Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - RG6 cable or ??

How do you know if the cable is RG6 if there's nothing marked on the cable itself? It's cable we've had or gotten from somewhere. Also we have cable that's marked RG59. Is that okay to use?

Thanks for your help.

Hi Barbara,

Main difference (physically speaking) is that the diameter of the center in a RG60 cable is thicker than the RG59 !. ... And if you want to connect your VCR --TV, or DVD--TV , RG59 is fine.

But if you have a SATELLITE SYSTEM ... or CABLE TV... then RG60 is a must :D .... hope this can help. Good luck !

Hi Zener

Thanks for your info. Can you explain why the RG60 is a must? How do I find out what a cable is if it has no markings on it? We have a roll of unmarked cable that my husband says is 70 ohms. Since someone gave it to him, he wants to use that rather than buy any. I don't want him to wire the whole house and then have to do it all over again.

The wiring is for cable TV and for cable internet. I know to split the modem cable off on its own before splitting for TVs. We also are running a separate cable to each TV location from a central location. Same with the telephone Cat5e cable.We are using Leviton's QuickPort system for phone and cable. We only have one computer and one phone line, so it's pretty simple.

I do have another question that probably doesn't belong in this forum, but maybe someone knows. Leviton has a module called "1x9 Bridged Telephone Module" and another module called "Category 5e Voice & Data Module". We bought the 1st one and are planning on using it, but then I saw the 2nd one in their literature. So, are we using the correct module?

Thanks for any further help.

Thats pretty strange that the cable doesn't have any markings on it. Perhaps they are just very light? Maybe it was just mass produced. Hopefully it is good quality cable.

The physical differences of the cable sare just as Zener already mentioned. The RG6 has a larger diameter conductor (copper) in the middle of the coax. This larger conductor allows for less signal loss. It also makes it stiffer so it is a little more hard to bend/pull around through tight spaces.

You may be able to just cut off a cross-section of both cables and tell if the one cable type has a larger conductor in the middle. I would venture that a majority of people will never notice a difference in TV Reception because of the difference in cable types.

Hi kuhurdler

Thanks for response. The cable company came to hook my computer up for broadband. :D The installer was nice enough to answer my questions about cables. He explained about the inner conductor and the shielding. He looked at the cable we have and said it is even better than RG60 and is double shielded.

Guess I don't have to worry about using it now. And my husband is happy that he was right. Since he bought spool of cable for $1 at an auction, we are both happy.