ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Voice - Data - Video Discussion Coax Crimper and Splitter questions

tell you supply house to order 3M part no. SIL-5CC.

Silicone grease is also available at any auto-parts store as silicone dielectric grease. It's used for waterproofing sparkplug boots and underhood electrical connections.

Hal, what makes you say this about compression type connectors? I see them all the time indoors. I usually use the compression fittings, unless I run out and can only find the crimp connectors locally.

Edit: I guess you can't use BB codes here...

[This message has been edited by giddonah (edited 06-08-2005).]

From my point of view, the much larger hex on compression connectors makes them easier to work with, especially for indoor applications where the cables are more likely to be connected/reconnected in tight spaces.

I know that there are crimp connectors available with larger hexes, but they seem to be pretty hard to find. Decent compression connectors (PPC, sold under the Ideal name)are available at Lowes and Home Depot now.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productdetail.jsp?xi=xi&ItemId=1611786975&ccitem=


I use this stuff for everything

I prefer Digicon compression connectors as well. Does anyone have a good website where I can purchase Digicon connectors as the one pictured here? I have not had any luck with the place I get mine now.

Thanks,
Dustin Kuhlman

This place has 'em. I ordered a compression tool from them (which they no longer show on their website, too bad, it works well).
http://dlsus.chainreactionweb.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=589
http://dlsus.chainreactionweb.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=588

brianl703,

Thank you for the link. I will give these a try and see if I have better luck.

Good source for all varieties of compression connectors, F, RCA, BNC Nickel & Gold, and tools. Also post unique RJ45 connectors. www.unicornelex.com

I avoid twist on and push on connectors like the plague. RG-59 cable installations that used to work fine on the old cable system, suddenly cause problems when you get the new, digital cable ready box. Signal attenuation is severe at higher frequencies with 59 and slope also comes into play.
I istalled my dish over 6 years ago. It has a dual LNB and comes down to a dual grounding block. The connectors were nothing special, just good quality crimp ons. I used a good hex crimp, snugged then on with a wrench(not finger tight) and applied copious amounts of clear RTV. I have a drip loop in each cable and wouldn't consider not having them. My installation seems to be aging better than I am to date.

I don't think anyone mentioned that you have to think about DC characteristics of your splitter too. It may have to pass DC for a line amplifier or LNB.

There is one more characteristic of foam coax that nobody tends to consider but saved the day for me. It has a 78% velocity of propagation Vs 66% for RG-59. I had calculated the lengths of the video cables from all of our tape machines to both of our edit suite switchers to within 1/2". This was so that we could adjust the SC-H (subcarrier-horizontal) phase timing of a machine once and it was right for both edit suites. I was stuck because one machine-switcher run required a longer length than I had calculated. Then I remembered that foam had a 78% VP, recalculated my new length, and had a little to spare using RG-6. That is the only time I ever used foam coax in a baseband video application where Belden 8281 or 1163A were the standard.
Sorry if I bored anyone.
Joe