Please help fully specifying wire to purchase.

[beelzerob]

It was me who recommended Keystone. Did you talk to Nick in Fla? He's the only guy that would know me. Don't know about where you talked to but Nick will ship orders > $500 for free, so that should answer that part of the ? for you.

What I did was go to their website, and then put in a query about prices for various wire (and there it asked how I found out about 'em, and that's where I mentioned you B) ). I got an email reply from Jim Schmittinger, and he's the one who's been working with me since. I also just asked him about shipping, and he said that with the size of this order, it'd be free so that's good to know.

Very nice people at keystone, and the prices seem quite good!

 

[beelzerob]

Use all copper rg59 (copper shield no foil) for optimal performance on all baseband video and audio.


This is because the foil/aluminum shielding is more effective at higher frequencys digital services utilize. Copper briad has better rejection in the lower frequencies used for most local video interconnects.

Here's my current spec for wire:

22/2 - Stranded
18/2 - Stranded
16/4 - Stranded
Cat5e/Cat6 - solid
RG59 - “precision video”, 20 solid BC center conductor, 100% foil, 95% TC braid
RG6QS - solid copper core, 3Ghz rated

collin, does that RG59 description match what you said? You said copper shield, no foil....that says 100% foil. Dunno if they're the same foil....

Getting ready to make the order, so I'm just making final spec checks.

 

[sic0048]

One last little kicker for the RG59/mini-coax debate.....

I'm going to be terminating all those myself. I have a coax stripper tool already, but I'm going to throw away all my screw-on coax connectors (please hold your criticism...I was young and foolish!) and get compression fittings and the appropriate tool. Does mini-coax require its own tool for such purposes? I'm going to need a compression tool that can handle RG6QS anyway, and I'm pretty sure that can handle RG59 just as easily. But if I'd have to buy a separate tool for mini coax compression fitting....then that's another variable to consider perhaps (the tools don't seem cheap!).

I had a regular crimper before I started using the minicoax cable and trying to terminate RCA plug on the. So I did have to buy another crimper, but the guys at my wire supply house recommended a crimper from Paladin Tools - #1555 The Sealtite Pro Compression Crimper. It is fully adjustable so you only need one crimper for all your needs. It can do F connectors, RCA connectors, even BNC connectors for any of the wire sizes. So you can just get this one tool to do it all.

Same thing with the stripper. I had to get a new stripper because my old one only did RG-6 and RG-59. The new stripper has 4 sizes, RG-6, RG-59, RG-58 and Mini-coax (called Digital or D on the stripper). So again, choose wisely the first time and you will only need to buy one.

 

[SnyperBob]

Not sure if you knew already and I didn't see anyone else mention it already....


Make sure you get Quad Shield compression fittings for your RG6QS. They're larger than normal RG6 compression fittings

 

[beelzerob]

Thanks for the reminder. I'm running RG6QS and RG59....so I'm going to need lots of fittings and a crimper that works on both. do you have any suggestions of where to pick up the parts cheap?

Speaking of which....all of my RG59 is going to be used for baseband signals, most presumably signals that normally use an RCA plug. Do you think it would be better to put RCA plugs on the ends of these wire runs....or to terminate all of them with F connectors into some kind of block and just find the F conn to RCA acapters where needed? I guess doing the later would make the RG59 wire more versatile, as I'll only have to crimp and connect it once, no matter how I use it.

 

[beelzerob]

Does digital audio (over coax) count as baseband? So, can I use the RG59 for that? I'm using 2 RG59 runs for sound, so if I need to use analog L/R signals, no problem, but if I need to send digital audio, will that also work?

 

[royalj7]

Beelzerob,

Yes, the RG59 will work for the digital coax. Of course it won't work for the toslink connections, but *most* AV equipment has both types of connections.

--Jamie

 

[beelzerob]

Ok, good to know, thanks!

(Next to) final question!....

I'm setting final lengths and colors, and I've discovered that there is a fair price difference between solid and stranded for the 22/4 wire. I know I want stranded speaker wire, and solid Cat5e and Cat6....but does solid or stranded make a difference for 22/4? What would be the things I'd have to evaluate to decide which I would want?

 

[Steve]

Stranded is more flexible, easier to pull and less chance of kinking, but 'harder' to terminate. Solid is easier to terminate but can kink or get breaks in it which are a bear to find. My house had solid and I used more solid then tried stranded. If I had to do a whole house I would use stranded. Sometimes a little bit of bending or straightened kink will lead to one of those intermittent opens and it would be hard to replace that wire later if needed. So, I would take the hit on termination (just a little more time consuming to make sure its either twisted right and you have no single strand loose to short, or tinning, or whatever) I think and go with stranded. My $.02

 

[beelzerob]

An excellent snyopsis. Does that go for Cat5e and 6 too then? Because I had somehow thought that the overall concensus on those was to go solid.

 

[Steve]

No, I would use regular solid for cat5. It's harder to break the way it is twisted, etc. Stranded Cat5 is pretty much only used for patch cords, etc. and requires special fittings.

 

[beelzerob]

No, I would use regular solid for cat5. It's harder to break the way it is twisted, etc. Stranded Cat5 is pretty much only used for patch cords, etc. and requires special fittings.

Ok, thanks...good to know. Those were the last few concerning "gotchas".

 

[CollinR]

Yeah you are less likely to both break and terminate stranded.

 

[beelzerob]

Yeah you are less likely to both break and terminate stranded.

Hehe...oh joy, the thought of terminating all of that stuff, solid OR stranded....

I had planned to use the spare Cat5e and Cat6 for various patch cables, in the wiring closet if nowhere else. I CAN still use solid for that, right? It just won't be as flexible, and (I gather) it might be more prone to breakage if twisted too many times or ways? I think I'd rather take my chances with solid than have to buy even MORE cat5e and 6 and more/different terminating connectors, etc...

 

[Steve]

Yes, regular Cat5 will be fine.