where I live charter uses the same type of RG6 as most satellite installers, UV stabilized braid/foil shielded CommScope or belden coax. No cable company anywhere can use RG58, its 50 ohms, too soft to suspend and not only would it leak cable TV out but it would let the local broadcast channels come in on the 2-13 portion of the band. Basically, if your cable provider is doing their part to ensure RF thats supposed to be in the wire stays in the wire and RF thats supposed to be in the air stays in the air then they will be usnig a good quality 75 ohm RG6 and in some cases RG11. Now, as for RG58, thats what Radio Shack will try to sell you, thats what comes as part of almost all mobile CB, scanner and amateur antennas and if you have more than about 15 feet of the stuff you have too much. RG59 is similar to RG58 except its a bit larger and is a 75 ohm coax, also something to be avoided, thats the cheap crap that comes as a 3 ft jumper to go from your VCR to the TV, its not even any good for that any more. But yeah, the satellite coax is pretty much the same as cable tv coax, but teh cable TV coax typically has a stiffer center conductor since it has to be suspended from a pole to your house.Diddley said:Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing... Using the RG6 from an old dish I had mounted. It'll work perfectly fine. Whatever you do, stay away from RG58, which is what the Cable companies use.. Too much signal loss and no double shielding like with the RG6 coax... Good luck, and let me know how it goes.
Diddley
Not a chance, you must be in a VERY old neighbourhood or WAY out of town. I know an awefull lot of installers in the GTA and they are all working with RG6. This is certainly the case with satalite instalations. You must be looking at cable that hasn't been updated for a long time, with the introduction of digital TV, RG6 became the standard. Cable coming into my house is still from Shaw, before Rogers took over and it is still RG6.Diddley said:Might be different down there.. Up here in Canada, they most certainly use RG58 coax, as that's what is stamped on my CableTV cable from the pole to the hookup on my TV... It might be different down in the US, I don't know...
Just to clarify, i was in no way saying your were wrong (picture is not neededDiddley said:We're Cogeco down here.. Here's what is stamped on the cable entering my house(wish I could upload a picture):
CMG 50 OHM FT-4 RG58 FOR CATV OR CMR CM(U)
That's what it reads folks... Just passing along what I have installed here. I'm located right in town, about two miles from the Cable station.
I install Cable for Rogers Cable in in Ontario. (same as comcast) .Diddley said:Might be different down there.. Up here in Canada, they most certainly use RG58 coax, as that's what is stamped on my CableTV cable from the pole to the hookup on my TV... It might be different down in the US, I don't know...