RG6 Coax

[NancyG]

We purchased the Tailgater and would like to make use of our outside connection for Satellite, rather than running coax through a slide and directly into receiver. How can we determine if the connection for satellite on outside of fiver is RG6? It runs from outside the trailer into the entertainment center to an outlet marked Satellite. We have tried this connection but cannot get it to activate. We bought Radio Shack RG6 for use between Satellite In connection and the Receiver.
Update: noted that Radio Shack coax is marked RG6-U and coax in Satellite connection is RG6. Could this be the problem?

[fpresto]

The same old story about RG6 vs. RG59. First there is NO standard for any RG. It is an old military standard which meant Radio Grade and was replaced by Mil-Specs years ago. I could take any piece of coax, stamp RG 6 on it and legally sell it. Generally RG6 will have slightly less loss and better shielding than RG59 but better performance is not required for the label. A good quality RG59 can easily outperform a lesser quality RG6. For any RV application the slight difference in loss in the distance covered is not detectable except by very expensive test equipment and will certainly have no effect on the satellite receiver. Bill says 50 ft. but I would expand that to over 100 ft. before RG6 might be required. By far the most losses in any installation comes from couplers and splitters. Even good quality average about 3db of loss each, And of course improper installation of the connectors can kill the entire installation. I realize that this is long winded but as I work with coaxial cable line loss every day including some that cost hundreds of dollars per foot it bothers me when people parrot that RG6 must be used when they don't have a clue.

[Bill_Satellite]

There is one important note that should be added. While the Joey's associated with a Hopper can run on RG59, the Hopper "claims" to require 3GHz coax. That would require very good RG6 between the antenna and Hopper. However, my personal feeling is that good 2GHz RG6 with proper connections on a short run as would be found in an RV would also work just fine.

[docj]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

soundslikefun wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
You will find no noticeable difference in signal quality at the satellite receiver with a short run of RG59 or RG6. It's simply not an issue. If you want to run 50+ feet you may see a slight drop in signal (still not likely enough to make a difference). If you want the best quality cable, then use RG6 but if your coach has internal RG59 you can use it without a second thought.

In my 15 years as a custom AV installer I have found problems caused countless times from a customer trying to hook up some of their own equipment and simply replacing a RG 59 cable as short as 6'. Especially when they use low quality premade cables (Radio Shack or Walmart variety). Will it work? Yes, sometimes. Is it just as easy to avoid it altogether to eliminate that possible issue? Absolutely.

In 12 years of selling, installing and setting up satellite TV systems in RV's I have never found good RG59 cabling in an RV to be an issue of any kind. I always installed RG6 on a new roof mounted installation (unless the manufacturer provided a satellite pre-wire) but many installations are portables and the user wants to use the existing cable connection (or separate external satellite connection). In this case, I have never found the existing cabling to be an issue and long as you verified the continuity of the cabling and provided very good connections at each end.
Even Dish Network says that when setting up their Hopper and Joey systems the runs from the Solo Node through their splitter and up to 3 Joey's can all be done with RG59 coax.

If we actually take a look at some facts, it's pretty easy to see that the performance of RG59 really isn't so bad in the 1.5-2.0 GHz range that is needed to get the signal from the LNB to the receiver. This calculator permits you to compute the line loss as a function of frequency for any length of coax: Coax loss calculator I think part of the confusion may result from some people thinking that the coax has to transmit the Ku and Ka band signals to the receiver. It doesn't; the LNB downconverts those to the 1.5-2.0 GHz range.

Forty feet (one motorhome length) of RG59/U produces a 4.67dB loss compared with the 3.74dB loss in the same length of RG6/U. For most installations that's not going to make the difference between success and failure. In my experience the weak link is usually cheap connectors, poorly attached, rather than the cable itself.

[CA_Traveler]

FYI

We recently upgraded to a DTV HR44 receiver which meant changing from a multiswitch to SWM. The installer indicated that our 8 year old black RG6 coax installed by DTV was good for many more years and that the new white coax that DTV now uses doesn’t last as long in the sun. He said our PCT-DRS-6 compression fittings did not always make good contact with the coax shield and replaced all of them with the L1RC SMS Ultimate which has a red cap. He also replaced the barrel connectors with a HF-81 with a yellow insert. These changes were for the purpose of longer term reliability and the higher frequency demands of SWM.

[Bill_Satellite]

soundslikefun wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
You will find no noticeable difference in signal quality at the satellite receiver with a short run of RG59 or RG6. It's simply not an issue. If you want to run 50+ feet you may see a slight drop in signal (still not likely enough to make a difference). If you want the best quality cable, then use RG6 but if your coach has internal RG59 you can use it without a second thought.

In my 15 years as a custom AV installer I have found problems caused countless times from a customer trying to hook up some of their own equipment and simply replacing a RG 59 cable as short as 6'. Especially when they use low quality premade cables (Radio Shack or Walmart variety). Will it work? Yes, sometimes. Is it just as easy to avoid it altogether to eliminate that possible issue? Absolutely.

In 12 years of selling, installing and setting up satellite TV systems in RV's I have never found good RG59 cabling in an RV to be an issue of any kind. I always installed RG6 on a new roof mounted installation (unless the manufacturer provided a satellite pre-wire) but many installations are portables and the user wants to use the existing cable connection (or separate external satellite connection). In this case, I have never found the existing cabling to be an issue and long as you verified the continuity of the cabling and provided very good connections at each end.
Even Dish Network says that when setting up their Hopper and Joey systems the runs from the Solo Node through their splitter and up to 3 Joey's can all be done with RG59 coax.

[jhilley]

soundslikefun wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
You will find no noticeable difference in signal quality at the satellite receiver with a short run of RG59 or RG6. It's simply not an issue. If you want to run 50+ feet you may see a slight drop in signal (still not likely enough to make a difference). If you want the best quality cable, then use RG6 but if your coach has internal RG59 you can use it without a second thought.

In my 15 years as a custom AV installer I have found problems caused countless times from a customer trying to hook up some of their own equipment and simply replacing a RG 59 cable as short as 6'. Especially when they use low quality premade cables (Radio Shack or Walmart variety). Will it work? Yes, sometimes. Is it just as easy to avoid it altogether to eliminate that possible issue? Absolutely.

Terminating both ends with a compression connector usually clears up any problem.

[soundslikefun]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
You will find no noticeable difference in signal quality at the satellite receiver with a short run of RG59 or RG6. It's simply not an issue. If you want to run 50+ feet you may see a slight drop in signal (still not likely enough to make a difference). If you want the best quality cable, then use RG6 but if your coach has internal RG59 you can use it without a second thought.

In my 15 years as a custom AV installer I have found problems caused countless times from a customer trying to hook up some of their own equipment and simply replacing a RG 59 cable as short as 6'. Especially when they use low quality premade cables (Radio Shack or Walmart variety). Will it work? Yes, sometimes. Is it just as easy to avoid it altogether to eliminate that possible issue? Absolutely.

[Bill_Satellite]

You will find no noticeable difference in signal quality at the satellite receiver with a short run of RG59 or RG6. It's simply not an issue. If you want to run 50+ feet you may see a slight drop in signal (still not likely enough to make a difference). If you want the best quality cable, then use RG6 but if your coach has internal RG59 you can use it without a second thought.

[soundslikefun]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Whether the coax in the fiver is RG6 or RG59 you should have success and I would not be concerned about what's inside.

RG59 is NOT recommended for satellite use. It is not the same as RG59.
It has a smaller center conductor, dielectric insulator, and outer shield, its signal quality is not as good as that coming from the RG6 (even if it still delivers acceptable performance for CATV). Plus, the RG59 does not have a foil shield, thus rendering it useless for satellite feeds or cable installations, and totally rules it out from reaching the GHz-level signals that the RG6 is capable of.

[CA_Traveler]

I ran the coax to a nearby storage locker and installed a barrel connector. So no cable to route through the rig and there is no reason for the sat cable connector to be in the back of the rig.

[NancyG]

Sorry for delay in updating. Found our problem was more than likely the addition of splitter in the "satellite in" coax. As the access to this coax was very tight and required a much more agile person to explore cabling, we drilled a hole in media area and ran coax direct from Tailgater to Receiver and will just pull the cabling inside when traveling. All is well and, during this process, we even determined how to connect DVD player via tv and receiver.... Thanks for all your help.

[Bill_Satellite]

DOTLDaddy wrote:
Another thing to check is your "over the air" antenna amplifier. Make sure it's not turned on at the same time you are trying to use your tailgater. Depending on your cabling set-up, this may have some effect.

Actually, this would make no difference. You cannot use either line connected to the Winegard power supply without modifying the incoming cabling so on or off, that line will not work with a satellite connection.

[jhilley]

If you have both a "Cable" and a "Satellite In" connection you should have no problem with the cable. Make sure all connections are tight and try another cable from dish to "Satellite In" jack.

[DOTLDaddy]

Another thing to check is your "over the air" antenna amplifier. Make sure it's not turned on at the same time you are trying to use your tailgater. Depending on your cabling set-up, this may have some effect.