Coax Comparison

[Captain Midnight]

What is everyone's go-to coax? And is RG-11 able to keep CNR/SNR dB numbers 0.5+db higher when used on a run under 100ft? Just curious on whether it is worth the cost, since my dish is only 60ft from the receiver. I searched the forum and never found any direct comparison of signal strength numbers with RG-11 vs RG-6

 

[c-spand]

What is everyone's go-to coax? And is RG-11 able to keep CNR/SNR dB numbers 0.5+db higher when used on a run under 100ft? Just curious on whether it is worth the cost, since my dish is only 60ft from the receiver. I searched the forum and never found any direct comparison of signal strength numbers with RG-11 vs RG-6

I have read some on this and if you are under 100 feet you are fine. No reason unless you are going to run a huge cable system that would require long runs over 100 feet.

 

[Titanium]

This is an apples vs oranges question. Does RG-11 have less attenuation than RG-6? Yes. Will signals travelling through a RG-11 type coax have less attenuation than signals travelling through a RG-8 type? Yes.

What is the difference in attenuation between the two coax types? Depends on the IF frequency. Remember, the IF frequency block covers 950 - 2150MHz and the loss figures are much greater at 2GHz vs 1GHz.

How does the coax attenuation relate to the Signal to Noise Ratio? The downlink signal is down converted to an IF frequency then amplified before being sent down the coax cable. This amplification is typically 60-65dB with the SNR reduction associated with amplification noise. The attenuation incurred through the coax and fittings becomes a percentage of this amplified signal. A threshold downlink signal will remain a threshold amplified signal as the attenuation remains a percentage of the amplification applied to it.

Would you notice a slight advantage using 60 feet of RG11 vs RG6? Yes, but I would instead focus on providing an optimized satellite signal to and through the feedhorn/LNB.

BTW, I use RG-6, quad shield, copper core coax for all of my cable runs. I agree that RG11 would be more suitable for runs over 200 - 250'.

 

[primestar31]

I'm partial to Perfect Vision RG-6 quad-shield solid copper, and I buy it on the 1,000ft reel. Great quality and value for the money.

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[Inclined Orbit]

As mentioned, RG-6 is fine for your 100ft run and there is really no benefit going to RG-11 in your case. On huge building distribution systems its another story and you can actually starve the receiver at some point and it will not decode. This usually happens when you get below about -65dBm and/or the C/N gets below about 5dB for DirecTV. You don't need quad shield unless you have a lot of cables tightly bundled where the extra shielding avoids some cable cross talk, otherwise there is really no benefit.

One job I did was redesigning the distribution systems for DirecTV US, DirecTV Latin America and Sky Mexico at the DirecTV headquarters with the distribution spanning 11 floors of the building. That used a lot of RG-11 for vertical runs and I got away with RG-6 within each floor, but there were high level launch amps at the top floor feeding the RG-11 with distribution amps on each floor. This was all multiswitches and over 10yrs ago so I suspect an amount of it has been replaced by SWM equipment by now.

 

[Captain Midnight]

Thanks for the input. I've never worked with RG-11, but everyone says it is tough, thick stuff. Like 14ga center conductor? It probably is not worth trying to run from my LNB to receiver. ...But I am one of those best signal possible weirdos!
That's the only reason I even question it. I have a reel of around 900ft of CommScope RG-6 coax I paid $20 for at a garage sale. I just need some good compression fittings. The cheap ones that came with my compression tool kit are really poor quality.

 

[FTA4PA]

Thanks for the input. I've never worked with RG-11, but everyone says it is tough, thick stuff. Like 14ga center conductor? It probably is not worth trying to run from my LNB to receiver. ...But I am one of those best signal possible weirdos!
That's the only reason I even question it. I have a reel of around 900ft of CommScope RG-6 coax I paid $20 for at a garage sale. I just need some good compression fittings. The cheap ones that came with my compression tool kit are really poor quality.

As far as compression connectors and tools to install them this is what I have used for the last several years and have had no issues.

Amazon product ASIN B07NC4GB99
Amazon product ASIN B002KWZCR2

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[Inclined Orbit]

The PPC connectors are good and at one time were the only accepted connector for use by DirecTV. But I suspect someone was paid off for them to reach that status. My favorite F connectors are T&B Snap-N-Seal (now Belden?) SNS1P6U. These fit crappy RG6 through quad shield with just one connector and they are really nice. The industry standard compression tool was the Ripley Cablematic CAT-EX EX6, which does RG-59 and RG-6 connectors and the best stripper was the Cable Prep CPT-6590. These were in every DirecTV, Dish and local cable company trucks at one time.

 

[LocutusOfBorg]

I use quad shield RG-6 with compression connectors.

 

[Captain Midnight]

As far as compression connectors and tools to install them this is what I have used for the last several years and have had no issues.

Amazon product ASIN B07NC4GB99
Amazon product ASIN B002KWZCR2

DataShark 70029 Universal Cutter/stripper for Audio Video Networking for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for DataShark 70029 Universal Cutter/stripper for Audio Video Networking at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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This is what my stripper tool looks like