Just had a conversation with a DirecTV installer and he said they're going to be spec'ing 3.6GHz cable by 2016.

Edit- to top it off, while he was making his case for installing different cable from what I used, he told me AND the homeowner how much he pays for coax. GD IT!

Does anyone have the current cable, splitter, terminal and other part requirements and any knowledge of the upcoming spec changes, as well as a good number for someone in tech support who DOESN'T have their head up their ass?

I understand they have no desire or requirement to inform those of us who are independent contractors, but they could at least not bullshit us when we call.

Edit- do you guys use copper-clad, or only solid copper? One of my reps told me they don't sell much solid copper and that it's special order, only.

You should immediately challenge a DirecTV installer who quotes parts prices. The installers I've known are GIVEN connectors, splitters, cable, etc by their dispatch office for all installations. Inventory is so poorly tracked that I've had an installer build a SWM system out of "extra" parts on his truck. A guy who wanted to work for us brought along 3,000 feet of RG6 that he had been "given" by DirecTV. (We didn't use him or his free stuff.)

Anyway... We use copper only. It probably doesn't matter until you're going the longest distances, because the steel only can affect DC and 22 kHz. SWM itself using a single wire LNB doesn't use 22 kHz, but DC powers the LNB.

Check out the recent thread on IP.
I *think* someone said if they dont see solid copper they wont install....

For what it's worth I work with a commercial DTV installer that does large MDU type buildings.. They run the entire building off a single HD dish. He just uses CCS dual shield.

I think I remember the thread about Sat installers not using solid copper, but with Time Warner and Dish being so freaking late to the RG6, I don't know how they get to dictate anything unless they decided to proactively yank their heads out.

I don't think any runs at this house are longer than 60', anyway.

FWIW, I made the point of telling hm that I know the cable he was referring to isn't Quad shield, which is what I used. Also, he and the customer were on the phone at the time. One of the first comments the installer made was that we should run some kind of conduit to most locations for future needs, which is fantastic because I kept telling the customer the same thing, but he thought it was a waste of money. He does taxes and accounting, as well as being a real estate broker, so yeah- he's THAT way. Doesn't know what it takes to do the job, but he's sure he's justified in telling me how to do it. At least he admitted that I was right in recommending it in the first place.

That's what I get for trying to do this for my old guitar teacher. Turning into a real schmuck.

I once had a discussion with Stephen Lampen about quad versus basic foil and braid. I proposed and he agreed that we need the extra shielding if we're running cable in, say, a building that sits underneath a 250,000 watt TV transmitter. In normal circumstances, foil and braid suffices.

There's another insidious reason to have quad: the next guy to come along can't say "oh, I see they used the cheap stuff" if they see foil and braid, then whip out a hunk of quad and tell the client that this is the good stuff.


?? Each with his girlfriend? With each other?


Well, yay for that, at least. He was a jerk for telling his cable cost, but this helped you.


A phone system installer I knew would never do any work for neighbors. It just never worked out right. Your old guitar teacher hasn't known you long enough that he used to change your diapers, but he did know you when you were totally incapable of doing something and he taught you. You need to shut down his attitude of you as a lesser person. Be blunt: he knows guitar, you know audio/video.

I used Quad because of the mesh of electrical wiring. I also re-ran several coax cables because they were sharing some of the same holes in the floor joists with Romex. When the Romex is in almost every joist space, I like Quad. If I get my way and the electrician understands that their wiring needs to be separated from mine by more than one Å, it's a good day.

I don't use cable for a pissing match, I use RG6Q when I think it's needed or, in the rare case when it's the only thing that's available.

No, I meant they were sitting on the phone at the same time. It's very large.

I think I need to remind him that, until I caused him to take an ear training class, his playing wasn't interesting. He knew what to play over any chord/progression, even four to the bar, but it just sounded technical, not musical. At the time, he would ask why I played something over a chord and I would say "Because I thought it would sound good". He liked what I was playing, but he couldn't grasp how I was doing it. I had learned to read at the beginning and played trombone, in grade school band. Then, I stopped playing because I was 12 and didn't want to spend all of my time alone because none of my other friends played anything. When I started playing again, I found that a lot of the sheet music and song books were wrong, so I stopped buying them and just learned the music by ear (it's much easier, for me).

I can't fault him for wanting me to know what I was playing, though. That was part of his job as a teacher.

It bothers yall that the cable guy told customer how much a 500 or 1000' roll of coax costs? You mean the same roll that ANYONE can google and get ten prices on? Im not getting the anger.

This comment he made makes me suspect of any info he provides. I see a lot of coax types and I have never seen a 3.6GHz RG6, plenty of 3Ghz and 4.5GHz.

The frequency bothers me less than the fact that he put doubt in the mind of the customer about what I installed and THAT pisses me off. If he wants to get into the product/service disparagement game, it's his choice, but he won't win.

I may be wrong, but I think that someone giving a CI a good reference carries more weight than a satellite installer getting a good reference when they're competing with Time Warner or some other cable company with horrible customer service.

You're right to be torqued by his unprofessional attitude. It does nobody any good for him to tell his costs.

I also went looking for 3.6 gHz cable and did not find it. But I work with a guy who does incredible work and yet still calls metal studs "aluminum" and can't quote an accurate dimension if his life depends on it. Not knowing the exact numbers is suspect, but bears investigation, not just dismissal of possible talent.

I have not heard anything about the 3.6ghz cable.

We use to run ccs or for $10 extra it was solid copper, now we just run solid copper but most local installers we supply buy and ask for ccs, ok actually they all do lol.

we use rg-6 for homes and rg-11 for cable headends and any commercial receive site.. We use rg-11 for homes as well if they are long runs or if the customer wants it, rare it's asked for in a residential home though, but i've had the requests. we hardy ever use quad.

I was thinking about this yesterday- in light of the fact that he was referring to the speed as 'three G', it may be that he heard about the DirecTV processor or video stream approaching 3GHz, but I'll pick his brain to find out more on Tuesday. For all I know, he may not understand the technical side of the signal, although he also told the customer that the LNB on his dish isn't the correct one. If I find that he just likes to say other peoples' installations are wrong and his are great,....

I think I need to remind him that the length of the cable may be the more important criterion and nothing at this site is more than about 60'.

RG-11 for residential? Really? I saw that coming from a pole for relatively short cable feed once, but the only other times I saw it was on C-Band installations.