Coax for Cable TV (1 Viewer)

[Rob Vi]

Is there any value to upgrading the coax from the wall plate to my digital cable box?

Before I go spending any moolah on this I wanted to get some opinions.

RV

 

[Lee Bailey]

In terms of 'upgrading' you coax cable. Just spend the money on some of the quad RG6 cable at Radio Shack. Buy a roll, some of the crimp on connectors, and the crimping tool. You can make your own very good cables easily, in custom lengths.

Also, make sure your cable is grounded to the house ground! Not the water pipe. While the water pipe where most installers ground to is usually a ground, it is NOT usually at the same ground potential as your house ground. This is how ground loops develop.

 

[PaulT]

The installer who came here (they generally contract out in this area of Canada) used Belden YV29894 series 59 coax with some very nice beefy connectors for my living room.

For the unit I installed in the bedroom, I used some off the shelf pre-made RS stuff and have not noticed any difference between the 2 set-ups.

 

[Mark Rich]

Yes you should experience improved performance with the right RG6 coax.
I replaced the newly installed cable with Belden 1694a/Canare'F'connectors and the results were almost like cleaning a dirty window. Sharper picture with more vibrant colors. FYI this was replacing brand new Shaw Cable supplied run from the outside box to my digital cable box (approx 50ft).
I ran the Belden 1694a parallel to the existing cable so I was able to a/b compare.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Hi Rob.

Replacing the old coax in the wall can really help, but unless the existing wire from the wall to the TV is crushed or has loose connectors, it may not help.

What WILL help is to:

- Find the main feed into the house and trace it through all break/connections.

- Un-screw all "F" connectors you find. Examine the connector. Is is loose/corroded? If so, cut the end off and install a new connector.

- If you dont have slack to cut, at least examine the center copper wire. If it is a dull brown, GENTLY scrape it clean with a thin knife to expose shiny copper, or scrub it with a pink rubber eraser.

- Make sure to tighten all connectors finger tight, then use a wrench/pliers to tighten at least 1/4 turn more. Loose connectors are the number one cause of CATV service calls and poor picture quality.

Mark had a great idea. Good RG6 coax is dirt-cheap. Find a station that appears to have poor picture quality. Find your main feed into the house and un-screw the connection. Buy a long 25-50 ft run of RG6 coax and run it from the TV to this point and make the connection. (This is temporary so just run it along the floor, through doors/windows).

Look at the 'poor' quality station with the new coax in place. Does it look the same? If so, your internal wireing is fine. If not, try opening the wall plate and seeing if there is a "F" connector behind it. Do the inspection/scrubbing/tighten trick and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[Rob Vi]

Thanks all