Hi everyone,
I have a question for the experts here- not exactly garage related, but I'm sure someone will have the answer.
I just bought a new-to-me house built in 1989. I've been trying to get the cable tv wiring squared away and now I've hit a roadblock. I couldn't understand why there were cable outlets everywhere- like two per room in every room in the house, yet there only a few cables and splitters stapled to the back of the house, but not enough to account for what appeared to be there. So I did some tracing and digging and finally found all of the original coax home runs buried in the sheetrock wall in the basement. I figured "well no problem, I'll just put in a proper panel and splitter arrangement and get rid of all the junk on the outside of the house."
But then I realized that the house had been wired with RG62 cable and it appears from some searching that it is pretty much useless for any video signal, especially HDTV signals.
OK, first things first...
The signals you are trying to distribute are NOT "video", per se. They are RF signals, generally in the radio/TV bands. The "video" (and audio, and in the case of modern "cable TV" service, internet data and telephone) signals are embedded/encoded within those RF signals; but the wire neither knows nor cares about that.
Most "Cable TV" service these days is completely digital, using high-bandwidth fiber-optic cable out to at least the "neighborhood" level (and in the case of some services, all the way to your home). At that point, a proprietary device (generally referred to as an "Optical Network Terminal") splits out the various signals and sends them where they need to go, over metallic cabling (including, but not necessarily limited to, coax). With regard to TV (as opposed to internet and/or telephone) service in particular, those signals eventually reach your "Set Top Box", which in turn feeds actual audio & video signals to your TV.
It sounds like you have more-or-less conventional "Cable TV" service, as opposed to a full "FTTP" (Fiber To The Premises) service such as Verizon FiOS. In which case, you don't have an ONT in/on your house, and the service comes in to your property via a single coax cable. But if you ALSO have internet and/or (VOIP) telephone service through your "cable" company (i.e., a so-called "Triple Play" package), then you will ALSO have some sort of "black box" (essentially a router) which will split off these other signals and feed them separately to wherever they need to go.
Any ideas on what I should do?
-Live with what I have- which is limited drops into a couple rooms?
-try to rip out the old cable where I can and use it to pull in new RG6- is that sometimes easy to do or will it be stapled in everywhere?
-is there any way to use the RG62?
You CAN use splitters and/or distribution amps to spread that signal around the house; but you should NOT go overboard on this. Each such "splitter" device in the chain inevitably imposes signal losses. Distribution amps attempt to make up for these losses by amplifying the signal before sending through a splitter circuit; but that brings its own set of potential problems (signal overload, clipping, additional noise, etc.).
The RG-62 is far from ideal for this purpose, to the point that it is arguably useless. The main problem is that its characteristic impedance is way off the figure used for TV/cable signals, and for which all the equipment in question is designed. This mismatch can (and likely will) cause some serious signal losses (and worse, reflections) in each cable segment (each of which is its own "transmission line"). That, in turn, can screw up the entire system. All that said, you just MIGHT get away with it, particularly if it's only one or two relatively short runs, and presuming that everything falls into place "just so". But I cannot in good conscience actually recommend you go this way. The only way to be sure is to try it.
If you want to completely re-wire the house for TV distribution, I would suggest making "Home Runs" of low-loss 75-Ohm coaxial cabling from each drop point back to a centrally located wiring closet. But do NOT actually connect any of these drops which are not in active use. Several folks here have suggested RG-6/U cable for this purpose; and it will near-certainly be adequate. If you want to go top-shelf, quad-shield RG-11/U would impose somewhat less signal loss (particularly at the higher RF frequencies) on the longer runs; but it is a much thicker and stiffer cable, which will therefore be a much larger PITA to run/fish.
As for using the old RG-62 as a "pull rope" for the new cable... Good luck. I'd wager it IS stapled in at least somewhere along the line; and therefore, this will prove futile.
RG-62 was used for coax computer networking ... a long time ago
If I remember correctly it was 93 ohms, modern cable is 75 ohms.
92 Ohms; but close enough.
RG6 is what you want use.
Well... MAYBE.
See above re; RG-11/U. Lower loss, but more of a PITA to work with. I use it for the main downleads from my antennas; but the drops from the main distribution amp are all RG-6/U.
