can I mix coax cable? spec me a sat meter too..

Hixs

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Afternoon,

My long running saga with freesat continues. The installer finally came, fiddled with the new dish/lnb for a while and reported back that it would have to be moved. So off he went with promise of returning when I laid a new cement pad elsewhere, and basically i've not heard back since (despite emailing)...so I'm doing it myself.

I may/may not have riled his feathers when I pointed out that the previous dish/lnb were of far better quality for the same price as he charged for the new gear...but hey ho!

So, right now the cable in use is this - https://www.2galli.fr/boutique/images_produits/z17vatctwindsh-fm.pdf

1*twin run
1*single run

Now if I can't find anymore of this cable is it ok to use another variety? If so, which?

Also what's the best way to attach the extra 5-6m of cable to the existing cable runs?


Sat meters - A quick run down of what required if anyone would be so kind? Hopefully I'll only need to use it the once, with perhaps a bit of fine tuning in winter if the dish moves a touch. I'm not looking to spend silly money max around 100ish.

As an example, is this ok? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Satellite-...UTF8&qid=1527590172&sr=1-1&keywords=sat+meter

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Satellite-...UTF8&qid=1527590413&sr=1-8&keywords=sat+meter


Cheers
 
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That cable is aluminium sheathed (outer foil) and is NOT suitable for outdoor use as the foil corrodes very quickly at the slightest hint of moisture particularly after disturbing connectors, it is only suitable for indoor use or very temporary outdoor use and is only used outdoors by cheapo DIYers or cowboy installers. You really need double insulated satellite cable with a copper outer foil such as WF100 - so replace with single runs, no joins required.
 
Are you suggesting replacing the entire cable run? That's a good 30m+ of cable, with at least 20m of it buried underground.
 
Are you suggesting replacing the entire cable run? That's a good 30m+ of cable, with at least 20m of it buried underground.
Replace it now without need for extension OR fit extension and replace in a couple of years max - the choice is yours subject to budget. The present cable is NOT suitable for outdoor use long term particularly underground AND disturbing existing connections to fit new/resite dish/lnb
Why DIY stores and others sell this cable as satellite cable 9and some cowboys use it) and con people I do not know - greed perhaps, looking for replacement business when it fails within a couple of years instead of the 10 plus years a copper sheathed cable would give.
 
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Replace it now without need for extension OR fit extension and replace in a couple of years max - the choice is yours subject to budget. The present cable is NOT suitable for outdoor use long term particularly underground

The cable has been buried in plastic wire conduit if that makes any difference? current runs have been in the ground for a few years now.

Could I re-run the cable without digging it all up?
 
It depends on how well the cables will pull through the conduit. Solder and or tape very well a new cable to old and pull through keeping your fingers crossed it doesn't seperate.
 
I'll have to ponder that a bit.

So many (English) cowboys around here, it's ridiculous.
 
I'll have to ponder that a bit.

So many (English) cowboys around here, it's ridiculous.
That is a problem nationwide which I why I always try to use Trading Standards approved businesses or members of reputable trade associations - CAI etc.
 
I'm in SW France. The amount of cowboys around here is very high. The guy that did the install had no previous exp in sat installation prior to moving to France. He arrived, got himself set up legally as a tradesman and went about declaring himself a pro installer. I didn't know this at the time. The guy that was suppose to be fixing it is actually a sparky who does it as a side enterprise, though according to him he was a sky installer years back.
 
Look for Copper-inner core, Copper braid shield, Copper foil, and foam-filled cable. It is much better than alloy foil type.

The linked spec suggests a large 6.8 mm outside diameter in a shotgun cable which means it may be tight getting three or ideally 4 cables (one a spare for the future) into one, existing, buried conduit. Some cable pulling lubricant might help? (an example not a recommendation of brand is https://www.screwfix.com/p/ideal-yellow-77-wire-cable-pulling-lubricant-950ml/44462 )

Webro WF100 {not WCF100} is one brand.
Triax TX100 is recommended by another on this forum for being tougher than Webro for installation purposes.

You can use F-plugs and joiner barrels to connect any types of cable together... But lots of amalgamating tape and/or heat-shrink tubing to effect a water-tight seal would be required. Accessible (of course) for repair when it does eventually fail.

Edited 1. due to accidental early posting.
Edit 2. Pulling new cables would (imho) definitely be a 2 person job and possibly quite tricky. (Depends a lot on the size of conduit already installed).
 
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I'm in SW France. The amount of cowboys around here is very high. The guy that did the install had no previous exp in sat installation prior to moving to France. He arrived, got himself set up legally as a tradesman and went about declaring himself a pro installer. I didn't know this at the time. The guy that was suppose to be fixing it is actually a sparky who does it as a side enterprise, though according to him he was a sky installer years back.

Are you anywhere near Barbezieux? I have found this company to be very good:

Europe Television
27 Rue Marcel Jambon, 16300 Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire
Téléphone : 05 45 78 12 29

They did some work for me a few years ago (mice ate the coax cable!) and were thorough, careful, and not expensive. The man they sent spoke some English, too.
 
Look for Copper-inner core, Copper braid shield, Copper foil, and foam-filled cable. It is much better than alloy foil type.

The linked spec suggests a large 6.8 mm outside diameter in a shotgun cable which means it may be tight getting three or ideally 4 cables (one a spare for the future) into one, existing, buried conduit. Some cable pulling lubricant might help? (an example not a recommendation of brand is https://www.screwfix.com/p/ideal-yellow-77-wire-cable-pulling-lubricant-950ml/44462 )

Webro WF100 {not WCF100} is one brand.
Triax TX100 is recommended by another on this forum for being tougher than Webro for installation purposes.

You can use F-plugs and joiner barrels to connect any types of cable together... But lots of amalgamating tape and/or heat-shrink tubing to effect a water-tight seal would be required. Accessible (of course) for repair when it does eventually fail.

Edited 1. due to accidental early posting.
Edit 2. Pulling new cables would (imho) definitely be a 2 person job and possibly quite tricky. (Depends a lot on the size of conduit already installed).

Just seen your edits. Problem here really is it's not my place. I'm the live-in caretaker, the owner lives/works abroad. It took a good while to persuade her to let me have the sat setup installed to begin with, so I doubt i'd get the go ahead to dig the lawn up again.

I measured the conduit. It's 30mm wide. I think with a bit of luck pulling it through will work (1 pull/1 feed). There is only 1 slight bend in the run. Even if I can dig it up, I'd still have to pull the cable through as the conduit isn't split.

Are you anywhere near Barbezieux? I have found this company to be very good:

Europe Television
27 Rue Marcel Jambon, 16300 Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire
Téléphone : 05 45 78 12 29

They did some work for me a few years ago (mice ate the coax cable!) and were thorough, careful, and not expensive. The man they sent spoke some English, too.

I'm a good bit further south then that. It's at least 2 hours to Bordeaux from here. Not worth anyone's time to travel that far for ~200 euro.
 
Webro WF100 {not WCF100} is one brand.
Triax TX100 is recommended by another on this forum for being tougher than Webro for installation purposes.


TX100 is about 3 times as strong as Webro WF100. Webro being near pure copper which is relatively malleable & TX100 uses an addative in the copper that increases the strength but it also increases the attenuation by 6%.

So for jobs where the signal is generous and the stronger TX100 could save in the long term with a % less maintenance costs TX100 makes sense .. but where every last drop of signal is more important that favours wf100.

They are both tough on the outer plastic.

Some coax manufacturers use strengthened copper braid, .. can be a real pain to cut / prep consistently.
 
I'll order 100m of the WF100, as every bit of signal strength is vital around here.
 

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