Advice, which coaxial cable is better, RG6 or Titanium series?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Advice, which coaxial cable is better, RG6 or Titanium series?

pstar008

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Topic # 30339 5-Feb-2009 02:39

Hi, I got a signal issue where signal come from my roof aerial been attenuated by a extension coal cable for my
freeview TV tuner, it has been tested working fine with cable directly from roof aerial, but if I connected that cable
to a spliter and a 4M DSE Coax Cable TV Plug from here, it will suffer from weak signal and get only C4 and TV4
working and the picture still freeze very often and has lots of mosaic to be watchable. I have replaced other
two 10M simular DSE Coax cables with a 20M RG6 cable for a freeview STB in the liveing room and the change
in signal quality is like from night to day.
Now I will return that 4M cable to DSE , should I exchange that 4M coax cable for a 5M RG6 cable or Titannim
series, if I want the best signal quality possible? Last time I went DSE, the saleman suggest I seek advice from
other store as he said that DSE are not really specialize in A/V. I am sure there're plenty geeks out here who
are much more knowledgable in that area than me, but me testing my luck by asking only 16 hours beforehand.

Thanks in advance!

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Reply # 194173 5-Feb-2009 07:40

Hi, those premade fly leads that DSE sells are rubbish, its a common problem, you have a 20m run to the antenna, signals meter at 1-2dB less than you measure at the antenna, customer supplies a 1m string fly lead like you have, signals disappears ......Bifff. The Titanium is better but way over priced in my view, the see through coax is nothing to right home about either, and you still need to terminate is off, a detail if not done properly will result in bad shielding which can cause all other issues.

If you want a cable made, PM me with exactly what you want and I will sort you out if you can wait till next week to get it.

Cyril

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Reply # 194181 5-Feb-2009 08:43

WoW it was fast!

So, Titanium one > Transparen RG6 > premade one, but Titanium not really worth the price?

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Reply # 194184 5-Feb-2009 08:56

What sort of splitter do you have?

pstar008

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Reply # 194199 5-Feb-2009 09:32

sbiddle: What sort of splitter do you have?

Similar like that one, but I got a white plastic one. There is one could do signal amplify,
but it is quite expensive(about $60),

cyril7

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Reply # 194221 5-Feb-2009 10:53

So your splitter has no metal shield such as the one you linked, just plastic, if thats so you should replace it with a fully shielded one as you linked. Interference due to poor sheilding is one of the biggest problems, this also is the main problem with many premade fly leads, to make them user friendly and flexible they sacrifice shielding as well as loss.

Ideally use Fconnectors throughout, not Bellinglee/PAL type except for the final wall plate, all wiring from the antenna, splitters and to the wall plate should be RG6 with Fconnectors. There is also the issue of using Duobond or Quad shield, I normally install duobond simply because its what I use for Satellite installs, so far I have had no issues with interefence due to insufficient shielding. I do use quadshield if in a low signal area, however as we dont use VHF for DVB-T here only UHF I think many of the issues surrounding the use of quad shield are over played. Good duobond in general is fine for DTT.

Cyril

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Reply # 194235 5-Feb-2009 11:50

Is there any significant difference between the hex crimp f connectors and the radial crimp type Cyril?
cheers.

cyril7

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Reply # 194248 5-Feb-2009 12:45

Hi, a radial has better rear connector sealing from water ingress, and slightly better impedance match performance due to a more linear grip of the cable, so less dimension distortion. But other than that a hex is fine in every day use. Sky no longer allow use of hex connectors only radial and linear crimp, although I have noted that sky commerical installers seem to still use hex in may MDU installs, presumably due to cost and the fact that they are not in the weather.

I only use linear crimp, these are superiour to both hex and radial in both water seal and impedance match performance, however if I need a short body connector due to room contraints I use a hex.

In everyday practice I would not worry its more important to prep the cable well rather than exactly what connector type you use

Cyril

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Reply # 194252 5-Feb-2009 12:58

cyril7: So your splitter has no metal shield such as the one you linked, just plastic, if thats so you should replace it with a fully shielded one as you linked. Interference due to poor sheilding is one of the biggest problems, this also is the main problem with many premade fly leads, to make them user friendly and flexible they sacrifice shielding as well as loss.

Cyril

As I can't find the same splitter I bought from DSE, I linked the one most close in shape, but as you probably already know I am far from an export so I posted a picture of the splitter I am using now. I am not sure it is shieded or not, the size I think is similar to the metal one, you mind have a look? As you said, it is possible the problem from splitter, but the STB working fine here, which using a 20M RG6 now, so I guess a 5M Titanium should be fine.

What complexed the problem more is I am using a tiny TV tuner(Pinnacle Nanostick) for Mac and it is not a really popular one can be tested by the mass, so there is another possibility that it might be limited due to hardware or software side make it significantly inferior to pick up signal than the STB one.

So my plan is to take the easiest route first--pick up a Titanium one, it is only a 5M one so even it not worth the money I guess a few dollars more is ok with me.

cyril7

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Reply # 194265 5-Feb-2009 13:49

Hi, I agree, for straight forward progress, get the Titanium cable and see how you go, I suspect the splitter is not shielded, but could be wrong, never use bellinglee splitters..

Cyril

pstar008

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Reply # 194279 5-Feb-2009 14:40

Did some google, seems to me the spliter are not as good as metal shiedled, but I will try save some money for now
not buying another one unless necessary, as I bought it more than two weeks ago.

Thanks Cyril, will let you know the outcome after I got another cable.

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Reply # 194287 5-Feb-2009 15:10

You can get a fairly cheap f connector, which is basically a piece of threaded rod.
Easy to remove the splitter and check your leads right through.
(Whops, assumes you had a f connect splitter, can gte a pal joiner as well to do the same thing)
So could try this with each lead after you've installed the different cable. If it all works well but then drops off you might need a new/better splitter or maybe a distribution amp splitter.

pstar008

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Reply # 194410 6-Feb-2009 02:27

Still not working. I even managed to exchange the spliter to the metal one I first posted as I bought it is only
litte bit more than two week ago, and also got the Titanium cable as well. But once pluged them in,
still only C4 and TV 3, the quality is actually better than before, but even after a rescan, still no other
channels. Besides bypass the spliter and 5M Titanium one, I tried a connection which bypass the spliter, maybe
a little better, still no go. So it seems the splitter is not a issue anymore but bassically extention cable and
connectors, and driver for Mac probably not be able to pick that signal.

So my question is what can I do to improve the signal with the least cost and efforts?

I can for sure install a Windows in the new Mac book and as my TV tuner are supported in Windows and it works before,
but that is quite opposite the reason why I bought my wife a Mac. And dual boot to Windows just to watch TV is really
wasteful as TV card are supposed to work in Mac, though not officaly supported.

Or an amplifired spliter should working? It got a signal quality of 40% and 25% strength for C4, but for TV2 or others
the quality and strength is often less than 20%. if signal is that weak, will it still be able to be amplified.

Or I could buy another TV stick which have better support in Mac if I can found one cheap. I've just missed an
WinTV HVR 900 for about sixty dollars, sigh... I don't think it is going to be any easier.

pstar008

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Reply # 194411 6-Feb-2009 02:34

Which one of these is better for me:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=201383754
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-photography/TVs/Cables-aerials/auction-200727227.htm
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-photography/TVs/Cables-aerials/auction-200756143.htm

sbiddle

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Reply # 194416 6-Feb-2009 07:16

To be completely honest both of those indoor aerials are absolute rubbish and not even worth comtemplating.

pstar008

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Reply # 194467 6-Feb-2009 13:54

How about one of these "Power Booster Antenna Amplifier" from DSE? I noticed the one on my house roof
is a smallish 23-element one, I should got one of these instead a splitter?

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