I've got to retrofit XM satellite into a home theater. It seems to me I should be able to get away with running the external wall mounted antenna on a spare RG6 but I was wondering if any of you have done it yet. Yes I know it's all wrong but there's a lot we do all wrong, but it works. I haven't heard of people haveing very good luck with indoor antennas, any opinions on that? Thanks.

Who knows what impedance the XM antenna is?

That is likely to be the biggest problem with RG6. I saw something about it that indicated it was not a 75 ohm setup, so you will have signal loss just by using RG6 at all, if the run is more than one or two wavelengths.

Can you get adaptors to go from RG6 connectors to the proper XM connectors? Since adaptors are made from just about everything to BCs, you might have to use two adaptors at each end. More signal losses, again mostly from mistmatching impedances.

Search the site. Someone listed the type of wire to use and also, I believe, a source of longer cables or connectors for making your own. You might simply have to give your client the choice of spending money on a short research project to find out if RG6 will work; spending that money will give him the possibility of using existing wire. If it turns out that the existing RG6 cannot be used, then he will have to go for whatever it takes to install the right wire.

Don't forget to check with Dave Houston, who does a lot of RF stuff, as to whether he has any products that could help you. I believe his member name is Dave Houston, so you should be able to find him pretty easily.

ADA makes XM extenders for RG-6 coax with both single output and 4 output receivers. They aren't super-cheap but work very well.

Brad

I have run about 50' of RG6Quad between an antenna and a receiver. Using BNC ends designed for the RG-6 mini RGB cable, connected it all together, It has been working great for about a year. I can't tell you what longer lgnths will do.

I spoke with the ADA guys about their XM stuff, and it is my undersatanding that you need their XM tuner card to power the XM extender, it will not work alone.

XM is another example of someone staying as proprietary as possible in order to price gouge. $30 for a splitter? $40 for a 50' extension? Non-75ohm cable? Who does that?

OK, b1tch mode off.

http://www.sandsationalsound.com/
Everybody swears by these

deb1919 I have to disagree, Price gouge-ing on a $30 splitter. show me a DSS splitter for less than 30 bucks. Non 75 ohm cable, where do you get this information?

XM took a huge risk launching their product in the hopes that it would be adopted, and remember, they have TWO satellites that they launched in space. And you're complaning about 30 bucks. Try to look at the big picture here.

BTW, The adapters I used to convert the XM cable to RG-6 and back cost about 3 bucks each.

Fish,

How about letting us in on the $3 adapter. Where are you getting them at??? Got a link??????

Thanks

Robbie S

Sure, Heres what you do:

1. Cut the antenna cable.

2. terminate both cut ends with a BNC end designed for mini RGB cable

(a clmbncm from www.signaturewire.com, you will need a cable pro linear compression tool, or similar. You can also use one of the many ends from Bitronics www.btx.com, if you have a radial compression tool.

3. use a female BNC to Male F adapter, 200-108 from www.dbldictributing.com

4. Use a f to f female coupler to connect what you just made to the RG6 end.

signature wire will have a mini rgb to F end soon, eliminating all of the adapters in the middle. one of these days, I'll hook this up with a 1000' spool of rg6 in the middle and see what happens.

I just lookes at the btx ctalog, and if you use a CV-A2103 (female BNC to female F, you don't need the coupler.

XM uses 50 ohm cable, last I checked. Has that changed & I'm not aware?

If you've run standard coax & it works, that's good info to have.


DSS can't use splitters, due to the nature of the transmission. I suppose the fact that XM has to pass up to around 2.4 GHz to work would make the splitter proprietary, like the connector.

And DSS came out of the gate using standard 75ohm coax & standard F-connectors.

Yes, I have a poor attitude regarding companies making things unnecessarily different.

me too deb.
imagine bidding a job for someones existing equipment-
Bose 5.1 speaker system w/sub, dish net (and cable), XM sat radio, plasma with separate media box you MUST use, and a Bang+Olauf, system as a second zone, and an LCD remote of your choice. Have fun.

I don't know what the impedence is for sure, How did you get this information? If you have a link I sure would like to know that.



That's exactally my point. If you want to split your signal from the dish, you use a multiswitch. It's a propritary system, and no one complains about that.

Yes they did, but it has to be RG-6. What about all of those older homes with RG-59.

New technology sometimes requires a diffrent cable. Look at DVI. How do you feel about that? Talk about difficult. And I'm pretty sure that XM didn't choose 50 ohm cable (if it is 50 ohm) just to screw everybody in custom. They probably habe a reason related to performance.

It's my job as a custom installer to make things play nice that weren't designed to, and to find ways for the customer to get what they want. If it means that I have to do a little extra homework, and think outsude the box, than that's what I get paid to do.

BTW. I have a source for 50 ohm mini cable, if that is indeed what it is, if anyone needs it.

There is mention of it in this ADA article:
[Link: hometoys.com]


Not anymore, but we sure used to. Why couldn't they make an LNB capable of receiving the entire DSS band at once?


RG59 was always a cheap way out for a builder or installer. It should have never been used for anything shy of OTA or FM. When things inevitably started going digital, they all paid for their shortsightedness.


I'm equally annoyed about DVI, something dictated by lawyers, not engineers. Give me a single SDI coax anyday for the same picture. God forbid someone might want to make a decent recording.

And no, I doubt XM made their choices to screw us, just the consumer. There are dozens of standard coaxial connectors already out there, there's no need for another. My parts case is heavy enough as it is.


That old cliché about thinking outside the box is a good thing when it leads to better products & services, not just more money. But this doesn't surprise me, coming from a publicly traded company.

In the end, we'll all do what we have to. But we don't have to like it.

Doug @ HomeWorks