RG6 coaxial cable problem

Yesterday I've Decided to relocate my TV (a little feng shui, if you know what I mean), although the plan in arranging my place is going fine but I forgot to consider the length of the coaxial cable from my satellite Dish, well it is somehow short.

First, I tried using my old splitter (although i'm not splitting) just to add another length to RG6 cable to reach my receiver besides my TV but to my surprised I did get any signal, my first guess is that my splitter is in bad shape (I can't even remember when did I used it).
So to settle the annoyance I decided to buy a long RG6 coaxial cable to solve my problem, I took the new coaxial cable and attached the connectors (can't connect it with the LNB and Receiver without them). Just as I thought that everything would be normal, to my another surprised I'm getting no signal again and worst the LED or the light on the receiver is blinking (red blinking light- it is connected to a power but it is not turned on yet) and I can't turn it on.
Well I'm already in a bad mood and hungry, I don't know what could be wrong, or I know whats wrong (it is the coaxial cable of course, that's the only thing that I've replaced) but don't know how could I've done it wrong.
I ate my lunch first, then remove the coaxial cable and check it thoroughly, It seems no problem with the cable (I was looking for a stripped cover along the cable). There must have been a problem on attaching the connectors, I used my analog multimeter then check for line continuity, there's a good line continuity between end to end center wire or conductor and end to end connectors.
This where I found the problem 'cause there is a line continuity between wire conductor (one end) to the connector on the other end where there shouldn't be, in short the wire is somewhat grounded and I found out that during my attaching of connectors, some of the aluminum braid (shielding) were in touch with the center wire (hey! at least I've got it).

My guidelines in attaching a connector to an RG6 coaxial cable:

1. Make sure that the coaxial cable has a line continuity at both ends (check it before attaching the connectors). see the picture.
2. In stripping the coaxial cable, make sure that that the shielding are cut clean (use a sharp wire cutters).
3. Double check the attached connectors visually (you can actually see the center wire if there is an aluminum wire touching it). To be absolutely sure check again for line continuity.

RG6 coaxial cable

I've checked on RG6 or coaxial cable by common terms (although nowadays it is simply called coax), obviously its variety are most commonly used in cable tv (mostly familiar), you must have seen it but never bothers.

RG6 term origin is from a long forgotten military spec which means radio guide and the numbers they say are picked in random (hmmm, I guess it is used to identify other coaxial cable from one another). RG6 coaxial cables main design are cables with 18 AWG (american wire gauge) center conductor and 75 ohm characteristic impedance (pretty technical huh!).

Its physical appearance (if you keenly observe it) has a center conductor, with a shield, the dielectric keeping the two apart, and an outer jacket wrapping (from the material being used in RG6, this is where its variety differs). Its main function (as we all hope it would be doing) is to transfer video signals from one piece of equipment to another with less cable loss, In the case of a satellite TV it is from LNB to our Receiver/s.

According to expert, RG6 coaxial cable are suited for a satellite TV set up, main reason for this is the shielding design which maintains the signal levels inside the center conductor even on a long cable run and appropriate for high frequency radio signals.

The Missing link

I almost forgot the link that is use to communicate with LNB and the receiver (it it essential), if this one is not attached there's no way or whatsoever our satellite TV will work.
You've got it right, it is the wire / cable (commonly known as RG6 cable) that connects the set up and the receiver and another is the RCA cable from receiver to TV set. For sure we are all familiar with the RG6 cable, it is almost common to every house since it is not specific for Satellite TV, it is also use outdoor Antenna and most popular is in cable TV.
RG6 is the thick cable (commonly black in color but there are also a variety in colors), when using a cable TV it is directly attached to our TV through a connector.
When buying it in a local hardware it is normally called coaxial cable. I'm gonna check check on this RG6 coaxial cable specification and why it is best for my Satellite TV set up and find a way to get electrified in the process (hope not!).

Satellite TV Receiver

The Receiver is whats visible inside the house (the satellite dish is located outside of course!) it resembles a small DVD player connected to the video input of the TV. It has its own remote control and special features on its own.

The main function of the receiver is to get the digital MPEG2 signal (I'm gonna check this out) and convert it to analog where the TV is most use to. It also de-crypt some encrypted signals, these are the pay-per-view thing. It has to have a decoder chip which communicates with the received signal from the satellite. I think this would be the card which I see on the receiver, this would also be the one they are all been talking about hacking (well! enough about that for now). Another function that is very helpful during set-up is the signal and quality indicator, the indicators tell us if the Satellite TV set up is optimized or needs some fine tuning (satellite dish adjustments). The last and my favorite is that is also pick up programming schedule signal which you can always check from the remote control to check the programming guide.

Some frequently ask question (that i know cause I ask them too!). Can we use 2 TV with 1 receiver (just like a cable TV)?. Normally one Satellite dish set has a receiver, if you want to split the signal ( for 2 TV's) and you only got 1 receiver this will work but both TV set would have the
same TV program all the time since only 1 receiver is controlling it ( never tried this one yet), the rule is you can't watch two different programs on two TVs hooked up to the same receiver. The only way to do this is to have 2 receivers for each TV (which I have already tried - it will work), even if there is one Satellite dish it will work just fine. I've read somewhere that there are other receivers that have upgraded its function, one example is that there are receiver already in the market that have a hard disk for recording programs, and who knows the receiver technology may improve a lot (let's check it out!).

Frustrated on Satellite TV

It's not that he is unable to set up his Satellite TV for its been 2 years of being used, he's frustrated that its not getting any signal anymore and don't know what suddenly went wrong.

This is the plight of my office mate who has the same Satellite TV set up as mine, I mean very same dish size, LNB and receiver model. Through our conversation on our coffee break (smoking break for us) that we get to know each others satellite set up, although he's been using it longer than I am.
From his description, one night upon turning on the TV, he's not able to get any signal. He check the signal strength on the receiver and was amazed on the signal behavior, normally its value would fluctuate from a value of 55 to 60 but now its range is from 0 to 60, just like an offbeat equalizer. I accommodate him to a retailer in manila, we brought the LNB and the receiver since we think is the only possible device that might be not working properly.

Onto the retailer, we thought that the they must have some device in checking the LNB and Receiver for their analysis of the problem, since they offer repair services. To my surprise, the method is trial and error. They have a fully functioning set up of satellite TV, and what they do is replace each part of what we brought on the functioning set up and check which failed. Well, from the trial it seems that the LNB is still good but the receiver is not. The software is not the issue but the hardware (so they say), they are not sure if they can fix it, my office mate just bought a new receiver with a good discount.

Our initial assessment of the failure would be overused of the receiver cause my office mate said that he normally forgets to turn it off even if the TV is not in used (a possible 24/7 workout, whew!). That's one lesson for our Satellite TV 101, taking care of the receiver means, turning it off when not in used (its pretty basic!).

LNB

LNB or the Low Noise Block-Downconverter plays a significant role in satellite TV set up, it is the center of attraction on a dish. It is located at the end of the arm and pointing or facing the dish.

The name is somehow literal to its function, it actually gathers or receives signals (Ku band - High frequency) that bounced off the satellite dish and converts it to low frequency (unwanted signals are filtered), it amplifies it and send it to the cable unto the receiver inside the house for viewing pleasures. It is assume of course that the Azimuth and Elevation angle and set up is correct.

Satellite TV (Victory!)

Last weekend a friend of mine ask me if somehow I can help his friend (the Earth is full of friendlies, I wonder why there is still war/s) make his satellite TV works, I think he wants this to be a hobby. I agreed to help knowing that I only knew some of the basics in the area of footprint, dish pointing and connecting the parts, I still don't even know how to check the set up if it is faulty, although I assume that his materials are all OK since it is all brand new.

It was 9:00 in the morning when we start, The whole set up was finished before lunch (Free! thats the pay and a few beers, Cheers!). Never did try to be expert but it seems simple or we're just lucky that day.

I'd say that most time consumed on the installation was mounting of the Satellite Dish, because of the drilling and screwing (of course the site where the dish is pointing is first considered), it is given. Once mounted, a few adjustment and walla! the bird (Agila 2 Satellite) is hit. Never even bother to check the compass to identify the location of the satellite, I just viewed the direction of the Sun. Well, I had an idea where it should be pointing, same as mine and the elevation of the dish were pattern also to my dish (there's a scale). The receiver is different (new model- I think) but work just fine.

Now I think I can set up a Satellite TV but only within my vicinity, cause I think Elevation and Azimuth doesn't change much. Of course LNB, receiver and cables should be in good condition otherwise I'm doomed (still don't know how to check if its functional). And no question or few should only be asked by the owner, because I can only answer few as of now but I think it will do. Just here to help (LOL!).

What is Free to Air?

Of course we all know that air is free, may it be fresh air or polluted air, its for us to take (cough!). Almost the same thing in Satellite TV, Free to Air TV refers to signals that are unencrypted and without subscription or bill but somethimes with geographical restriction (thats fine with me, can't understand others language anyway). Since its Free to us, then someone must have been covering up the bills (if theres any), I guess advertisers and sponsors is on the back for that. The last time I check with lyngsat.com, there are other countries who have many FTA channels (wow! that's good). And for those other channels with subscription or Pay TV, there are experts who just can hacked them. Don't know how'd they do that, is it the hardware (receivers) or other softwares?, they have their own way, I just have to find it out for myself (if I can!). In the Philippines they say that there's no law regarding hacking encrypted signal for Satellite TV or there's some gray area on existing one.
Although as i recall, maybe last month there's been a raid on Satellite TV set dealers on Manila, headed by NTC (National Telecomunication Commision) and police. I don't have a clear view of this issue, but I think they confiscated the receivers and the dealers can have it back if they are willing to pay P5000 (WOW! higher than the actual unit price). To have a better picture on this, Well we just have to find out Attorney!

Satellite TV dish: Size Matters

In my continued course (more on a query by myself) on Satellite TV 101, the observation (which turned into a question) that came in my mind is, Does size matters?. In case of satellite dish size the question would be, if I have a large Dish will I be having a better quality signal than smaller ones? The answer is Yes!. But then again would you use a large dish size (ex. 2 meters), when a 55cm size dish can almost match the quality. I'd go for the smaller ones (it is cheaper, I'm cheap) and just make sure that the set-up is fully optimize the difference would be negligible. I've seen the result of 2 different satellite dish size (just curious) and I can't figure out the difference (maybe I'm just busy watching the TV program). And since Philippines is prone to dozens of typhoon, A large dish has the full potential of getting carried off, if by any chance a strong rain or wind come by. I don't want my dish to fly, it might be mistaken for a UFO (with aliens!), LOL!

Rock band

Nope! I don't mean a group of musicians. but Yes! the band the we received in Satellite TV (Free-to Air) rocks! I was wondering on the significant effect the difference the two band that satellite TV transmits.

A C band (3~4 GHz) low frequency and Ku band (11~12 GHz) high frequency. A simple analogy that I read for this is using a celphone, if you recall older celphones use to have an visible antenna attached to it (if you don't, they have!), the new ones don't (well they do but not visible). same as the band, C band are somewhat old (original for communication) but still remains and the dish requirement are much bigger since the coverage of area are much wider.Ku band requires much less dish size and designed primarily for SatelliteTV, the coverage area are smaller.

To sum it up, the higher the frequency the less Dish size is required (that's good)but oless area of coverage also. The next difference is the weather effect (ex. heavy rains/dense clouds) on both bands, Ku band might have fade or lost signal while C band can still have a good signal on heavy rains. The Explanation for this is the dispersion, since C band has a wider footprint (coverage) dispersion are wide but for ku band dispersion are smaller or concentrated which makes them susceptible to weather disruption.

That's their major differences, they still do have something in common - the Azimuth and Elevation angle is the same for both C and Ku band on how to set up of a satellite dish,(considering you're in the same spot and targeting a single satellite). Well I somehow got the idea. Not to worry since majority of receiver are C and Ku band integrated, also LNB are with C and Ku band set-up it thats the case you should be getting both. I think I only utilizes the Ku band.

The Signal

For me the signal is the most important factor in Satellite TV, what's the used if you can't get any. Shoot the dish plate and it'll probably bounce back to you (word of reminder: please don't try this at home. LOL!).

The signal I'm talking about is the one we get from the satellite. There are actually 2 significant band in this Satellite TV topic that always comes up when researching. Its the C and ku band, the explanation for this is very much technical, but there's always a way for us to understand it. Basically, the main difference is the range of frequency, C band (3~4 GHz) and Ku band (11~12 GHz), whoahh!!. I'll try get much info on this before my head spin.

Where does the signal came from? 100% sure not from aliens (or could it be from them - hidden messages, hhmmm?). In reality it not from space (i mean the signals), the origin of the signals are (yes my friend!) from Earth, to be more specific from a broadcast center. They are the ones responsible in transmitting or broadcasting a programming source signals to the satellite (they use a powerful type of satellite dish) and the receiving satellite then distributes or rebroadcast them to back to earth. This is where our satellite dish comes to work, it catches the signal then you watch your TV with your favorite program.