Determing the quality of co-axial cable

[al_madhi]

Hi , guys wondering if anybody can tell how to determine the quality of a co-axial cable before you buy it . There are a lot of brands manufacutured in many countries , What to look for in determing the quality of the co-axial cable , It is only a cable which consists of four things :-

1 - the Black rubber casing

2 - the braided wire

3 - the foam dielectric

4 - the copper conductor

In the above four things what they should be for the best quality co-axial cable

Please advice .


Best Regards

 

[dragon002]

look for directv approved or dishnet approved.

or swept tested to 2250 and at least 60% braid.

 

[sjm992]

I made the mistake of buying one from Home Depot that had a copper plated steel conductor instead of solid copper and it didn't have a foam dialectric - just extruded plastic. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't cut it.

 

[chadzx11]

I made the mistake of buying one from Home Depot that had a copper plated steel conductor instead of solid copper and it didn't have a foam dialectric - just extruded plastic. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't cut it.

Most of it is copper plated steel. Doesn't HD sell vextra? That's a good brand, IMO.

 

[Claude Greiner]

From what I have seen, there is basically 4 grades of coaxial cable....

#1 Cheap Chineese RG6
#2 Good Chineese RG6
#3 American Made RG6 (Comscope, Vextra, Belden)
#4 Premimum American Made RG6 Quad Shield (Comscope, Vextra, Belden)

Usually everything I see is good enough quality RG6 Cable for Satellite. If your doing a perminent installation, I would recommend using 2,3 and 4.

As far as determining the cheap Chineese stuff, you can usually feel it. It usually has a funney smell, its a bit greesy and you can generally feel the difference when compaired to some good coax.

 

[Claude Greiner]

100% copper and copper plated steel does not make a difference.

Its nice to have 100% Copper since will pass the signal better, but your not going to see any significant improvement in performance unless your using very long runs!

Consider this, if you have ever had your system professionally installed they are using an inexpensive RG6 Cable.

When I was younger I used to spend the extra $40 per 1000 foot roll and get the better quality RG6 cable, but now a days we just get the good chinnese stuff or Vextra. There are 3 reasons....

#1 The average customer does not appreciate it, nor will they spend the extra money to pay for it.

#2 There is no noticable difference in signal quality

#3 Reduced commissions from DISH and Directv mean we have to make up for it somewhere!

 

[sksatellite]

You right, Cloude, with the pay get less and demanding more from DTV and Dish, someone has to pay for it or the installers has to cut some corner to make even, or let the $11.00 hourly young kids with no experience do the installation and get ton of complain from customers.

 

[Foxbat]

100% copper and copper plated steel does not make a difference.

Its nice to have 100% Copper since will pass the signal better, but your not going to see any significant improvement in performance unless your using very long runs!

Claude, as it was explained to me, 100% copper is better for longer DC-powered feeds since the DC resistance is lower than the copper-clad steel core. Otherwise, the cheaper cable works because of the "skin effect" at the frequencies involved. Another issue would be a long run of suspended cable where the steel core holds up better than the 100% copper core.

 

[Stargazer]

I usuall determine the quality by reading on the side of it and see what the print says.

 

[rockaway1836]

Don't forget the foil that comes after the braid, that should be #3.

 

[Jhon69]

The cable used by both E*,and D*,installers,that has been installed at my home,
within the last 2 years,has the words,swept tested 3 GZ.,printed on the cover.