Easy, dumb question about wallplates

[kiljoy]

When I got my house back in 2000, I wired dual runs of RG6 to all the rooms and terminated them to Leviton QuickPort wallplates. I know if I'm going to step up to HD, I'm going to need to put in quad-shield RG6-U with compression fittings (it's no problem with my setup), but what I can't seem to find out is if the Leviton female-female RG6 connectors will have any trouble in passing the high frequency signals that the HD setup requires.

Does anyone have any experience with this or advice on the matter?

Tony

[Greg Alsobrook]

I am using these with no issues... but to be honest, I'm not sure what they're rated at... http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?sitex=10023:22372:US&item=266751

[kiljoy]

I am using these with no issues... but to be honest, I'm not sure what they're rated at... http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?sitex=10023:22372:US&item=266751

If I'm not mistaken, those are a higher quality connector than the ones I've got. I think (and I could most definitely be wrong) that the blue core means a higher bandwidth than the white core with gold threads which is what I have. At least this is proof that there's better QuickPorts out there than the ones I've seen.

Tony

[NYCEGUY01]

If the center is blue or purple your good to go.

If its clear or white youll need to swap them out.

[kiljoy]

If the center is blue or purple your good to go.

If its clear or white youll need to swap them out.

Awesome! Thanks much for the prompt and knowledgeable replies.

Tony

[veryoldschool]

"one more time":
the physical dimensions and the dielectric constant of the insulator determine the impedance of the F-Type connectors. Pink, blue, red, green, white , or even clear are all the same along with the dimensions, or they wouldn't be able to connect.
What all of this means is they will all work fine if they aren't damaged as the 1" of connector can't impede the signals at any of the frequencies use by DirecTV.
If anyone want to look at a Zinwell WB68, you'll see clear connectors & the red connectors used in the SWM products are only to mark the DC power connections.

Monster cables is making a fortune on "hype" like this.

[2dogz]

When I got my house back in 2000, I wired dual runs of RG6 to all the rooms and terminated them to Leviton QuickPort wallplates. I know if I'm going to step up to HD, I'm going to need to put in quad-shield RG6-U with compression fittings (it's no problem with my setup), but what I can't seem to find out is if the Leviton female-female RG6 connectors will have any trouble in passing the high frequency signals that the HD setup requires.

Does anyone have any experience with this or advice on the matter?

Tony

While you probably won't find them on Directv's Approved Materials List, you can rest comfortably that they will pass 2150 MHz without problems. Those barrel style connectors on the the jacks, grounding blocks, etc. have nothing more than a half inch copper sleeve that the wire's center conductor plugs into. Nobody who uses them seems to have a problem.

I don't see a reason for upgrading the wire to quad shielding unless the existing wire is not solid copper core center conductor. Most homes don't have anything that causes much RF interference. That said, if you are going to replace the wire, go with quad, I did. Make sure you get the quad size compression connectors, saves a lot of curse words in front of the kids.

[NYCEGUY01]

I dont get anything from Monster. Any DTV approved passive device like a wallplate, groundblock, barrel, etc.. is colored blue or purple just to make visual inspection easier.

If there is even a possibility the old ones might not work and the $.20 each is no problem then why not swap them out for nice new parts ???

VOS, if you were going to all the trouble to run new dual quad ( which isnt necessary either ) to all your outlets and replace everything else in your system why wouldnt you want to replace the unknown quality f-81's with new good ones ?? even if its only for piece of mind.

Thats like buying a new $50,000 truck and saving $300 by only getting an AM radio because technically its a radio and it does work .lol

[NYCEGUY01]

Damn I type too slow, 2 dogz basically beat me to it

[kiljoy]

While you probably won't find them on Directv's Approved Materials List, you can rest comfortably that they will pass 2150 MHz without problems. Those barrel style connectors on the the jacks, grounding blocks, etc. have nothing more than a half inch copper sleeve that the wire's center conductor plugs into. Nobody who uses them seems to have a problem.

I don't see a reason for upgrading the wire to quad shielding unless the existing wire is not solid copper core center conductor. Most homes don't have anything that causes much RF interference. That said, if you are going to replace the wire, go with quad, I did. Make sure you get the quad size compression connectors, saves a lot of curse words in front of the kids.

Excellent advice then on the barrel connectors. (Thank God too, they were a pretty penny!)

I need to rewire anyway. I ran them all to a nice, central location that was a terrible, hard to reach location in retrospect. It's a small house anyway, and I was going to replace the telephone wiring going to the same wallplates with Gigabit ethernet jacks. Makes sense to just rewire and relocate all of the telecom and satellite lines simultaneously.

Tony

[veryoldschool]

VOS, if you were going to all the trouble to run new dual quad ( which isnt necessary either ) to all your outlets and replace everything else in your system why wouldnt you want to replace the unknown quality f-81's with new good ones ?? even if its only for piece of mind.
If my choice was getting pretty blue ones or white ones, I'd get the blue. On the other hand, if I had perfectly good connectors on hand, then....
"peace of mind" can come several ways: one way is to know everything is in good standing. Another is to not feel you wasted your money, or did you just want a "piece of my mind"? :lol:

[AntAltMike]

The white ones' center conductor "seizure mechanism" touches the center connector on just two points. The center conductor seizure mechanism in the blue ones generally touches it all around.

I have never had trouble with the white ones at any frequency, but it is possible to have trouble with the blue ones if you deform the coax's center conductor when trimming it to length , because it might not fit into the round seizure mechanism inside the blue ones. In fact, if you ever have to ram the center conductor of RG-11 into a barrel, like if you stumble across an existing RG-11 installation that uses the old style RG-11 connectors that use the center conductor as its pin, and if you don't have a modern REG-11 connector or a tool to install it with, you MUST use the old, white F-81 barrels because the large RG-11 center conductor NEVER fits in the blue F-81s, and actually pushes its guts out the other end.

[veryoldschool]

The white ones' center conductor "seizure mechanism" touches the center connector on just two points. The center conductor seizure mechanism in the blue ones generally touches it all around.

I have never had trouble with the white ones at any frequency, but it is possible to have trouble with the blue ones if you deform the coax's center conductor when trimming it to length , because it might not fit into the round siezure mechanism inside the blue ones. In fact, if you ever have to ram the center conductor of RG-11 into a barrel, like if you stumble across an existing RG-11 installation that uses the old style RG-11 connectors that use the center condcutor as its pin, and if you don't have a modern REG-11 connector or a tolol to install it with, you MUST use the old, white F-81 barrels because the large RG-11 center conductor NEVER fits in the blue F-81s, and actually pushes its guts out the other end.
!rolling The sign of a true "do'er" verses a "reader". :)

[Mertzen]

I know if I'm going to step up to HD, I'm going to need to put in quad-shield RG6-U with compression fittings
Tony

Compression fittings yes but yhe quad shield is really not needed. I'd try and see if your current setup hold s up and works before spending a lot of money. You'd be amazed how many HD systems are out there with CCS and crimp fittings. :D

[carl6]

More important that quad shield is solid copper center conductor. Quad shield is overkill unless you have strong local rf interference (a very nearby tv station for example).

All of my barrel connectors are white or clear, and all work just fine. Just for testing purposes, I used about a dozen barrel connectors with a dozen or so varying length pieces of RG6 to make a 400 foot dish to receiver feed, and it worked just fine. Way beyond spec.

Carl

[houskamp]

I have those same wall plates.. Love the 6 spot ones :) never had a problem with them..

[TigersFanJJ]

The white ones' center conductor "seizure mechanism" touches the center connector on just two points. The center conductor seizure mechanism in the blue ones generally touches it all around.

I have never had trouble with the white ones at any frequency, but it is possible to have trouble with the blue ones if you deform the coax's center conductor when trimming it to length , because it might not fit into the round seizure mechanism inside the blue ones. In fact, if you ever have to ram the center conductor of RG-11 into a barrel, like if you stumble across an existing RG-11 installation that uses the old style RG-11 connectors that use the center conductor as its pin, and if you don't have a modern REG-11 connector or a tool to install it with, you MUST use the old, white F-81 barrels because the large RG-11 center conductor NEVER fits in the blue F-81s, and actually pushes its guts out the other end.

+1

I use the PPC EX6XLWS connectors on my ground blocks (the PPC connectors with the weather seals attached). If you don't have the center conductor just right, it will push the copper sleeve out the other side of the blue barrel connector on the ground block.

[condensr]

I think your current setup would probably work just fine..

When my HD setup was installed, the installer re-used some existing RG-59 runs, some of them even terminated with .. gasp.. TWIST ON connectors. He didn't replace those either. While I can see a percent or two of signal loss on the run with those poor cables/connections (according to the signal strength levels by xponder), it all works fine.

So, your RG6 dual shield stuff should be just fine - try it first and see!

[ironwood]

According to DIrectv even gold plated barrels from expensive stores are not approved. We only allowed to use barrels with blue and yellow inserts.

[L2BENGTREK]

I think your current setup would probably work just fine..

When my HD setup was installed, the installer re-used some existing RG-59 runs, some of them even terminated with .. gasp.. TWIST ON connectors.

My house was built in '99 (bought it in '06) and had RG-59 pre-ran in a few of the rooms. When it came time to transfer my equipment, I ran RG-6 for my 2 HR20's, but used the pre-existing RG59 for my standard def boxes (I did put new compression connectors on though!) Didn't know if the RG-59 would give me probs with HD signals so I wanted to be safe.

Cool to read that even though it wouldn't be the best, at least it would work for HD. Big pain to run new lines to the upstairs!

[2dogz]

My house was built in '99 (bought it in '06) and had RG-59 pre-ran in a few of the rooms. When it came time to transfer my equipment, I ran RG-6 for my 2 HR20's, but used the pre-existing RG59 for my standard def boxes (I did put new compression connectors on though!) Didn't know if the RG-59 would give me probs with HD signals so I wanted to be safe.

Cool to read that even though it wouldn't be the best, at least it would work for HD. Big pain to run new lines to the upstairs!

RG59, like RG6, comes in different grades. You can get RG59 that is sweep tested to 4.5 GHz, the good stuff. The issue when D* sat TV first came out was/is distance requirements to transmit the 13/18 volt DC signal of the receiver to the LNB on the dish. RG59 uses 20 AWG center conductor and RG6 is 18 AWG. The RG6 has less voltage drop over the same distance than RG59. RG59 tends, but doesn't have to, have less shielding than RG6. They are both 75 ohm coax, so if distance or interference are not problems, and you get good signals for the HD channels, well, there you go. I'm just saying to try it first before you go knee jerk and start opening drywall to replace prewired RG59 in the house. Also, if distance is an issue, a powered multiswitch like the WB616 might solve it.

[ironwood]

RG59, like RG6, comes in different grades. You can get RG59 that is sweep tested to 4.5 GHz, the good stuff. The issue when D* sat TV first came out was/is distance requirements to transmit the 13/18 volt DC signal of the receiver to the LNB on the dish. RG59 uses 20 AWG center conductor and RG6 is 18 AWG. The RG6 has less voltage drop over the same distance than RG59. RG59 tends, but doesn't have to, have less shielding than RG6. They are both 75 ohm coax, so if distance or interference are not problems, and you get good signals for the HD channels, well, there you go. I'm just saying to try it first before you go knee jerk and start opening drywall to replace prewired RG59 in the house. Also, if distance is an issue, a powered multiswitch like the WB616 might solve it.

What distance are we talking about here? I remember service call when rg-59 was only about 30ft and it broke picture on HD channels. A lot of service calls I replaced 59 with RG-6 even short runs and people never had problems ever since. (Which tells me cable is what caused problems on the first place)

[2dogz]

What distance are we talking about here? I remember service call when rg-59 was only about 30ft and it broke picture on HD channels. A lot of service calls I replaced 59 with RG-6 even short runs and people never had problems ever since. (Which tells me cable is what caused problems on the first place)

I don't doubt you a bit. There is a lot of cheapo, crapo RG59 out there, often sold by RS. I'm just sayin', try it before cutting holes in the drywall. Spec wise it could work, but you don't know unless you ....

I would agree with you though that if it's easy to get at, rip it out and replace with RG6.