Coax cable for freeview, complete re-wire and distribution

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Just in the process of a large renovation and doing a lot ourselves, including a full rewire.

I'm planning on running coax from the main aerial to an upstairs cupboard and then distributing it out to the various upstairs and downstairs rooms that need it (will probably put an aerial point in every room cabled to the cupboard, but only connect those that need it - which is likely to be 3 at most, but gives flexibility later on).

What would be the best type/spec cable to use, baring in mind it'll probably always just be for freeview/aerial broadcast?
 
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There's only one spec you need. Webro WF100. Simple. Job done


Don't mess about with cut lengths either. Get a roll. You'll be surprised how fast you run through it. Being on a roll too makes pulling and install a lot easier than unravelling some tangled mess of coiled cable.


Sell what's left on Ebay / Gumtree / local free ads.


Don't know quite what you plan with hooking up only three rooms versus all the outlets. Personally I think unless you live in some kind of multi-roomed mansion then messing about with a small distribution amp is a false economy when 6-way or 8-way amps aren't that much more money. The difference in power consumption would be negligible too, but it's your house and your money.
 
Many years ago I installed a feed cable from the main TV point into the loft. The aerial was at that time feed to the main TV or more to point Sky Box. From the Sky box two outlets one to main TV other to loft. From the pre-amp in loft with through for digi-eye it went into three bedrooms, dinning room, and kitchen and I could watch all channels plus sky plus what ever was on VCR and what ever was no DVD player.

Today with freeview only two TV's can get terrestrial signals but all the others still get sky and DVD player.

Today there are better systems but idea is still sound. I will start watching something on main TV then retire to bed and continue to watch.
 
I've just replaced/upgraded my parents 20 year old unbranded Aerial Amp (bought from a market stall) with a Vision 4-way variable gain masthead amp. When re-ending the cables with F-plugs I found one of them was a cable with aluminium foil insulation only and a dozen strands of ally wire running between foil and outer jacket - oddly enough to the main TV with the best reception.

Didn't have time to re-run with PF100 cable as sunday dinner was just on ready, so re-ended the cable and everything worked!
 
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There's only one spec you need. Webro WF100. Simple. Job done

Don't mess about with cut lengths either. Get a roll. You'll be surprised how fast you run through it. Being on a roll too makes pulling and install a lot easier than unravelling some tangled mess of coiled cable.

Sell what's left on Ebay / Gumtree / local free ads.

Don't know quite what you plan with hooking up only three rooms versus all the outlets. Personally I think unless you live in some kind of multi-roomed mansion then messing about with a small distribution amp is a false economy when 6-way or 8-way amps aren't that much more money. The difference in power consumption would be negligible too, but it's your house and your money.

Thanks Lucid.

Will get a roll of it, would never mess with short cut lengths, running 200m of Ethernet at the moment!

My original plan was just hook up what we need and then if we ever reconfig. house we can switch things around, it's 3000 sq ft of living space. In our old place, I have it distributed into 2 rooms without any need for amps at all, we are 6 miles nearer the transmitter though (than the new place), but never had any drop out issues with freeview, but I can see a good amp would probably be good idea in a larger property with more outlets.
 
In our old place, I have it distributed into 2 rooms without any need for amps at all, we are 6 miles nearer the transmitter though (than the new place), but never had any drop out issues with freeview, but I can see a good amp would probably be good idea in a larger property with more outlets.

Not necessarily. I am in a good signal area with a roof aerial and I use an 8 way passive splitter with no problems. In fact an amplifier would cause overloading.
 
I found one of them was a cable with aluminium foil insulation only
That would be screening, not "insulation".

It's always a good idea to avoid aluminium screening on a new installation. It's not just that fact that the screening isn't very good but also the fact that this cheap cable often has a steel core - even worse!

As Lucid stated, use "Webro WF100".

However, as long as it's working for you, leave well alone. Just bear in mind that if problems arise in the future, the cheap cable is your prime suspect.
 
I'd suggest that since you are in effect on a "greenfield" installation, don't skimp.

If you can install conduits that you'll be able to get to later and add cables, then I'd suggest 2off coax and 3off Cat6 cables to each point. 2off coax's allows satellite stuff like Sky or Freeview PVRs that need two connections to the dish - or just using one as a feed from a box in the living room to watch in another room. A lot of stuff these days needs/wants a network connection - and you should avoid wireless if you can cable it. If needed, 2 of the Cat6 cables can be used for an HDMI extender (or switcher) while still leaving a cable for a network connection (you can split it with a switch if you need more than 1).

Take everything back to one point, take your phone service to there as well (hide your router out of the way), and then feed everything out from there.
 

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