Cost of Comcast running cable

[HeyBub]

Evidently service varies dramatically depending on your location.

Standby one...

I just ran the speedtest.net test against our Comcast service and got:

Ping: 11 msec Download: 25.7 Mb/sec Upload: 2.37 Mb/sec

[The Daring Dufas]

Ummm, I thought RG-59 and RG-6 was 75 ohm impedance cable? At least it was the last time I checked. Actually, RG-59/U runs 72-75 ohm impedance.

TDD

[George]

RG-58 is never used for cable TV. Maybe you are thinking about RG-59 which used to be common but isn't used anymore because it has higher losses than the commonly used RG-6 or RG-11.

I don't believe 13 or 18 VDC (the voltages used to power the LNB depending on what antenna polarity is called for by the receiver) is capable of delivering a shock but it sure sounds like a great story.

[clare]

RG59 is spec'd as 75 ohm

[clare]

RG59 is all Rogers is using in Canada now - not straight RG59, but with bonded foil and 65% braid.. It's heavy duty stuff.

Whatever voltage was on my cable with the amp would not shock you if you just grabbed on, but would give you a pretty good whollop when you disconnected it.

[Robert Green]

I believe that we once had an exchange (a long time ago) in CHA (or some other forum) after you had switched to compression fittings but I had not where I defended (foolishly) screw-on connectors as being "good enough." What I soon discovered was that after just a few tugs for any reason the screw-ons started to fail. I then bought a compression tool, partly on your advice, and changed most of my runs to RG6QS. What a difference. Just a little bit of RF leakage can really screw up the image, especially in a home CATV/CCTV hybrid network.

The best part is that once you get a good hand stripper set to the proper dimensions, it's a very quick process and every fitting looks perfect. I've had to get a T-handle wrench to ram the connector's shield cylinder into the cable jacket because of loss of hand strength issue. Before, I just used a nut driver and before that, just my fingers )-:

Allelectronics has a compression tool for $15 that's in the little kit I keep at the "head end" of the HA system.

Ironically, it's mislabeled as a hex crimper. I thought I *was* buying a hex crimper because I wanted to use up all the old hex fittings I have around but D'oh, there's no place I'd ever use them instead of compression fittings. As luck would have it, it was a compression unit so it's now part of a small toolkit at the circuit box and alarm panel. I really should just toss the hex fittings - they are just nowhere near as reliable as a good compression fitting. Maybe I'll round 'em up and put them on Ebay since I don't even have hex crimper.

The screw-on ones are actually still useful for making very temporary ends for cable before I make a final trim. I still use them for that task when running CCTV, which is only thin RG-59. (I've learned to stay away from the

80% braid - just not enough material to make good physical contact, especially if you're not perfect at skinning the jacket.)

The AllElectronics crimper is nowhere near as good as the Platinum super-adjustable, but good enough. With two, I can set one up for the thick RG6QS and the other for the RG-59U and really rip through cabling jobs. Not sure how long CCTV is going to stay analog (the rest of the time I live here, it will!) but running RG-59 and CAT-6 are pretty similar tasks. The CAT-6 gets 4 channels to the one RG-59 carries, so it will win out, eventually.

So, anyway, thanks Mark for singing the praises of compression fittings on CATV cabling. It finally paid off for me. By doing it myself, I've saved more than enough to be able to afford the gold plated connectors.

-- Bobby G.