which tv cable to use


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Old 09-27-07, 10:53 AM
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which tv cable to use

I am wiring a 2 unit apartment building with cable tv to all the rooms and the first stop along the way (Living room) is about 65-70 feet from where it will come into the house at the basement.

Is there a certain grade of cable needed for that distance or is this footage still within the basic cable to be found in the home center stores? I have portion of a spool leftover from another project that is printed on the side CM RG-6U, and also has 18-AWG on it. Would the same gauge as that work? (provided those numbers mean anything to you!)

Thanks in advance for any input.
 
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Old 09-27-07, 12:52 PM
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That would be fine. Don't use RG-59.
 
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Old 09-27-07, 08:03 PM
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Originally Posted by ghixson
I am wiring a 2 unit apartment building with cable tv to all the rooms and the first stop along the way (Living room) is about 65-70 feet from where it will come into the house at the basement.
The cable type is correct, but "first stop" tells me you're planning to daisy-chain from one drop to the next using splitters. That's not a good idea because every split loses 3.5dB of signal. The picture may look great at the first TV, but may be unviewable after as few as three splits.

It's much better to run individual pulls to a central location and use one multi-way splitter. That way you can install a broadband amplifier if you need one.

If that isn't feasible, pull as many home-runs as you can and keep the splits to a minimum.

Another option is a series of taps (click for sample) at each drop that allows you to place an amp at the head of the line to drive a number of drops. Taps come in different dB attenuation values, and the highest numbers are used closest to the amp. This allows you to balance the line so the last TV in the chain receives close to the same signal as the first.
 
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Old 09-28-07, 04:25 AM
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Thanks for the info Rick and Mitch. I plan to go up to the Living room closet and split it in there 4 ways, one to the LR floor for that TV, and one to each of 3 bedrooms.
 
 

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