Will RG6 improve my RG59 signal on my 5er

The basic difference between RG59 and RG6 coaxial cable is the shielding. RG6 can have anywhere from one layer of slightly better shielding to double or quad shielding. The purpose of RG6 is to block out unwanted outside RF interference.

If you never have your TV picture pixelate (break up) when you run the microwave, or a vent fan, then replacing RG59 is not needed.

It's the little things that wreck getting a good picture from 50 or more miles from the transmitter. RV's get vibrated a lot when moving from one location to another.

All connections from roof antenna to television must be checked relatively often. This can be hard to do in RV's where TV and "bomb" is screwed into a cabinet with no access to check and tighten connections of cables at rear of the switch-box. For getting long range viewing the fewer the connections the better.

I use RG6u (quad shielded coaxial) with cable connectors that have about 1 inch of reinforced collar to keep the cable from pulling loose from the connector. If you can wiggle the cable (on either end) and see the signal (picture) change the cable is coming apart.

The cables from roof to amplifier power-plate are getting extra shielding from ceiling, wall, and cabinet. I only replaced the coaxial from my second amplifier to the television sitting on my dinette when in use. I don't use the switch-box for other components.

The RG6u coaxial cable eliminated RF interference from other items and gives me extreme range (120 miles for daytime digital HD, and 150 miles at night. Analog signals up to 250 miles). The very weak signals being double amplified up to 20 decibels are also kept from escaping the quad-shielded cable.

At the moment I see no reason to replace the other RG59 cable, except maybe the outside section from antenna to just inside the roof. The 10 year old cable is weathered.

Personally.. I have a special tool (Actually 2 of 'em one for 59, one for 6) for that job.

While the importance of good connectors has been mentioned, properly stripping the cable for the connector is very important as well- stripping with a razor knife will usually nick the center conductor. Because of the skin effect, this will cause serious degradation of the signal.

.

Thanks to all of you for posting - this was a good learning curve .

Where can I purchase "MilSpec" cable ?

.

I used to have a handy chart of coax cable loss provided by Beldin, makers of coax cable.

It listed several RG-6 and several RG-59 catalog numbers, all made by Belden

The very best RG-59 (NOT what is in my RV) was roughly the same as the very worst RG-6

The cheapest RG-59 had over 2x as much loss as the best and the best RG-65 less than half the loss of the cheapest.

That makes RG-6 up to 4 times better, or more, depending on the specific catalog number compaired... I have posted that chart in the past. I do not have it on this hard drive nor do I have access (For another month or two) to the other HD with it.

The greatest loss will occur at the higher UHF frequencies. Presently the highest channel that is broadcast is channel 51 (real not virtual). The channel 51 frequency is 390 Mhz. The losses for 50ft of cable are as follows:

RG-59 3.2 db
RG-6 2.9 db
RG-11 1.4 db

RG-11 is huge and not practical for use in an RV.

As you can see, the difference between RG-59 and RG-6 is miniscule.

The most likely culprits are:
Loose connectors.
Poorly crimped connectors
Corroded connectors.
Corroded cable.
Damaged cable.

I know you believe you will see a difference and therefore you are likely to claim you found a difference, but the reality is that there is little if any chance that you would see a noticeable difference on a satellite TV connection (assuming you have an additional 50' or so from the RV to the portable antenna) and even less chance that you will find any difference in your OTA reception.
Now, since you will be running all new cable and have new end connectors, it's very possible you will have a very slight improvement due to these factors.

dons2346 wrote:
"The front swich box to the rear TV in my 38' er... I am sure I will notice when I do the upgrade."


You won't see any difference in 38'. Any improvement will come from the new connectors installed.

You assume the cable is line of sight, There is over 50' of very very lossy lowest bidder RG-59 on that run, the cable the factory put in is crap, Even VHF Low band (Chan 3) Looses enough to be noticeable on the hike to the back. and on UHF (TV-2 on a dish receiver) Forget it, unless I put an amplifier in the line to overcome the loss.

That is why I think I'll see improvement.

Also check the wiring at the back of the switch. When we got our trailer, one tv would work ok, but the second one did not. When I checked, the cable from the antenna was hooked to the plug for the living room tv, and the cable to that tv was hooked to the antenna plug. Last year I couldn't get any reception and bought a jack head to replace the wingman. I now can pick up stations at locations where I previously could not pick up anything.
Bob

You won't see any difference in 38'. Any improvement will come from the new connectors installed.

Agree 100%. You will see absolutely no difference at 38 feet from the new cable. Any improvement will be from the new connectors.