Dish Installers: How do you prep your coax?

[device manager]

I do mine identical to the way the T&B guide shows you.

http://www.tnb.com/contractor/docs/snapnseal.pdf

After the center conductor extends past the rim/edge of the connector I trim to it be less than the thickness of a nickel (per Dish instructions).

However I have seen some installers that do not fold the braid back over the jacket before pushing the connector on and compressing it down, and they tend to leave the stingers (center conductor) long. How do the rest of you guys, main the Dish installers on this forum, prep your cables?

Are you guys mainly using PPC, SNS, or Digicon connectors?

 

[Mike500]

Stripping and installing connectors on RG6QS Coax


Careful preparation of the cable end is very very important, especially with quad shielded cable. Sloppy preparation will result is the ruining of the tool and failure to set the Snap-N-Seal connector properly.

1. Place the inner sleeve of the Snap-N-Seal connector with the wide end away from the end of the cable.

2. Strip off the outer jacket of the cable and a portion of the center conductor as instructed by the document provided with the tool.

3. Carefully fold back the outer shielding wires against the outer jacket of the cable evenly, exposing the inner shielding wires.

4. Carefully cut away the outer foil shielding layer, and remove it to exposed the inner shielding wires.

5. Carefully and evenly fold back the inner shielding wires evenly against the outer jacket.

6. Snap off the main body of the connector and insert it fully on the cable end. The connector is fully inserted when the center connector is level with the end of the connector, when looking inside the nut.

7. Compress the connector on the cable with the proper compression tool.


Reasons why the shield wires must remain intact and must be folded over the outer jacket

A straight cut of the outer jacket and the shield wire layer(s) down to the center conductor insulator will not allow full contact and retention of the outer shield. The shielded wires must be folded back over the jacket. Not doung so means that the connector is just slid over the shield wires and outer jacket and retention of the shield wires are held by friction, not by tightly held tension. Tightly clamping the ends of the shield wires prevents degrading the electrical contact of the shield wires, which serves as one leg of the voltage switching circuit for the multiswitch or lnb of 15-18 volts. If you are passing only a RF signal, it is not a problem, and might not be a problem for short coax runs. But on long runs, any minor bit or corrosion or separation of the barrel from the shield wires might lead to failure and a resultant voltage drop over time. This will manifest itself in the lost of the even transponders in the signal.

The industry standard is the 1/4"x1/4" strip on the coax. If the center insulator is below the center hole in the barrel, the coax has not been fully seated. Idealy, it should sit about 1/16" or 2mm out of the hole. If you a using a compression tool that applies pressure to the inside of the connector, the plunger will force the center conductor almost flush. Over time it might return to the 2mm protrusion. This protrusion is ideal in that it eliminates the "air" gap between the center conductor insulator and the female socket port. The "air" gap increases the chances of water vapor entry and corrosion. If you look at an F81 female port carefully, you will notice that it is recessed about 1/32" or 1mm.

So, folding back the shield wires enhances the electrical contact surface between the shield and the barrel of the connector. It also increases the connectors resistance to pull off. The bent over shield wires clamped by any type of connector prevents "pull off" and ensures the integrety of the connection for passage of both the RF signal, and more importantly, with dbs, the free conveyance of the lnb switching current.

 

[Van]

If you have a good coax stripper then you dont need to pull back the braid as the cutting blade should cutt the braiding clean with the dielectric core, atleast that is my opinion and hasnt failed me in many years.

 

[dishcomm]

I do mine identical to the way the T&B guide shows you.

http://www.tnb.com/contractor/docs/snapnseal.pdf

After the center conductor extends past the rim/edge of the connector I trim to it be less than the thickness of a nickel (per Dish instructions).

However I have seen some installers that do not fold the braid back over the jacket before pushing the connector on and compressing it down, and they tend to leave the stingers (center conductor) long. How do the rest of you guys, main the Dish installers on this forum, prep your cables?

Are you guys mainly using PPC, SNS, or Digicon connectors?

I talk to it real nice and say a few Hail Mary's then put the fitting on....
All kidding aside. I use a cable prep tool and adjust the cutting depth so that the alum braid is left behind
Quite frankly though it really doesn't make a difference...When the fitting is placed on the cable the ferrule goes under the jacket and makes good contact with the alum braid beneath....That completes the circuit.....
One thing I have noticed..Those Gilbert fittings, the ones some call 'bumblebee" fittings because they are black and yellow, at times I have noticed they are not that tight ..If you jiggle the fitting it can lose contact..I no longer use them....In now use the PPC-6 snap and seal with the Blue Ring.......thye are a good fitting and not too pricey.....23 cents ppc.....

 

[device manager]

Mike500 & dishcomm, thanks for the detailed replies. A buddy of mine tried the bumblebee Gilberts and hated them.

Van, if I read your reply correctly it sounds like you cut the braid off of the 2nd cut during the cable prep. Having a good stripper means you can adjust the depth of the cut so that you do_not cut the braid off or nick the center conductor.

 

[Claude Greiner]

If you have a good coax stripper then you dont need to pull back the braid as the cutting blade should cutt the braiding clean with the dielectric core, atleast that is my opinion and hasnt failed me in many years.

I do mine the same way!

The only time I actually fold the foil back is when I have to use a razor blade!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Heres what I use to put on Cable connectors...

#1 I'll use this stipper to strip off the proper shielding

#2 I'll use a PPC Connector

#3 I'll use this wire cutter to cut the stinger off of the cable to the exact lengh. For some reason if you put this paticular stripper right on the end of the connectot it will cut it perfectly every time and leave the stinger sticking out 1/4 of an inch.

#4 I'll use a Cat Universal Tool to compress my connector

 

[webbydude]

LOL!!

Too funny Claude. That's the exact same setup I use. Ok...subtract the Belden strippers and I use a pair of Klein sidecuts instead.

 

[visiter555]

I do mine identical to the way the T&B guide shows you.

http://www.tnb.com/contractor/docs/snapnseal.pdf

After the center conductor extends past the rim/edge of the connector I trim to it be less than the thickness of a nickel (per Dish instructions).

However I have seen some installers that do not fold the braid back over the jacket before pushing the connector on and compressing it down, and they tend to leave the stingers (center conductor) long. How do the rest of you guys, main the Dish installers on this forum, prep your cables?

Are you guys mainly using PPC, SNS, or Digicon connectors?

I always leave the centre connector long! 99.999% of the failures I have had with coax have been with SW21, SW44 and the occassional DP34 switches not getting a good connection. Cur-off the connector, install a new one with a longer (1/4 inch past the barrel) centre connector and VOILA all is well with the world!

 

[iafirebuff]

I too leave the center a little long, then trim it down after the connector is on.

 

[Van]

Oh I dont like that coax stripper at all claude, Ive never gotten those to work correctly and soon after I had started at dish I switched to the grey adjustable ones you can get from radiohack and home depot.

Device manager when my strippers cut they take the braiding off only to the point where the core is also removed, so when its done it looks like a very nice and clean 4D perspective diagram as to what the inside looks like.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Oh I dont like that coax stripper at all claude, Ive never gotten those to work correctly and soon after I had started at dish I switched to the grey adjustable ones you can get from radiohack and home depot.

Device manager when my strippers cut they take the braiding off only to the point where the core is also removed, so when its done it looks like a very nice and clean 4D perspective diagram as to what the inside looks like.

The yellow one works fine and does a perfect cut out of the box with no adjustments necessary!

 

[webbydude]

I used(!!!) to use the gray ones like Van describes. Got wrote up a few too many times by our QC guy.

DNS keeps telling us to use the "yellow one". Presumably because the blade depth can't be adjusted. And yes Van, I do prefer the gray ones. LOL