Any Alternatives to Satellite Ribbon Cable?

[jsattv]

I'm setting up a C Band Dish and now the Local Distributor is quoting me $1.50 per foot for Satellite Ribbon Cable. (I need about 110 ft). The Dealer says the Sat Ribbon Cable gets cheaper ONLY if I order 500 feet or more!!

I already have spare runs of RG - 6 Cable. Are there any alternatives I could use for the 36 V Actuator and +6V, Pulse and GND wires? I am thinking I could run all the wires in a small flexible conduit from the back yard to the House? Besides the RG - 6 Cable(s) how many runs of #14 or #12 Wire would I need? Any replies would be appreciated.

 

[rv1pop]

pardon an answer from a novice here, and I stand to be corrected, -- but the old C-band I took out had two #14 and a five conductor #20 guage (I think -could have been 22) burglar alarm cable. This was an old system and I heard the new ones may need extra control for skew or elevation but I do not know. I will be watching for information, too. Burglar alarm cable comes in 5 or 8 conductor and is cheaper than most other cables; if you have conduit space, 2 - 5c. are cheaper than 1 - 8.

 

[linuxman]

Hi Jsattv.

Here is an item similar to what I have used.

Lowes also sells a two strand direct burial cable I think it is #16 stranded wire. I use that for the 2 motor wires. They also have a 5 wire like the link above which is what I have used for the other 2 motor wires, and the 3 that go to the servo motor. The colors may not match, but it works fine. Sometimes Lowes doesn't have the exact thing I want, so I go to Home Depot.

You need a total of 7 wires besides the 2 coax wires.

Hope that helps,

Fred

 

[turbosat]

Lowe's was my idea too, I bought some wire that was for sprinker systems I believe, and I think the wire for polarity motor turned out to be called thermostat control wire. Works fine.

 

[ussexplroer]

Yea I was wondering about that

I was thinking about the same thing. For years I have taped misc wire together in long runs using electrical tape. Cat 5, speaker wire, etc, etc. So when I get around if I ever setup my 12ft dish I got a while back. I was thinking of 2 rg6 wires, some type of cable (Like sprinkler wire. I have used that before.) and electrical tape to put it all together. I never had any trouble pulling wire through conduet or my face is glued sprinkler pipe. If that sprinkler plastic pipe is to small. You can get bigger. I know a guy who ran plastic sewer pipe to his new garage. The we took some kite string and a peice of foam. Blew it to the the other end of the tube. Then fished it out. We then used it to guide the fish tape through. We tried the fish tape first. But to many curves. Though not like 90 degree curves but enough to cause problem. ANy after that we pulled a few wires though. Plus had plenty of room to grow.

later,

Josh

 

[jsattv]

Hi Jsattv.

Here is an item similar to what I have used.

Lowes also sells a two strand direct burial cable I think it is #16 stranded wire. I use that for the 2 motor wires. They also have a 5 wire like the link above which is what I have used for the other 2 motor wires, and the 3 that go to the servo motor. The colors may not match, but it works fine. Sometimes Lowes doesn't have the exact thing I want, so I go to Home Depot.

You need a total of 7 wires besides the 2 coax wires.

Hope that helps,

Fred

Thanks guys for the great comments.

Fred (Linuxman) re the number of wires I need: If I use the Uniden 9900 Power Supply to power the Actuator the terminals are: +, -, for 36 VDC, and B, SEN, GND, for a total of 5 wires. On the back of the Uniden 9900 Receiver it says to use: +6V, Pulse, and GND to provide "Control Signals for a Servo Type Polarization Device". Do I need these 3 connections to the back of the 9900 Uniden Receiver if I am planning to update my LNB from the existing T Com 5000 - to a new C / KU - BSC 621 - 2 LNB? Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lumpkin666]

... Do I need these 3 connections to the back of the 9900 Uniden Receiver if I am planning to update my LNB from the existing T Com 5000 - to a new C / KU - BSC 621 - 2 LNB? Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Just a comment on this. If it were me, I'd run the wires for the skew adjustment rotor eventhough the bsc621 doesn't use one. If you're going to pull/bury wire anyhow, why not have it there? If I were using a receiver that controlled the rotor natively, I'd definitely chose a corotor setup over a bsc621 setup any day (given my experience with the quality of signal that you get from both). Pull the extra 3 little wires and give yourself the option of switching if you are dissatisfied with the bsc621 later.

 

[jsattv]

Just a comment on this. If it were me, I'd run the wires for the skew adjustment rotor eventhough the bsc621 doesn't use one. If you're going to pull/bury wire anyhow, why not have it there? If I were using a receiver that controlled the rotor natively, I'd definitely chose a corotor setup over a bsc621 setup any day (given my experience with the quality of signal that you get from both). Pull the extra 3 little wires and give yourself the option of switching if you are dissatisfied with the bsc621 later.

Thanks lumpkin, does the Corotor work for BOTH C and KU ? Did it outperform the bsc 621-2 in your tests?

 

[lumpkin666]

Thanks lumpkin, does the Corotor work for BOTH C and KU ? Did it outperform the bsc 621-2 in your tests?

Yes, you can use a corotor built for C/KU and it works very well.

I have been less than impressed with the BSC621 (have not used the 621-2, but assume they are basically the same in quality). In all cases of using the BSC621, both C-Band and KU band reception was less than I could achieve using a decent quality lnb on a standard corotor setup. Don't get me wrong though, the bsc621 is a decent product, and works GREAT when working with receivers that don't have the ability to control the skew mechanism on a corotor.

 

[stogie5150]

I used a cable that looks similar to cat 5e networking cable, except it has four 16ga stranded wires in it, covered in a nice blue sheath. An electrician buddy of mine gave me about 350 feet of it awhile back. The feedhorn servo wire, well, my Dad had one left over from our dish that we had when I was a lad, that was 26 years old, so I used that. I don't use a servo-controlled feed right now, but I agree with the others, put it in there, you never know. I use the dual c-band lnb that Sat AV sells, so I don't need the servo wires. But you never know. I had the coax from D* installs that I have uninstalled in the past for parts, so that was no cost. So, luckily, it didn't cost me anything for my whole cband setup other than concrete to set the pole. Oh, and a splitter that I no longer use.

I've found in this hobby you ALWAYS have to be on the lookout for anything that may be of use, that is if you intend on being lowbuck with it, as I do. Makes it more fun and rewarding when you do it yourself with what you have. I saw the thread on making an UHF antenna homebrew...THAT got the juices flowing and in an hour I was in the shed gathering material....

 

[truckracer]

I used 8 conductor 18 awg thermostat heatpump wire. The 18 gauge powers the 36" venture motor fine. It moves pretty quick running 130 or so feet.

Extra wires in there for my servo when I get rid of the bsc-621.

 

[boomer_106]

I've found in this hobby you ALWAYS have to be on the lookout for anything that may be of use, that is if you intend on being lowbuck with it, as I do. Makes it more fun and rewarding when you do it yourself with what you have. I saw the thread on making an UHF antenna homebrew...THAT got the juices flowing and in an hour I was in the shed gathering material....

haha, I was thinking about building one of those antennas myself

 

[Larry1]

haha, I was thinking about building one of those antennas myself

Here is another design to try...

The Gray-Hoverman Antenna For UHF Television Reception - Digital Home Canada

I have not built one yet, but it sure to be on my list for spring projects.