Cables to prepare for new TV and mounting

[Rony28]

Hi there,

So I have just bought a new TV which arrived today and I have an appointment booked in with a mounting company to mount and chase my cables through the wall next Friday.

So I am wanting to prepare all cables that I will need to chase through the wall, to save me the hassle of trying to chase it through myself afterwards.

So I I had ordered last week HDMIs, USB/USBC, Aux, optical, Ethernet the usual. I thought I had it all prepared.

When the TV arrived today, I pulled out the user manual and I have attached the picture.

The end two cables I don't seem to have.

I believe the last one is the Coaxial Satellite cable, to watch live TV, am I right? Is this a necessary thing in 2020? Shall I also buy this to chase through?

And I am not sure what the penultimate one is. Is it some kind of Coaxial audio? But it has a picture of a satellite at the bottom? Do I need this too?

Thanks

 

[SFK]

How do you plan to watch normal TV?
SKY box (for SkY) or TV Aerial (for Free view) or Satellite Dish (for FreeSat if your TV has an internal decoder)?

The last two cables and connections in your image are coaxial cables (with different ends) to connect your TV directly to a satellite dish or to your TV Aerial.

This is an example the TV Aerial cable (for FreeView):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adapter-Sa...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

And this is a F connector cable for FreeSat.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=F+connector+cable&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

 

[Rony28]

Hi there,

So I normally don't watch live TV, I only watch Netflix. But I still want to future proof. So you are saying, if I have a sky box then I will need these both?

So I have attached a picture of the outlets below my TV.

So how does the connection work? TV > Coax cable > Sky box > Coax Cable > Wall outlet?

I'm so dense when it comes to TV as I don't watch TV.

Okay, so if I buy an F connector, and a Coaxial Satellite then I should have everything,

Thanks

 

[SFK]

Looking at that panel it looks as if your house has both a Sat Dish and a TV Aerial.

[for the following text I always follow the direction of the signal (or TV picture) from left to right].

Regarding you normally watching SKY, the cable connection is:
WallOutlet/Sat1/Sat2 > F Connector Coax > Sky box > HDMI Cable > TV
So you are OK there as you already have HDMI in the wall.
(This is shown in the 3rd image on your instructions).

But for normal FreeView use you want:
WallOutlet/TV > TV cable Coax > TV
(This is shown in the 7th image on your instructions).
So you also need "TV Coax Aerial lead" in the wall (for FreeView):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=TV+Coax+Aerial+Cable&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

I would also add another HDMI cable in case first breaks or you add another decoder box (Say Bluray player) or you wish to use an amplifier or sound bar (using ARC).

SFK

 

[Rony28]

Thank you I see.

So that means the F Connector doesn't need to actually connect directly to the TV (like in the manual) because it is already in-built in my flat? That means I don't need to chase the F connector through right?

So if I didn't have that F-Connector bit in my wall, it would have to go:

TV > F connector > Sky Box or something like that?

So I will buy both, but only chase the TV Satellite Coax cable through.

Thank you for your help!

EDIT: Also, yes, I am chasing about 3 or 4 HDMIs through haha!

 

[SFK]

F Connector doesn't need to actually connect directly to the TV (like in the manual) because it is already in-built in my flat? That means I don't need to chase the F connector through right

Not quite....
You do not need the F connector cable all the way to the TV because you are using the SKY box to convert the Satellite/SKY signals into the HDMI cable which goes to your TV.
(This is shown in the Third image on your instructions)

But it looks as if your TV has a basic Satellite decoder built in it (it will not decode the SKY channels, only the FreeSat channels).
So IF you did not have a SKY box, you could run a F connector cable all the way from the Wall connection to the TV, and let the TV decode it so you could see FreeSat channels (but not SKY channels).
(This is shown in the 6th image on your instructions)
But most TVs do not have a satellite decoder built in, so this cable much less useful.

So in summary I would defiantly fit a TV coax cable.
And be less worried about a Satellite F type coax cable.
SFK

 

[Rony28]

Okay understood, thank you!

 

[Rony28]

Sorry just one more question:

I am about to buy this cable:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Aeria...37690102&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_td_asin_0&th=1

So it looks to be Male to Male. However on the Wall outlet picture I atatched above, the "TV" port seems to be Male. Does this mean I need a Male to Female cable instead?

The "FM/DAB" port look female, but I guess that's radio right, and the "Return" one? Can I use the "Return" port? Or shall I just buy Male to Female,

Thanks, last question

 

[Lucid]

I would suggest that where the TV has both a Freeview tuner and a satellite tuner, and your building already has a working satellite dish, and especially where you're going to the expense of having cables professionally concealed in-wall, then definitely put in the cabling to the TV for satellite too.

Bearing in mind that watching anything that picks up live TV transmissions (Freeview/Freesat/Sky/Virgin/BTVision) and also BBC iPlayer requires a TV license; if you're paying it for one of these services then it covers the rest. IOW, if you're paying the license to watch Freeview, then you might as well have the benefit of Freesat as well since it won't cost you anything extra (subscription TV services excluded).

The benefit of Freesat (or free-to-air unencrypted satellite TV) is it carries a bigger range of the higher-quality HD channels than Freeview. This is because Freeview is restricted by the capacity of the transmitter network whereas satellite TV has more 'space' for HD.

Depending on your TV's capabilities, it might even be possible to record the satellite channels whilst watching Freeview or vice versa.


On a related note, cable quality affect the reliability of your TV reception.

Power cables and HDMI cables both radiate noise. Shop-bought moulded cables for TV and for satellite reception have a reputation for poor quality shielding. This makes them more susceptible to the sort of interference that can cause signal drop out. This mostly affects Freeview in marginal signal areas, but when signal cables are bundled together with noisy HDMI cables and power leads then it's also possible to see problems even with a healthy local signal strength.

Good quality all-copper shielded coax isn't difficult to buy, and it's not expensive either. Screwfix has branches nationwide. This Nexans NX100 is £12.50 for a 25mtr roll. That's 50p per metre. It's roughly on a par for cost with the moulded cables, but infinitely superior.

This is a universal coax cable. It will do TV and satellite use; simply add the appropriate ends for the application. There are plenty of online tutorials that cover adding F connectors (screw-on satellite type) and coax plugs as used for Freeview.

Get this bit done right now, and you'll avoid the headaches and costs of fixing signal issues in the future. It's good planning and cheap too. Gotta love that!

 

[Rony28]

Hi Lucid, thank you for that,

So that Nexans cable is universal, so if I buy that one it should take care of most? It is 25m however! That is rather long, I only need about 3m tops. I will see if I can find a smaller version of it.

Thanks!

 

[SFK]

Lucid is the AV expert so gives much better advice than mine.
But just to clarify what he is saying-

Both the 'TV lead' and 'Satellite lead' use the same coax cable. But they have different ends on them.
So you can use any coax cable onto which you can add TV or Satellite (F type) connectors.
But there are lots of sh!t coax cables in the shops.
The Nexans NX100 is one of the better quality ones.

So you could put in three length of this into the wall to be future proofed.
(I say three as I notice that your TV has two Satellite (FreeSat) inputs and one TV (Free view) input).

 

[SFK]

And if at screwfix - These are the F type connectors:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-coaxial-f-plug-pack-of-10/17061

And you can get TV connectors but I do not like them:

So I use F type to TV converters
https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-f-to-coax-adaptors-pack-of-10/33532
https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-f-to-coax-plugs-pack-of-10/39772

 

[Rony28]

Thank you, so I will buy 3 universal coaxial cables, and chase them all through the walls.

And then I can just buy the correct "heads" connectors for whichever setup I need.

The Nexans NX100 only comes in 25m as I can see on Screwfix. Is there another similar good quality universal cable that goes for 3m lengths?

Thank you,

 

[Lucid]

Quality standard coax cable:

#1 - Webro WF100
For TV coax use it's the same as TX100 etc. However, it's reputedly better than those others for satellite use, but for a 3m run the difference (if there is any) would be negligible. However, WF100 is my Go-To cable and the only product I use where I need a full sized coax in single or shotgun form.

Equal 5th place - Triax TX100, Philex PF100, Nexans NX100, Time GT100. These should all be 6.5-6.7mm diameter pure copper cables with a foam dielectric.

#6th place - CT100 (no particular brand as the spec is quite old). The spec is similar to TX100 etc except instead of a foam dielectric it has an air-spaced one. A single-shielded version of this type of construction used to be the #1 choice in the analogue days before the tech was developed to make foam dielectric work without moisture issues. The modern version of this air-spaced product uses double shielding (foil and braid, both copper) and performs as well as TX100 etc. The catch is it's easier to kink if mishandled. This is because the air-spaced dielectric.

#7th place (though I'd place it lower if I could), anything generically labelled as 'RG6'.
Strictly speaking, RG6 simply describes some physical characteristics of the cable such as the inner core thickness and the over-all outer dimension. But it doesn't specify materials or shield construction or give any clue as to performance. All of the above cables conform to RG6 specification, but the performance of those and other RG6-sized cables can (and does) vary dramatically.

At some point long past, most or all TV coax cable would have been based on copper for the core and shield. Then some enterprising soul realised that there was nothing in the RG6 spec that said it had to be copper, so they made the centre core from steel with a bit of copper anodised over the surface, and the foil shield from Mylar (think of the sort of silvered plastic film used for helium balloons and crisp packets) with an outer braid made from aluminium. Cheaper materials, lower performance. The term RG6 has become corrupted. Unofficially, it now means "a lower grade coax".


# Bottom of the heap and not even deserving of a place number is anything described as 'low loss coax'.


Yes, you can buy shorter lengths of coax. Genuine WF100 is available in 10m lengths for a Tenner delivered. It's an economy delivery though, so whether it will reach you in time is debateable. Very short lengths (3m) are available too but the handling and postage costs make them more expensive than the 25m drum.

If your big concern is having a half reel of cable hanging around then you can fix that with a free advert. Offer the remaining cable of 15m for £10. Haggle to £9 if you wish. That's 60p/m for the buyer.

 

[Rony28]

@Lucid

I was just reading you post, getting the shopping list ready, then I read your last sentence. So does that mean you can CUT the NX100? I didn't realise that, I thought I had to use the full 25m LOL, that's why I was put off, as I was going to need to run the 25m behind the wall.

So if I buy the 25m, then I can cut my 3m x 3 off?

That makes it easier,

Thanks,