New Belden/Canare cable building web site (1 Viewer)

[Ted Drain]

Several weeks ago I decided to build my own home theater cables using the Belden/Canare recipe that has been discussed on this forum. But, I didn't want to shell out the $$$ for the Canare tooling. After doing a lot of research and receiving a lot of help from the people on this and other forums, I've completed the cables and created a web page that describes the process.

In a nutshell, I was able to build all of my cables and spend around $100 for the tools.

DIY Belden/Canare Cables

The site has descriptions of the tools I used and where I bought all the components. It has descriptions and pictures of the following cable types:

• Analog audio
• Composite video
• Component video
• Coaxial digital audio
• S-Video
• Speaker cables

Please take a look at let me know what you think.

 

[Jeff Rosz]

looks damn good to me ted, prob one of the best diy cable pages ive seen.

 

[Brian Knauss]

Very cool. The only "flaw" I could see was a lack of color coding for the component cables. Other than that, a very useful resource for people that was to do DIY cables.

 

[Troy_j]

Hmm, no color coding? I saw color coding, Great job!

 

[Brian Knauss]

Sheesh, I know my monitor is starting to crap out on me, but I hope it isn't THAT bad.

 

[Ted Drain]

Thanks everyone!

Brian: the cables of Belden 7710 are color coded and they show through the TechFlex. The pictures might not make it that obvious but it's very easy to see in person.

Troy: reading this thread with your link in it pops up a login prompt. Can you edit your last post to get rid of it? Are you trying to link to one of my photos?

 

[Ben_E]

This site is great Ted, I think I'm gonna build some of my own cables now . Thanks for all your work man.

 

[Andrew Low]

Ted, can you comment on how 'compatible' the Paladin crimp die is with the Canare? (I believe that you did use them successfully, but what lead you to believe that they were fully compatible?)

Roo

 

[Ted Drain]

Andrew, I'm not sure what you mean be "fully compatible".

Someone on AVS assured me that the center pin crimp was 0.042". When I tried this, it was too small. It scraped a small bit of metal off the side of the central pin and flattened it between the crimp jaws. It ended up looking like a rocket with 2 fins. It wasn't terrible: the connector clicked on fine, was completely secure, electrically fine. It just wasn't ideal. The 0.068" crimp was too big for the center pin.

Which left me with 0.052" for the center pin. It worked fine. It secures the central pin. I'm not sure if it's exactly the same as the Canare die or not. The outer crimp size isn't that important. As long as it secures the ring (and the connector) to the cable without crushing the dielectric it should be fine.

I just did a search over at AVS forum for ".052" and there's one thread with people who used a die from Ideal w/ .052" for the center pin and they also reported that it works fine. (In that thread, Chris White and others reported using a cheap RG6 crimper for the outer ring)

Fully compatible? I don't know. I do know that the cables work fine and are mechanically sound.

 

[Andrew Low]

Someone on AVS assured me that the center pin crimp was 0.042". When I tried this, it was too small.
[..]

Which left me with 0.052" for the center pin. It worked fine.

Ted, you certainly deserve a thank-you for putting together the information -- Thanks.

However, it was my understanding that when crimping it is possible to over or under crimp something. If it wasn't an issue, then the recommendation would be to use a set of pliers to squeeze the heck out of the connector until it was tight.

The correct amount of crimp pressure on a connector over the proper sized wire is supposed to be a key factor in getting the right mechanical connection. (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Again, I'm grateful to you for gathering the information -- but I'd really like to see someone with the Canare tool(s) speak up about the 0.042" die and report on the experience. Possibly the wire diameter you used wasn't matched to the connector / crimp die you were using? Maybe the 'rocket like' result is entirely correct.

It is fustrating that you can't get the information from the Canare website on what the sizes are supposed to be. The "buy our tools or else" strategy is lame.

Roo

 

[Ted Kim]

Very nice to have a consolidated webpage for cables.

If I may address some things you mentioned on the site, for S-video cables, you state that the Belden 1808 is Belden's best. I just want to point out that others have pointed out that Belden 7700a is superior. Also, you could use a telescoping shield about the cable for even better results.

Congrats

 

[Andrus_R]

1, get fancier jacket,and shrink tube,
2, put'em in a really nice wooden box and give it a cool name like Diamond back supreme.

Then go into cable business and charge people $500 - $1000 per pop.

They won't know the difference.

 

[Ted Drain]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed the site.

Andrew: I got a die maintenance document from the Canare web site which talked about the center pin crimp. They indicated it should be 1.4-1.5 mm on the flat part of the square crimp for all Canare connectors except the RG11 ones. This would be .055-.059" measured after the crimp was made. I just got my hands on a micrometer so the next time I make some cables I'll check the final result with the .052" die but it should be pretty close to the Canare spec for the center pin.

Ted: Looks like the 7700 has a better shield but the 1808 has better attenuation numbers. Which matters more? I have no idea. For anything shorter than 25' or so it probably doesn't matter very much. For anything longer I'd probably make some break-out cables and use RG6 for the long run anyway.

What's the best way to add additional shield to a cable? I know Belden sells just a braided shield (but I can't remember the part number). How do you get it over the cable without leaving an air gap?

 

[Ted Kim]

What's the best way to add additional shield to a cable? I know Belden sells just a braided shield (but I can't remember the part number). How do you get it over the cable without leaving an air gap?

I'm not sure about the part number, but since you're probably going to use it for short lengths, the cheapest thing to do might be to get some cheap RG-6 or RG-59 from Radioshack or other cable source and strip the shield off to use on your cable. BTW, having an air gap is electrically unimportant. You want to solder one end of 0.1 uf capacitor to one end of the shield and the other end of the cap to the ground of one plug. Leave the other end of the shield unconnected. The source end (e.g. DVD player) should use the side with the capacitor.

 

[Andrew Low]

I got a die maintenance document from the Canare web site which talked about the center pin crimp. They indicated it should be 1.4-1.5 mm on the flat part of the square crimp for all Canare connectors except the RG11 ones. This would be .055-.059" measured after the crimp was made.

Ah, very cool. I'll have to track that down. I've done more reading on crimped connections and I now have the impression there is a range of crimp pressures that will work well for any given connection.

In this light, its tempting to see if a single die would work. Really, how different would 0.315 and 0.324 be?

Roo

 

[TimForman]

Ted Kim:
I'm curious as to why you use a cap to connect the extra sheilding. Something to do with phasing perhaps (I'm just guessing)?

Just a BTW: The IFS holds the Belden 8281B as their reference HDTV cable. Other cables that meet or exceed this spec will probably yeild very satisfactory results.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Ooooh... this makes me want to make cables now!

Darn.. so many projects.. so little SAF.

 

[Ted Kim]

The extra cap connected to ground creates a filter to protect against Radio frequency interference and EMI.

 

[Jon Wl]

I have the Ideal die in front of me. I am going to try to make some canare cables with it. I will use the .052 on the center pin. What I would like to know is what size is the outer crimp? The die I have goes to .213 and .255. Will on of those sizes work on the outer crimp, or do I need another die?

BTW, if this die works, I will let you know. I got it from a local electrical supply house for $18.

 

[TimForman]

On the Canare V3-5CFB the crimp size is .324. It really depends on which cable you're using due to the differences in the thickness of the outer jackets. My friend was unable to use the Canare crimp die listed in Chris'site for his V3-5CFB but I was able to use it on my L5-CFB cable just fine.