My DirecTV Rewire (Pics)

[ehollins]

I'm wanting to redo the wiring for my DirecTV install. Once you get down to the pics, you'll see why. Part of this is I'm wanting to tie the DTV wiring into my existing coax cabling that I did myself when I moved into my house. I did my own drops into each of the 3 bedrooms, the kitchen, and then 2 drops into the living room. For my receivers, I have an HD DVR in the living room (2 drops) and then a standard receiver in two bedrooms (1 drop each).

OK, here are the pics. As you'll see, by running the wire underneath the vinyl siding, it has worked the siding away from the wood which is leaving it exposed to the elements. Also, this wiring looks really ugly on the outside of my house.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire1.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire2.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire3.jpg

The next few pics are from the ground. You can see the dish in the background and where the wires go from there and then finally, the splicing/grounding rig. Well, I think that is what it is since there is a ground wire going from it to the water spigot.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire4.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire5.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire6.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV%20Rewire/dtv_rewire7.jpg

Here is what I want to do:
1) Drill a hole in the side of the roof underneath the overhang pretty much underneath where the dish is right now.
2) Undo all of the wires that are on the outside of the house right now.
3) Run all of the wires through the hole into the attic of my house.
4) Connect all of the DirecTV cables to my existing cables.

Now, my biggest concern is this. I saw the 4-wire thing on the outside of the house. It looks like that that is used for grounding all the wires to the water spigot on the outside of the house. If I put that thing in the attic, I don't think I have anything reliable to ground it to. There is a metal pipe up there, but it used for gas into the house. It seems like grounding something to a gas pipe might not be the best idea but I thought I would ask. I might have a water pipe up there somewhere that I could ground it to, but I would have to run a pretty long ground wire which shouldn't be an issue though.

So, what do you guys think of this? Sound plan? Are there any things that I need to watch out for?

Thanks.

[dsw2112]

Sounds like a good plan especially if all of your wiring is home run to the attic. Make sure to leave a drip loop where you enter the house by the attic (the slack will also be necessary should you need to repair the dish.) You'll probably get a bunch of different answers regarding grounding, but if you have ELECTRICAL conduit running through the attic it is a ground point (although technically you should ground before the lines enter the house...)

[ehollins]

OK, what I may end up doing is move that 4-wire metal bracket to up on the roof pretty much right underneath the the dish. Then, run the ground wire to the spigot where the wire currently is now. It shouldn't mess up the siding as bad as the existing wire. Then, I'll run the wire into the attic as planned and go from there.

[dsw2112]

OK, what I may end up doing is move that 4-wire metal bracket to up on the roof pretty much right underneath the the dish. Then, run the ground wire to the spigot where the wire currently is now. It shouldn't mess up the siding as bad as the existing wire. Then, I'll run the wire into the attic as planned and go from there.

Sounds like a plan. BTW the bracket is called a grounding block ;)

[wallfishman]

definitely dont ground to the gas line. there should be some kinda electric up there to ground too a junction box or something. I run wires under siding all the time and never had a problem. You need a 5 dollar zip tool to undo thne siding , tuck in your wire , and same tool zips it back on. what you have there is not siding. that piece coming loose is the fascia and ive never seen anyone pull that out and run wires under it. that is meant to be tight to the board underneath. usually nailed on by small aluminum nails.

[ehollins]

Well, since I'm unemployed and I have nothing better to do, I redid the wiring today. Here are the pics.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished1.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished2.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished3.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished4.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished5.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished6.jpg

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DirecTV%20Rewire%20is%20Finished/finished7.jpg

It was weird though. I had 4 wires coming from the dish. Two of them had a female-to-female adapter about 2 feet from the dish. The other 2 wires ran all the way down to the original grounding box. I didn't want 25' of coiled cable up there so I just put 2 holes underneath the overhang, ran the cable through them, coiled it up in the attic, and ran them back out to the grounding box. Yes, I put some more holes in my house, but it shouldn't be a problem. Connected the 4 wires from the dish to the grounding box and then ran wires into the house. I got a bit fancy with the grounding box as you can see. It was a PITA to get it up under there though. I was limited by the shortness of 2 of the 4 wires from the dish and I have very little slack in those 2 wires. Once I ran everything inside of the attic, I connected the DTV wires to my existing wires and checked it out. Everything works fine! I still need to caulk up the holes though. Also, I got some copper wire and ran it from the grounding box back down to the water spigot. It's about a 25' run though but hopefully it works. I also put back the fascia/siding stuff over the boards and I got it as tight as possible. It looks much better and I'm happy with it.

[dsw2112]

I know you just went through a bunch of work, but if I were you I'd remove the extra 25' of slack and run new wire from the dish to the ground block (all four wires.) Two reasons, you need drip loops/service loops to make sure water doesn't follow your lines right into your house and you never want to use more wire in your setup than you really need. I would also seal the heck out of those holes before any little creatures or water get in. Your ground will be just fine.

[ehollins]

A few things:
- What's a drip loop/service loop?
- Also, I plan on using a lot of caulk around those holes so nothing gets in. I'll do it in about 2 days in case I decide to do something else soon.
- I would redo the wires, but I have a crimping tool and not a compression tool. The connectors are much better now.
- I may end up trimming the wires though. There is a lot of slack inside the attic. It's a risk though. Everything now works fine, but if I redo the runs, they may not work.

[dsw2112]

A few things:
- What's a drip loop/service loop?

The circular loops in the coax next to the spigot in your original pics are the drip loops. The theory is that you place them next to outdoor connections (ground block, multiswitch, etc) and right before entering the home to prevent the water from "riding" the line. With a drip loop in place the water will follow the wire until the dip and drip off at the lowest point. They can also serve as a service loop which is just extra slack in the line should you need to remove or adjust anything.

You're right a compression tool would be necessary to redo the lines. Maybe someone in the neighborhood has one you can borrow...

[SledDog]

A drip loop is routing the wire so that rain will drip off the wires and not run along them into the house.

A service loop is extra cable coiled in a circle, like your cable were, at the ground block, in the original install.

No offense intended, but, I think the original install looks better than what you ended up with. I don't get why you drilled holes in the wall were you did. Why didn't you run them closer to the eave of the house or closer to the peak of the eave? I would have also run all the cables in one hole. Also, why run one set of cables from the dish, into the house, out of the house to the ground block and then back into the house?

I would have moved the cable to under the eave, to the ground block, then to the peak (or to the top of the wall under when the dish is mounted) and enter the house. Basically using the lines of the house and roof make the runs look less noticeable and then tie-wrapped all the wiring to make it look neat.

But, to each his own. And as long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters.

[ehollins]

Fair enough. I think it looks better this way because it isn't near eye level. Every time I would walk by it, it would disgust me. I'm not saying that it couldn't be better. I put the wire into the attic and the back out to the grounding block because I didn't want 25' of cable just sitting outside. Yes, I could redo the cable which I may still do. That's why I didn't caulk it up; I can think about it for a few more days in case I change my mind.

[wallfishman]

just PLEASE stop drilling up that siding. that S@#T is disturbing me !!! its a 5 dollar tool to unsnap a piece of siding in 5 seconds and drill all those holes behind it .

[groundhog2002]

A fifty/fifty solution of Clorox and water in a back pack sprayer will clean that siding in a jiffy. Beats a power washer any day. Let it set for five minutes and hose it off with a water hose. Looks like new, inexpensive. Don't do over a stained deck. FYI.

[Mertzen]

Hate to say it, but if you were a D* tech this would be a major QC fail.

But you're not and you did it to the best of your abilities.

[WrongCheese]

I have to say I liked the before pictures much better. You should have just attached the covers and leave the cables under.

[ehollins]

OK, I redid the wire again today and let me know if this is any better. I think it is better than the 1st rewire. I included drip loops where possible. Some of the loops aren't perfect circles but they are close. I took out about 25' of excess cabling for my HD DVR in the living room. Also, I did everything with compression fittings instead of crimping fittings. They are great in some ways and horrible in others.

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire1.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire2.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire3.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire4.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire5.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire6.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire7.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire8.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire9.jpg
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/DTV_Rerewire/dtv_rewire10.jpg

If this seams appropriate and good enough for everyone, I'll wait a day or two before I caulk the hell out of those holes.

[rudeney]

Although I doubt you'll have nay issues, it would be best to get rid of those splices right under the soffit that are upstream of your drip loop. The whole purpose of the drip loop is to keep water out of your connections.

[ehollins]

I could possibly still do that. Two of the four wires coming from the dish were very, very short and I had to use those splices. I could rerun the wires, but I haven't opened up the dish to see how it works inside of it. Also, I'm worried that I'll knock it out of alignment and I'll miss my NCIS in the afternoons for awhile.

[carl6]

If you carefully remove the LNB assembly from the mounting arm and slide it out, you can replace the two short pieces of coax with longer ones that will go all the way to the ground block. Then slide the LNB back in and secure it. The dish (if properly secured) should not move while doing that. I've removed/installed my LNB assembly several times without effecting dish alignment.

[ndole]

Also, it's best to replace the blue banded connectors with the black banded ones if you can get ahold of the necessary tools, having the cables from the dish going over the edge of the roof will lead water directly to the backside of them, and after awhile they will fail, weather seals or not.

[ehollins]

OK, I did that yesterday morning and everything still works! I would post pics, but I'm going to finish cleaning everything up and sealing holes with either expanding foam and/or clear silicone caulk.

BTW, here is what happens to expanding foam when you leave it home alone for a few hours.

https://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1238881/Web%20Pics/Great%20Stuff/IMG_0933.jpg

[ehollins]

What are the technical differences between blue and the black compression fittings? All the ones that DirecTV installed are blue and all the ones that I installed are black. BTW, I used to have a crimp tool and fittings but I decided to go with compression 2 weeks ago instead because of the better connector, the ability to stay attached to the cable better, and the weatherproof ability as well.

[HRJustin]

What are the technical differences between blue and the black compression fittings? All the ones that DirecTV installed are blue and all the ones that I installed are black. BTW, I used to have a crimp tool and fittings but I decided to go with compression 2 weeks ago instead because of the better connector, the ability to stay attached to the cable better, and the weatherproof ability as well.

I dont think theres any difference between black or blue. They are probably just different brands or something like that. Compression is much better then crimp for being waterproof. Thats a pretty crazy pic of some foam how did so much leak out like that?

[Yoda-DBSguy]

I dont think theres any difference between black or blue. They are probably just different brands or something like that. Compression is much better then crimp for being waterproof. Thats a pretty crazy pic of some foam how did so much leak out like that?

Typically color is referanced to what type of cable the fittings are meant for:

The difference in the colors are as follows:
Orange=rg59
Blue=rg6
Black=rg6 double shield
Purple=rg6 quad shield

*Purple will work on regular rg6 but does not make a secure seal, meaning you can pull it off with your hands after compression.

Quad shield cable means you have 2 layers of foil,and 2 layers of braid, which is ideal if you have signal leakage problems(off air interfereing with cable signal) usually depending on your type of cable you will use the blue fittings.


PS: On an additional note.
It is better to use the proper compression style fitting rather than the cheaper crimp style in terms of having a weather resistant/proof connection.

[HRJustin]

Typically color is referanced to what type of cable the fittings are meant for:

The difference in the colors are as follows:
Orange=rg59
Blue=rg6
Black=rg6 double shield
Purple=rg6 quad shield

*Purple will work on regular rg6 but does not make a secure seal, meaning you can pull it off with your hands after compression.

Quad shield cable means you have 2 layers of foil,and 2 layers of braid, which is ideal if you have signal leakage problems(off air interfereing with cable signal) usually depending on your type of cable you will use the blue fittings.


PS: On an additional note.
It is better to use the proper compression style fitting rather than the cheaper crimp style in terms of having a weather resistant/proof connection.

Thanks thats good to know:). I never really looked into the fittings before so I wasnt sure :lol:

[ehollins]

Besides the color of the band, the connectors are identical and I looked very closely. The ones that I got (black) are from Ideal.

[ehollins]

Typically color is referanced to what type of cable the fittings are meant for:

The difference in the colors are as follows:
Orange=rg59
Blue=rg6
Black=rg6 double shield
Purple=rg6 quad shield

*Purple will work on regular rg6 but does not make a secure seal, meaning you can pull it off with your hands after compression.

Quad shield cable means you have 2 layers of foil,and 2 layers of braid, which is ideal if you have signal leakage problems(off air interfereing with cable signal) usually depending on your type of cable you will use the blue fittings.


PS: On an additional note.
It is better to use the proper compression style fitting rather than the cheaper crimp style in terms of having a weather resistant/proof connection.

Are you sure about what those color bands mean? I ordered my Ideal 89-056 connectors online that said that they were meant for RG-6 Quad cable. Also, is it going to be much of an issue with using black (RG-6 Quad) connectors or regular RG6 cable? I know that the answer is it could cause some issues. I tested some cables initially but putting a black connector on RG6 cable and tried to pull it off and I couldn't.

EDIT: Also, I used RG6 Quad cabling for all of my cabling but it seems that the DirecTV cable is all regular RG6.