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Old 11-Oct-2012, 4:54 PM   #5
GroundUrMast
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Posts: 4,773
Simply look for RG-6 or RG-6U. I've never had trouble with the cable offered at local home centers. This type of cable has a foil shield with a braided wire shield directly over that, therefor it's sometimes called double shielded. The home centers stock preassembled cables in various lengths up to 100'. Most sell the bulk cable by the foot and 500' or 1000' roll. They also stock connectors and tools.

RG-6Q will work as well. It has four layers of shielding which is needed in applications such as satellite systems between the LNB/LNA at the dish, and the receiver. For OTA TV reception, the extra expense of quad shielding buys you nothing in terms of improved signal quality. There are a few cases where RG-6Q is worth the expense; If you are sending power to a rotator via the coax, and if you are powering a preamp over an exceptionally long run (over 100'). The extra shielding gives the cable lower DC resistance compared to dual shield cable. If you are installing connectors on RG-6Q cable, be sure the connector is designed for that type cable.

If the house was wired for TV by the cable company or a satellite provider and the cable is not damaged, reuse it. Be very suspicious of cable that has been outside, if water has been allowed to get inside the cable, it needs to be replaced. If you find RG-59 type cable that has factory installed connectors already in place and it appears to be free of damage, it can also be used... but it would be high on my list of suspects if you have trouble with signal quality.

Last edited by GroundUrMast; 11-Oct-2012 at 5:20 PM. Reason: A few more thoughts
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