# RG5 or RG6



## loverboyj

Hi all, im a newb to Satelite TV!  

As what I have learned (here) we need RG6 cable for satelite, how do I know if the cables on my house is RG5 or RG6?? 

I intend to do the cable runs around the house to prevent the installers from make holes anywhere, but if the cables are already RG6, it would save me a lot of trouble. I am currently on Digital cable (Comcast) and with the rising charges I an now contemplating to move with satelite specially the HD option.

many thanks


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## Mike500

Don't you mean RG6 or RG59? RG59 has a finer center wire that RG6. The center wire is about 22 gauge. RG6 has a 18 guage center wire. Telephone wire is like 22 guage like RG59. Thermostat wire is 18-20 guage like RG6. RG6's center wire is a lot stiffer. If you want to compare, go to Home Depot and ask the man or woman in the electrical department to see some.


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## Richard King

The cable in the house will either be RG-59 or RG-6. RG-6 is a fairly heavy cable and the center conductor sticking out of the connector won't easily bend in your fingers. RG-59 is very pliable and will bend fairly easily. Most cables have markings on the outer insulation that indicate the type of cable and will indicate whether it is RG-6 or 59. Older houses were mostly wired with RG-59.


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## Bogy

Or, quite often RG6 or RG59 is stamped into the jacket. If you can find that you will know for sure.


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## loverboyj

ok thanks, will have to look clearly on the outer cable markings


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## pjboud

Why wont rg59 work? Wire is wire. Unless it's carrying alot of current the size doesn't matter much.


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## Mark Holtz

It is carrying signal, not current. By it's very nature, wire has some resistance, and the longer the cable run, the more you will experience signal loss.


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## pjboud

Signal is current, i guarantee that nothing else travels over wires, just current. And yes over very long runs you'll see more signal loss on 22 awg wire than on 18 awg, but I just don't think it's significant over, say a 50' run from your basement to your receiver. And you don't need goldplated connectors either, unless you live in a swamp or other similarly humid location where they might rust out like '79 Suburu Brat.


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## Slordak

Do not use RG-59 for satellite; you will be sorry. The loss of signal is quite substantial, especially for DishPro signals, which use bandstacking. It's only a little bit more expensive for saving a lot of headache; so why not just use the recommend cabling instead of trying to be excessively cable?


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## Mike500

pjboud said:


> Signal is current, i guarantee that nothing else travels over wires, just current. And yes over very long runs you'll see more signal loss on 22 awg wire than on 18 awg, but I just don't think it's significant over, say a 50' run from your basement to your receiver. And you don't need goldplated connectors either, unless you live in a swamp or other similarly humid location where they might rust out like '79 Suburu Brat.


You'd be much better off using a compression connector like these Snap-N-Seal ones on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&category=32848&sspagename=STRK:MESSE:IT&rd=1


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