Taking a step back, you have two lengths of cable, one from the Fransat to ‘somewhere’ where it is connected to another piece of cable which is connected to the LNB at the dish. Is this correct ? If so, how are the two pieces of cable connected together. Does each piece have an ‘F’ connector on it (the same connector that goes into the back of the Fransat box), and are these two connected together using an F type coupler like below ? If not, how are they connected together ?
Yes, exactly. 2 lengths coupled together with one of those.
The slightly shorter of the 2, nearest the TV did not,light the finder when connected. Can’t check the longer one but might as well replace all with one long length.
OK, it may be good to check the two F connectors where they are joined. If the join is outside or somewhere damp the cable can corrode. Also, sometimes a single strand of the braid can short with the thicker central connector, or they can loosen and create problems. Basically they are a pretty rubbish sort of connector. Before you buy new cable, I’d check them properly and try again. The cable you linked to looks OK.
Thanks, yes outside and a tad rusty I think. For the price asked, around €20 or so I think an upgrade to a single cable is in order.
I have already bought a new dish (because the arm was broken and moving about) and LNB so it seems silly not to replace the cable, especially as the decoder seems ok.
I think it was @Badger who mentioned a crimp version, that would be better but any outside joint could do with self amalgamating tape or that silicon tape thats around.
Having come from a world of correctly torqued N type and SMA connectors, I hate F types with a passion. Those F<>F joiners need sealing with the best heat shrink sleeving available or capillary action will suck in moisture.
I will share the wisdom of one of my early mentors regarding radio frequency connectors:
“If it’s shiny, it’s cheap s***.”
BTW. I have an old draindownpipe I was saving for a useful outcome and thought its time had come to protect my cable from the mower if I lay it on the ground, but it wouldn’t go round the bend.
I’ll let you know when it is successfully re/upcycled.
Absolutely. If the joint has been outside for several years without amalgamation tape then the joint and possibly the cable interior could be full of water. Water can travel along the cable by wicking along the braiding. This will degrade the signal quality as well as risking a short of the LNB voltage. A short of the LNB voltage isn’t an issue as the box has to have short circuit protection.
Replacing the cable with a single cable run is the best idea.
If you are going to replace the coax cable I suggest you purchase some low loss cable. As more and more channels are going HD I found that good quality cable helps to reduce db loss from the LNB to the receiver. This is what I purchased some time ago (dual cable but single cable is also available): Satellite cable. Coax, Made to measure satellite cables. Webro WF100 single, twin cable. Satellite F connectors, tools. adapters
David has a French Fransat receiver and I think an 80 cm dish. He won’t have any of the same issues you get with Sky/Freesat in France.
I use Webro WF100 cable, but that’s expensive at £2.50 per metre. You can get in through Farnell in France (or UK) at a fraction of that price. Just looked and I paid €30.44 for 50 m. And I added a few more items to make it more than €50 to get free delivery.
Spent a lot longer than I thought it would take removing all the old and no longer needed cables from the cable run under one door and behind a tree which has grown there since they were installed. I was constantly checking to make sure I left the one correct cable in place and to this end turned up Radio 4 really loud so I could hear it where I was working. Happily there were no breaks in transmnission.
So now there is only one cable to the UK dish leaving plenty of room for the new cable to the French one.
Discovered one electrical wire (disconnected) which disappears under the house and another antenna cable (cut off) which takes a similar route to a coil in the kitchen. We always envisaged getting old enough to need a tv in the bedroom, but Fran lost interest in everything long ago.
Still, never say never, so it won’t be chucked away.
Saturday is A day (for Antenna)
Good luck
The cable (I think, due to the excess barking by Jules while I was in the pond, and also now in my inbox) has been delivered, a day early. I’ll walk round there and get it in a few moments.
It is the cable, very small tight coil for such a length, along with a little packet of gold connectors.
All I have to do now is make sure I fit them correctly.
There are plenty of videos or descriptions online of how to fit F connectors. The cable you bought seems to have a double braid and foil, which is unusual but shouldn’t be too much of an issue. The only thing you need to be careful of is making sure all the braid and foil are folded fully back before screwing on the connector by hand. It’s easy to get a single very thin wire of the braid shorted with the central connector.
Finished lunch, steeling myself for it now.
First job, to avoid damage to the ends, is to feed it in and out of the metal channel at the bottom of the doors in the direction of the TV.
Then to route it loosely around the house to the dish. As long as I give myself enough of the length, pinning it neatly can be left 'till later.
Then connect to the LNB via the finder that I bought. Couldn’t get a compass, I do have one somewhere here, but I am pretty sure of where south is, and at least I’ll see if the finder lights up. As long as it does the adjustment begins.
Dishpointer.com might give you a local landmark to point it at.
David is legend for not having a smart phone so could be tricky
It’s a website that can be used from a desktop, hence why I proposed a landmark so that it can be roughly set by eye.
I’ll accept ‘legend’, but a smartie would do no good in the bright reflecting sunlight, as Eddie found out.
I found my compass and my calculation was pretty spot on, but not sure the top of a large tree, nevertheless below the level of elevation is the only useful landmark.
I know that corner of my friend Thierry’s house is due south but until winter comes I can’t see it for all the leaves at the moment.
Anyway it took me a very very long time to get the new cable inserted along its whole length and then with very great difficulty fitted the connectors to the ends. Why do YT experts giving you chapter and verse assume that everybody understands perfectly what they are saying, does it not occur to them that if we knew what we were doing we wouldn’t need them.
Anyway, the finder lit up to prove that the cable is good, but although it seemed to show a good signal, nothing useful appeared on the tv. The finder, German, and instructions, English, seem professional but why oh why do they keep a secret what all the flashing lights mean?
I broke off after 6pm, very sweaty, to feed the dogs and take a welcome swim in the pond. To be continued…