TV cable lengths please

[leon]

Hi Guys,
What are the thoughts on coax cable lengths, is 20meters give or take a meter to long from the Antenna to the wall socket. :shrug: or would one still get a reasonable reception.

Thanks Leon

[sharkbite]

Hard to say Leon....

I'm not an antenna specialist but i know a thing or two about radio signals, so i'll do my best to explain.

The signal strength starts at the transmitter (tv station) and gets weaker the further you are from that.

Your antenna is also a variable (they come in different 'gain' figures - the higher the gain, the stronger the signal they will send down the cable)

All the cables in the chain from the antenna to the TV will lose some signal.
Some are designed to lose less than others....typically the thicker and stiffer they are, the less resistance they have, and therefore will attenuate less.....(and are usually more expensive as a result)

Some TV's pick up signals better than others as well...

the length of the cable from the antenna to the TV is only one variable....

I know this does not answer the question, but unless "I" could measure the signal strength at the TV end, its hard to say.

Your TV might have the ability to show rudimentary signal strength....it would be buried in the settings somewhere....you could measure what you have now, and make some assumptions about what a differing length of cable might do....

Having said that - 20m is a long way from the antenna - you must live in a palace!

[Startrek]

Leon,
I’m a retired commercial/ industrial electrical contractor
Shorter the better to reduce signal loss
Generally 10 to 15m from antenna to socket outlet is max but you can reduce losses and keep signal strength by using good quality RG6 coax cable with F type connectors
Ordinary duty 75ohm coax you buy from a local hardware store doesn’t cut it beyond 10m with digital signals today
Oh and make sure the wall socket outlet is good quality F type as well
An active signal booster ( powered ) with splitter would be a last resort if the above doesn’t work
May some bonafide TV installers can pitch in for advice as well ( TV installs were always a pain, especially in commercial / retail buildings where finding a good location for the dish and antenna was always an obstacle )
Hope the above helps
Cheers
Martin

[JA]

Every little bit of signal loss adds up and if you are in a weak signal area long cable lengths may push things over the edge in terms of getting good reception. There are two typical main types of antenna cable: RG59 & RG6. RG6 is a beefier (and slightly more expensive) cable and has significantly lower losses and should be used if you want the highest signal strength at the outlet. In cases of poor signal strength one can use an Antenna VHF/UHF TV signal amplifier/booster in the signal line to improve things considerably.

Also your antenna guy (or is that you? :D) can measure your local signal strength and advise.

We've been on Foxtel for TV etc for many years, but prior to that we had cable runs of 15-20m with RG-6 and 3 or 4 outlets and the signal reception of Free to Air TV was OK in Metro Melbourne.

Best
JA

[xelasnave]

Leon I hope you are not thinking of getting on the roof...please dont my friend...get someone in.

Alex

[leon]

Thanks Guys, no Alex no roof climbing mate. ;)

OK the story goes like this, at our present caretaker position, we have the use of a separate Studio building/room, it had a TV socket in the wall and I figured whilst in this room one could do a bit of Hobby stuff and watch a little TV at the same time. :)

So I get the spare telly set up etc, and turn it on, and Auto Tune it, but no Channels were picked up, tried again, and the same result. HMMMM:question:
I investigate in the roof cavity and find the the antenna lead is there, however it is not attached to an Antenna as such, hence no Telly reception.

The end of the lead is some 20 meters from the socket, so i was going to attach a Antenna and see what happens, hence the question.:shrug:

However I reckon I might be able to get in the roof cavity and shorten the Cable by shoving it through a gap in the tiles, this will probably be a better idea and reduce the length by some 12 meters :thumbsup:

Leon:thumbsup:

[alpal]

20 meters is fine if you use RG6 quad shielded cable.
You should get a good quality large antenna.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/antsig-150m-quad-coaxial-antenna-cable_p4363195

[Sunfish]

My Achilles heel was the cable between the tv and the wall. Was hopeless until I replaced with a really heavy duty stiff made up shielded cable. Voila . No climbing around required. 20 m of cable was no problem, the one meter to the wall was a pain.

[leon]

Excellent, many thanks.

Leon