Coax/AC question

[phlatwound]

You might notice decreased signal through attenuation or loss above 1GHz. Swept to 1GHz simply means that it has been certified or rated through a testing process to a maximum (x) amount of loss per (x) amount of distance to a maximum frequency of 1GHz. The cable may continue to perform well up through the typical highest frequency on a Standard type LNBF of 1450 MHz, but remember, often the satellite IF frequencies extend up to 2150MHz on Universal or Wideband type LNBFs. These higher IF frequencies could experience signal attenuation and losses in the cable runs between the dish and receiver.



Wouldn't be overly concerned about the history.... Cable may also be left over from a job, no longer accepted type for the installation contract or the contractor is no longer performing CATV installs.

Thank you for the great explanation, it is understood. I will "never" have a Universal or Wideband-type LNBF in my system so those wouldn't be an issue.

I suppose (cable run) distance is always a factor, but is it a biggee when considering the sweep rating? My dish farm is within about 60' of my house, and it takes another 40-50' to get to my receivers, so I would never have a run of much over 100'.

Was also planning on needing a few hundred feet to put up my SatAv LNBF/DTV Slimlines hybrids for some friends and family, since those will be gratis installs I'm looking for a(nother) deal (your deal on the LNBFs made the whole thing possible)!

Hmmm.....how would that stuff work for OTA antenna downleads?

 

[SatelliteAV]

I dislike using flooded coax above ground unless there is no other available cable option due to the water resistant gooey substance that tends to get on every installation tool. It is just plain unpleasant to work with (especially on a hot day)! Great for extra protection underground...... Period!

 

[Cadsulfide]

The 10-2 run for AC power probably should be in a separate pipe, the national electrical code really frowns on running power and data in the same pipe. I would be more concerned with an accidental short from the line voltage hot leg to your sat equipment than induced noise. Use a GFCI outlet at the house and feed the array power on the load side.

On my setup I ran two 1-1/4" pipes from the house to the array (150'), put in a power pole for 110 on one and a terminal box for the coax, dc switch power, cat5, etc for the other.

Out in the boonies there will likely be no issues with pesky electrical inspectors. Still....once someone in government finds you be be "a person of interest"......

 

[phlatwound]

I dislike using flooded coax above ground unless there is no other available cable option due to the water resistant gooey substance that tends to get on every installation tool. It is just plain unpleasant to work with (especially on a hot day)! Great for extra protection underground...... Period!

Never thought about that, I bet it would make a mess out of strippers and compression tools. I'm going to call the guy tomorrow, but if I get the feeling he ripped that cable off I'm going to pass on it.

The 10-2 run for AC power probably should be in a separate pipe, the national electrical code really frowns on running power and data in the same pipe. I would be more concerned with an accidental short from the line voltage hot leg to your sat equipment than induced noise. Use a GFCI outlet at the house and feed the array power on the load side.

On my setup I ran two 1-1/4" pipes from the house to the array (150'), put in a power pole for 110 on one and a terminal box for the coax, dc switch power, cat5, etc for the other.

Out in the boonies there will likely be no issues with pesky electrical inspectors. Still....once someone in government finds you be be "a person of interest"......

Thanks Cad-s, that gives me some more good ideas. I'm thinking I will run multiple smaller conduits (1"-2") and hit some sort of pull box at the house.

It doesn't take that much effort to string a 100' AC cord out to my little farm but it would sure be nice to just plug in a 25 footer right in the middle of all of them and go.

And, I'm pretty sure, with that army of dishes in my back yard, I'm already a "person of interest", in fact I've heard several people that have seen them refer to me as being "kinda special".

Thanks to everyone in this thread for your thoughts and ideas, most appreciated.

 

[beavs2112]

hey all. just my humble opinions but since the black cable you mentioned has "CATV" printed on it chances are the frequency response sweep won't be good for FTA. they use different lower if frequencies than satellite usually. i wouldn't use it for fta at any price. especially if you're going the burial route. do you really want to save a few bucks in the beginning then find out you don't get great signal at the higher frequency c-band channels due to the poor sweep response and have to rip it all up and buy again?

just fyi one of the features of quality direct burial cable is the extra crush resistance. it's made stiffer so it doesn't get deformed from a nice round circle. since the impedance of coaxial cable is partly determined by the distance between the inner conductor and outer conductor if the normal rg-6 gets slightly crushed (or deformed if you will) during or after burial over time the impedance changes. i have used belden 1829bc direct burial cable with good results for about 3 years.

i would go with two separate conduits with pull strings for the reasons already mentioned. if you forget a ground wire run to a dish then the pull string is great.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Found the pix, I scored a bunch of leftover fiber optic duct from a wind project, (1-1/4" ID) a couple of years ago and trenched them in last fall. It works with standard electrical PVC fittings.

 

[phlatwound]

Found the pix, I scored a bunch of leftover fiber optic duct from a wind project, (1-1/4" ID) a couple of years ago and trenched them in last fall. It works with standard electrical PVC fittings.

Nice! I wish a roll of that stuff would fall off a truck near my place. :up