Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Where to get RG6 cable

I'm looking to connect my 2 recievers with in-wall cable. If I understand the stuff I've read, I should use F-type connectors with RG6 coaxial cable and connect the RCA inputs on each receiver.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best place to get the RG6 cable? Is this the same coaxial you get from your cable tv provider? I have Comcast and they used to give it to you for free but I don't think they do that anymore. I'm estimating that I would need about 200 ft and I'm trying to keep the budget pretty low on this project so by "best" I guess I mean cheapest.

Thanks for the help,

Matt

home depot , lowes , radio shack

and yes....it's the same stuff the cable company gives you. Most RG6 is black. I have no seen to much RG6 is a different color.

Usually the colored cables are RG59

Would this cable fit my needs? Quad shield is $10 more than dual shield. I'm guessing that it is worth the extra $10(?)


http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=2408&sku=43063&cm_mmc_o=dyBBTkwCjC-kk%20VyBpAgflCjCgz_kwlCjCSNixN

Product Features
Impact Acoustics RG6/U Quad Shield is ideal for antenna, cable television and satellite installations. This cable is 18AWG copper clad steel center conductor surrounded by a foam polyethylene dielectric. A bonded aluminum foil and 60% aluminum braid over another foil and 40% aluminum braid provide 100% shield coverage. Use for CL1, CL2, CM, CMX and CMG installations. Swept tested to 3GHz to ensure performance at applicable frequencies. To help you keep track of cable used, the cable jacket is sequentially marked every two feet.

Features:
18AWG copper clad steel center conductor
Bonded foil covered by 60% aluminum braid over foil and 40% aluminum braid provide 100% shield coverage
Foam polyethylene dielectric
CM/CL2 rated PVC jacket
Swept tested to 3GHz
Sequential foot marking
Ideal for RF applications like outdoor TV antennas and cable television

Product Specifications
Warranty: Lifetime
Color: Black
Size: 250ft
Mfr: Impact Acoustics
Weight: 10.95lbs

I believe all RG6 cables these days are quad shield.

I would spend the extra $10 to get it anyways.

The stuff you referenced would be fine. I've seen RG6 in black and white, should you have a color preference.

Thanks for the help

I don't think all RG-6 is quad shield. Get quad shield for $10 more. It is specified for some applications.

One more question: Do I need to solder the connector on or can I just screw it in like a cable tv connector?

they get crimped on. You have to strip the shields a certain amount and then push on connector and use special crimp tool. At least that is correct way. I usually use pliers to crimp it!
Bill

Don't get quad shield, it's a waste and not needed.
Spend the 10 bucks on a crimping tool for the connectors.

and quad uses different connectors!!

fred

If you are handy with ebay I would look on there. I bought 500 ft spool of it for 65 bucks shipped to the house. Lowes was crazy expensive. I also got my connectors and crimping tool off of ebay. I did my 3 rooms upstairs and still have about 350ish feet left. I could sell ya some!!!!!! :) A quick search on ebay I found this: http://cgi.ebay.com/500-Feet-Perfect-Vision-Dual-Run-RG6-Coaxial-Cable_W0QQitemZ320119276039QQihZ011QQcategoryZ50999QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

and connectors: They look like this but mine are blue!!! http://cgi.ebay.com/PPC-EX6XL-Compression-Connectors-for-RG6-Coaxial-Cable_W0QQitemZ200115161585QQihZ010QQcategoryZ67879QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Crimping tool: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-RG6-Coaxial-Cable-Compression-Crimping-Tool-ZDS5061_W0QQitemZ230134883371QQihZ013QQcategoryZ11726QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have Direct tv w/ HD and they recommend all this special wire and stuff and I got this off of Ebay and WORKS GREAT!!!!! I ran mine in my walls and what a much cleaner look. Direct Tv installers are messy as hell. I have holes through my molding where they ran the wire! GOOD LUCK!!!!

The shield doesn't directly affect the quality of a signal. It helps prevent the signal conductor from being bombarded with interference that will affect the signal. Quad is better than dual in that respect, but you may not see a difference in the picture quality.

Use quad shield in areas where there is a potential for stray RF noises to get into the video signal. Fluorescent light ballasts come to mind, as do AC power lines and network cables. The best way to prevent noise is to run the TV cables separately from other wires. Stay away from ballasts and dimmers, and cross AC and network cables at right angles. Never run parallel to or bundled with other wires.

Three things most people don't think about when running broadband RF cable:
-- Never kink the cable when bending it. The bend radius should be gradual. Six times the diameter (about two inches) is the standard rule of thumb for RG6. The electrical properties of the cable depend on a constant distance between the shield and the conductor. This is maintained by the white insulator (dielectric). If the dielectric is crushed or damaged -- even by a staple -- the signal can suffer.
-- Don't use side cutters (dikes) to cut the cable where the connector will be installed. Again, they can squash the dielectric. Instead, cut the cable an inch or so longer than you need. Use a clamp-on RG cable stripper at least an inch from the end to remove the wrap, shield and dielectric. Then trim the center conductor to the proper length.
-- Use round compression connectors, not the hex crimp-type. Hex connectors were okay for 550MHz signals, but now that bandwidth has increased to as much as 2GHz, hex connectors have been shown to reduce signal quality at those higher frequencies.

hex connectors also allow for ingress and egress of the signal around the connector. as for the bend radius, cable companies use 4 inch bend radius' The compression connectors you want are PPC brand and the model number is EX-6 or EX-6XL.

hbsparky wrote: "As for the bend radius, cable companies use 4 inch bend radius"

Why am I not surprised that the cable companies spec something that can't happen in the real world? There isn't enough depth inside a 2x4 wall to have a 4" radius behind a wall plate. The bend is measured from the end of the dielectric, not including connector threads.

The larger the better, though. The actual spec says _minimum_ 6x outside diameter, or .262x6=1.6 inches for a typical RG6.

Point is, there should be no right-angle bends.

Just for clarification I was using this strictly for audio, not high def video if it makes any difference.

Is there a tool needed to attach the compression connectors?

I've used simple vice grips for RG6 cable assembly, but they do make a special crimp tool which is available at Home Depot, radio shack type stores.

compression connectors are overkill for audio.
they are mainly for weather protection

fred

"Just for clarification I was using this strictly for audio, not high def video if it makes any difference."

Your OP said "receivers" and RG6, so I thought you were running antenna cable to the receivers. (Although I've never seen an antenna input terminate with RCA connectors.)

A single shielded 2-conductor cable will work fine for stereo line-level audio. West Penn Wire #291 is an example. Use the red conductor for the right channel, the black for left, and the shield (plain "drain" wire) to both.

For speakers, you'll need something beefier like 14/2 unshielded with a PVC jacket. Run one cable to each speaker.

For the record, RG6 is not only for broadband. It's terminated with RCA connectors for baseband video all the time in commercial installations. There are miles of RG6 with BNC connectors in every TV station in the country. The NFL Instant Replay system uses it in every stadium (although that's changing this year to HD over fiber).

Sorry if my OP wasn't clear. I'm pretty much a novice at this so I may screw up some terminology. I'm trying to connect my two stereo recievers in different rooms of my house. I had another post that asked what the best way to do this and someone replied suggesting the RG6 cable. If that wire you suggested will work that would probably be easier to run one of those as opposed to two of the rg6 wires.

I forgot to ask. Could you please post a link to where I could get the wire that you mentioned and what connectors I could use to connect them to the RCA inputs on my receivers?

The only thing a receiever needs a RG6 cable for is either a antenna, or you can use this cable as a subwoofer cable.

All other wires can be normal speaker wire, or the RCA cables (composite)

I'm looking to run the cable through the wall. I would probably need about 50-75ft of cable to connect the two. Is there a specific cable that you would suggest?

Here are the receivers I am trying to connect

Sony STR-DE335 Home Theater Receiver
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DE335-Home-Theater-Receiver/dp/B00001XDZ3

Panasonic SC-HT730
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-SC-HT730-5-Disc-Theater-System/dp/B000816XGG/ref=sr_1_1/104-4121113-2169521?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1181315552&sr=1-1

why are you connecting two receivers to each other? does one have speaker set up that you are hoping to use for both receivers? If so, could you put in a/b switch on speakers and use either receiver? What inputs and outputs are you going to use on each?--the tape in and out rca jacks? I have never heard of connecting two receivers together?

The panasonic is part of the home theater. The Sony is on the other side of the house and has inside and outside speakers hooked up to it. I would like the ability to play a CD on one and have it play on all of the speakers. I thought using the tape rca input would be the easiest way to achieve this. As I said I'm a complete novice so if there is a better solution please let me know.

Thanks for all the advice.

Matt

I understand what you are trying to do and is probably the easiest thing too do.

Go to Radio Shack and get some of these:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062472&cp=2032058.2032231.2032280&allCount=315&fbn=Cable+type%2FPhono+%28RCA%29+plugs+%26%23038%3B+jacks&f=PAD%2FCable+Type%2FPhono+%28RCA%29+plugs+%26%23038%3B+jacks&fbc=1&parentPage=family


Then while you are there, get some audio patch cable and connect the above RCA jacks to wire.


It will be difficult to find a length of RCA cable with the connectors already on them without spending a fortune.

I believe you could use 18-20 gauge wire for your application and be fine.

When wire is run and connectors attached, plug one end of the cable to the Panasonics "Audio Out" RCA jacks and the other end to "Audio In".

I apologize for my lack of knowledge on this subject but could you provide a link to the type of audio patch cable that you are talking about? I tried searching for that term through google, but I could only find kind with the connectors already attached and, as you said, they are very expensive at that length.

Thanks again,

Matt

Here's the patch cable with the connectors already on. You can keep them on and fish them, or cut them off and use those radio shack connectors.

http://www.showmecables.com/showProducts.asp?category_id=221

You can search for just the cables on the net, or call to a radio shack type store and ask them if they have however many feet you need in RCA/Audio patch cable.

Just FWIW..

I bought a 500' roll of sheathed cable to do the structured wiring in my house.

It had two RG6-Quads (black and white) and two Cat5e's (pink and blue).

The roll cost me about $300 or so, a container each of Ideal RG6 compression connectors and Cat5 connectors, plus the strip/crimp tools for both was about another $100 or so.

Bought from a local electrical wiring supply house.

HD/Lowes doesn't even sell this type of sheathed cabling, but they do sell the rolls of RG6Q, a supply house might (or might not) be cheaper.

If you're not comfortable with a soldering iron or RJ crimpers & ends, here's all you need: http://************/ywwaat

Scroll down to the length you need.

Tape (Record) Out of one system to the Aux or Tape In at the other end.

Got it. Thanks for all the help guys.

Matt