Thread: Don't Mix Up The Wires . . . .

This is so simple that many must have thought of it, but then again......? This is for those that never bought some sticky numbers for their coax. Ever go out to the dish and change a switch and maybe you have yours in waterproof boxes? Not enough room to take off a wire and put it on the new switch one by one, must remove all wires and pull the switch out of the way put in new switch and re-connect. Well for we poor people that never bought numbers borrow some of the wife's snappy closepins and number each one. snap it on and you never get them mixed up. Never end up with sticky coax.
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Oh, the things we think up watching Sunday football, FTA thread reading, and watching it rain outside. . . . . .

T & RT

I went with colored shrink wrap. Didn't want to take a chance and get mixed up with even a temp solution.

I used different colors zipties to distinguish the different dual cables I had set up

Originally Posted by Iceberg

I used different colors zipties to distinguish the different dual cables I had set up

Same thing I do a lot now, still use different colors of electrical tape too.

plastic clothespins crumble after being exposed to sunlight after about 1 year.
In the old days I had short coax 2 different colors;one white one black to keep them going to the right places on the switch.

Originally Posted by xtgold

plastic clothespins crumble after being exposed to sunlight after about 1 year.
In the old days I had short coax 2 different colors;one white one black to keep them going to the right places on the switch.

Oh, in no way were the pins to stay in place. They were temporary only while you were working. Mine are wooden....

RT.

With my mess of coax to my various switches (all indoors) I use to use pieces of white tape with the satellite name or location on it (now I just use location). Found it a pain to remove the tape when the LNB was re-pointed to a different satellite. Now I use a small piece of folded paper and staple it around the coax (easy to remove, easy to replace).

Of course, when making changes either at the dish or at a switch, labels are only good if the idiot making the changes READS THEM CORRECTLY!

About four years ago I moved a dish with three LNBs 119, 123, and 129 a couple of feet on a wall. I put labels on each of the coax, undid the two for 123 and 129 and didn't have to remove the one for 119 to get the dish off and on to the ground. Did the move, put the dish back up, reconnected the two coax and began to re-point the dish (I had even marked the post and dish so that when putting the dish back on I'd be able to line it up fairly close).

When I went to point at 123, my mark on the post was off, elevation was off, the signal was way lower than expected (started thinking that I might be getting interference from a distant tree), 129 wasn't there, and 119 was either gone or extremely weak. Used 119 to point, got it great, 123 and 129 completely gone. Nothing was making sense! Tried numerous things, re-checking that the post was level, using the different LNBs to point, blind scanning the LNBs, etc. It even got to the point where I was thinking I should move the dish back to its original position!

I refuse to reveal how long it took me to finally realise that may be I should look at the coax cable labels (it was way longer than it should have taken). Sure enough, the idiot put them to the wrong LNBs (and remember, it was only two if them)! Once corrected, it took less than 10 minutes to peak the dish, lock it all down,and put away the ladder and TV. It took a LOT longer before I got over feeling stupid!

Originally Posted by Keith Brannen

.....Now I use a small piece of folded paper and staple it around the coax (easy to remove, easy to replace).

Great idea.

Originally Posted by Keith Brannen

.....Sure enough, the idiot put them to the wrong LNBs (and remember, it was only two if them)! Once corrected, it took less than 10 minutes to peak the dish, lock it all down,and put away the ladder and TV. It took a LOT longer before I got over feeling stupid!

Yup, been there.

Originally Posted by RT-Cat

Oh, in no way were the pins to stay in place. They were temporary only while you were working. Mine are wooden....

RT.

Did RT ever whack at those clothespins and mess things up for you??