RG59 Cable and the 722. Dish says it will burn up!

[jborchel]

The Dish tech showed up today with a 722 to install and said I could not use my RG59 house cabling for the connection. He said it would overheat and burn up the cable. Of course, I didn't believe him so we called Dish and talked to tech support. The tech said that the 722 antenna feed is 22 Mhz and that was too much for the RG59 to handle and that it might work at first but that eventually it would burn up.

Now I'm not an electrical engineer but this sounds like hogwash to me. However, the real expertise is on this forum so I'm asking the question here. Is this true?

Jack

 

[skyviewmark]

I don't see it burning up.. But you will have nothing but problems with RG59. It just isn't built to handle the frequencies that the new receivers use.

 

[DISH_NC]

The issue might be the DC current that runs to the LNB. The DISHPro LNBs run at a higher voltage than the legacy ones and as such, more current flows.

The Core and Sheath of the RG59 is about 1/2 or less of that for RG6. I could see it getting warm over a long run.

 

[RandallA]

RG59 might not handle the high frequencies required for Dish Pro or Dish Pro Plus, RG6 will. Have it replaced or you're gonna run into nothing but trouble.

 

[jborchel]

Thanks guys. I guess they are right.

Jack

 

[rcdallas]

You can try it on your own, I know of some who have successfully ran 59 without a hitch for quite awhile, but professionally I doubt anyone is going to install to it.

 

[Dgenx321]

No way in hell you can diplex on that 59.

So you would have to run a direct line to your tv2.

The tech knows wht he is talking about, so why didn't he just run new cable?

 

[Dgenx321]

The only time I will use existing 59 is to run a 301, and then I don't like doing it.

 

[harshness]

The issue is mostly one of current carrying capacity (ampacity) as DISH_NC suggests. RG59, due to its smaller center conductor, has about 70% the ampacity of RG6. The LNBs need pretty much all that RG6 can provide.

 

[NightHawk]

Nothing's going to burn up. The difference in DC resistance between two 100 foot runs of coax cable, one RG59 the other RG6, is only a couple of Ohms and unlikely to be of any consequence for most installations. The larger issue is the higher frequencies used with DishPro installations. At 2250 MHz the insertion loss will be excessive in any poor to average quality RG59 and to prevent signal strength problems RG6 is the cable of choice now.

 

[bnewt]

Is this discussion regarding the cable from the dish to the receiver in the house or the connection from tv2 output to another tv? I have had a Dish 500 system for 5 years. Would this have been the standard install package then?

 

[aboz]

Years ago, I had RG-59 going to a 3000 (1997, Dish) the cable did actually begin to actually melt from the inside and it smelt like burnt hair. This all took place over 3 years of use.

 

[RandallA]

Is this discussion regarding the cable from the dish to the receiver in the house or the connection from tv2 output to another tv? I have had a Dish 500 system for 5 years. Would this have been the standard install package then?

It's OK to use RG59 for TV2 output. The problem is when you use RG59 between the LNB and the receiver, voltage is going through the cable and it can cause problems. There's also the problem with high frequencies for Dish PRO.

 

[ChrisFix]

In my 6 year old house, I have home runs from every room to a distribution point on the outside of the house of RG-6 1000Mhz....from what I have been reading, this is also insufficient for using single runs diplexed for both tuners and backfeed to VIP722/622/222 receivers (because of the 1000Mhz vs 2500Mhz rating)? Any pro's here who can confirm this for me?

Would love to switch to Dish from TWC, but hesitate to have new cables run, as aesthetics are important to WAF, so being able to utilize in-wall wiring would go a long way to making this work for me.

 

[bnewt]

How can you tell if you RG59 was used for the install instead of the higher quality cable?

 

[RandallA]

In my 6 year old house, I have home runs from every room to a distribution point on the outside of the house of RG-6 1000Mhz....from what I have been reading, this is also insufficient for using single runs diplexed for both tuners and backfeed to VIP722/622/222 receivers (because of the 1000Mhz vs 2500Mhz rating)? Any pro's here who can confirm this for me?

Would love to switch to Dish from TWC, but hesitate to have new cables run, as aesthetics are important to WAF, so being able to utilize in-wall wiring would go a long way to making this work for me.

It depends on the quality of the RG6 cable. Some RG6 cable might be able to handle the high frequencies even though it says that it's been swept tested to 1000 MHz. They just didn't test it to higher frequencies. Good quality cable should be able to handle the high frequencies.

The problem is you don't know if it's gonna be able to handle it unless you run some test on the cable. Might as well just make sure it's rated 2250 MHz and be done with it.

 

[dont24]

It's usually marked on the cable itself. I had issues when I installed my 2nd 622. I couldn't get the 2nd tuner working. Turned out I had an RG-59 cable in the mix. Replaced it with RG-6 and the issue was resolved.

 

[ChrisFix]

It depends on the quality of the RG6 cable. Some RG6 cable might be able to handle the high frequencies even though it says that it's been swept tested to 1000 MHz. They just didn't test it to higher frequencies. Good quality cable should be able to handle the high frequencies.

The problem is you don't know if it's gonna be able to handle it unless you run some test on the cable. Might as well just make sure it's rated 2250 MHz and be done with it.

Thanks for the response.

I assume there isn't any testing that I could do short of having an install and seeing the results?

Do you know, in general, how careful Dish installers are with running cables so they are at least well hidden. I have both attic and basement, allowing pretty reasonable access to 1st and 2nd floors.

 

[RandallA]

Thanks for the response.

I assume there isn't any testing that I could do short of having an install and seeing the results?

Do you know, in general, how careful Dish installers are with running cables so they are at least well hidden. I have both attic and basement, allowing pretty reasonable access to 1st and 2nd floors.

That depends on the installer, some of them take so much pride in the work they do some others just don't care. I would say as long as you tell them what you want and he agrees to do it then you should be OK.

Don't think there is any cable test for us consumers to see if the cable can handle the high frequencies.

 

[bhelms]

Originally Posted by RandallA
It depends on the quality of the RG6 cable. Some RG6 cable might be able to handle the high frequencies even though it says that it's been swept tested to 1000 MHz. They just didn't test it to higher frequencies. Good quality cable should be able to handle the high frequencies.

The problem is you don't know if it's gonna be able to handle it unless you run some test on the cable. Might as well just make sure it's rated 2250 MHz and be done with it.

Thanks for the response.

I assume there isn't any testing that I could do short of having an install and seeing the results?

Do you know, in general, how careful Dish installers are with running cables so they are at least well hidden. I have both attic and basement, allowing pretty reasonable access to 1st and 2nd floors.

If what you have happens to be Belden 1189A, then you're probably good to go. That's only swept to 1000MHz, but I have read in several places that it is acceptable to much higher frequencies (stated by a Belden engineer in one case, IIRC). At 1000MHz, the CATV-rated 1189A has 6.54 dB loss per 100' whereas the superior sat.-rated Belden 1694A is 5.89 dB for the same frequency and length. That's not a huge difference especially for shorter runs. Even tho' the rolloff might be steeper on the 1189A, I don't think the max. frequency will be much lower, or at least certainly beyond 2250MHz. If it's another brand, then all bets are off. If running the sat.-rated cable presents any problems or added cost, I would certainly try what you have first IIWU.

What constitutes a "quality" job varies considerably. If you or your wife are particular about certain aspects of the installation your are well advised to either DIY or else find a local installer who will be more concerned about repeat business. Discuss your expectations/concerns with him BEFORE he starts the job so you won't have any surprises later...!

PS - I'm not suggesting that you use the 1694A cable as a replacement. It's quite expensive. You'll find much lower-costing cable, probably 10-cents a foot or less, that will be quite suitable to 2250MHz...