STB Receivers & cable making

[ej00807]

I'm new to FTA but fairly an old hat with electronics and so forth.

Recently I purcahsed a FTA receiver (which is supposed the #1 selling brand right now). I had successfully set it the stb and dish and began to really, really enjoy this new experience of good, free programming. Really, it was awesome and better than cable or dish.

Anyhow, within the first week of my new hobby, I accidently triped on my RG6 line, because I hadn't fully finished the installation yet. The cable came out of the connector and shorted out, center core to outer jacket. Direct short.

To my surprise, my brand new Korean made receiver, which shall remain nameless, was damaged. Apparently the manufactured hadn't bothered to put in $2 worth of circuitry to isolate the power regulator in the event of a short.

In my opinion this is crap. Is this a common problem with set top boxes?
Does any manufacturer have good isolation, or is the best, simply not good enough for me?

Also, how can you make the best quality cable fittings that won't come apart in the even of a something like this?

 

[Anole]

The Snap 'n Seal or equivalent coax connectors will stay attached and pull down your entire stack of equipment next time you trip over the cable.
Only you can determine if that's a good thing... or a bad thing...
But the connectors are the only way to go!

Another problem I've read about and avoided, is hot-connecting coax to LNBs, motors, and switches in the FTA world.
In the Dish world, you can hot-swap stuff with impunity.
Here, the diseqc switches are likely to blow up with such handling, and leave you wondering why you are getting the wrong signals from the wrong LNBs.
So, word to the wise.

Last but not least, I'd think any receiver could take a momentary short to the coax.
That's just something that's likely to happen in the life of a receiver.
I don't know what brand you think is top of the line, but I'll wager it's not one of the models you'll see recommended here. -

 

[Lak7]

I'm sure your "#1 Korean Made...." is made in China, check the batteries. I have one too. As Anole said, probably blew the DiSEqC switch, if you are using one. What is your receiver doing, anything? I would try connecting without the DiSEqC switch and see what happens.

 

[red2grass]

Speaking of cable making, I recently bought set of Paladin tools from Amazon. Excellent tool set and I wish I had it long time ago. It is Paladin SealTite Pro Kit 4910. It is a bit pricy at 80 some dollars at Amazon but other places sell it for more than $100.
I also saw a similar kit at Home Depot with a brand name of Data Shark (a Paladin company). The kit does the same work but obviously a low end one at $40. I have not tried the Data Shark one but I think it should be good enough if we don't use it every day.
Cables made by these compression type of connectors are not easy to be pulled apart and will avoid the problems you had experienced.

I'm new to FTA but fairly an old hat with electronics and so forth.

Recently I purcahsed a FTA receiver (which is supposed the #1 selling brand right now). I had successfully set it the stb and dish and began to really, really enjoy this new experience of good, free programming. Really, it was awesome and better than cable or dish.

Anyhow, within the first week of my new hobby, I accidently triped on my RG6 line, because I hadn't fully finished the installation yet. The cable came out of the connector and shorted out, center core to outer jacket. Direct short.

To my surprise, my brand new Korean made receiver, which shall remain nameless, was damaged. Apparently the manufactured hadn't bothered to put in $2 worth of circuitry to isolate the power regulator in the event of a short.

In my opinion this is crap. Is this a common problem with set top boxes?
Does any manufacturer have good isolation, or is the best, simply not good enough for me?

Also, how can you make the best quality cable fittings that won't come apart in the even of a something like this?

 

[rv1pop]

I have used the high priced Paladin and bought the DataShark. Can not tell much difference. Have not had even one cable pull apart since starting to use this kit, and not had one shorted cable either.

 

[Tron]

Just finished compressing two PPC EX6 fittings onto a new dual cable run into the house for dish farm expansion. I used the Zenith ZDS-5061 tool, which has never failed me yet in the 4 years I've owned it. This is a very inexpensive tool, available for around $10 online and around $15 at Lowe's.

 

[Anole]

I was quite interested in the inexpensive Zenith crimper, and did a Google search.
What did I find?
A four-year old discussion of it right here on SatGuy's.
... and maybe not so favorable... hard to tell if the tool failed or the tool-holder... -

Based on Tron's kind words, I may pick one up locally and give it a try.
At least I won't pay shipping, and can always return it if a problem arises.

edit: found the DataShark for $15 without much shopping effort.

 

[ej00807]

Snap and seal & PPC EX6 . I have to check those out. I'm never going with a screw-on connector again. Guess thats the real meaning of being royally screwed.

Well it wasn't a momentary short, it was about a minute or two before I figured out what was happening.

I'm going to withhold comments on the manufacture until I get it back from them. But so far I'm not impressed. There two year warranty really amounts to, charging a $25 'shipping' fee just to return the item. The seller states it is not a clone and forced me to send it to the manufacture.

I'm thinking a simple fuse would fix this situation, I should think it would be standard equipment of FTA receivers? I mean there are other scenarios where the receiver, and people, would need protection.

Of, if anyone knows of a receiver that has clamping or crossbar circuit, I might be tempted prod the seller into a switch.

 

[Tron]

I was quite interested in the inexpensive Zenith crimper, and did a Google search.
What did I find?
A four-year old discussion of it right here on SatGuy's.
... and maybe not so favorable... hard to tell if the tool failed or the tool-holder... -

Based on Tron's kind words, I may pick one up locally and give it a try.
At least I won't pay shipping, and can always return it if a problem arises.

edit: found the DataShark for $15 without much shopping effort.

The Zenith 5041 was a complete failure, serious problems with workmanship. The 5061 replaced it, and seems to have garnered a favorable opinion. The poor track record of the 5041 worried me when I bought the 5061, but I've never had any trouble with this newer model. It even survived being submerged in Katrina floodwater

 

[updatelee]

In my opinion this is crap. Is this a common problem with set top boxes?
Does any manufacturer have good isolation, or is the best, simply not good enough for me?

yes thats very common, no hotswap'n. allways unplug the receiver before conecting or unconnecting, even during accidents, hehe.

Ive replaced a few Q72 transistors on dreambox's in my day.