Which antenna cable is for what?
There are a large number of antenna cables. Many are in business and wonder which cable is the right one for which purpose. You can be sure that it is not as complicated as it often seems.
Differences in antenna cables
There are two values that are important in an antenna cable. These are the shielding attenuation and the wave impedance.
- The shielding prevents the cable itself from becoming an antenna by receiving frequencies from high-voltage lines or other sources of interference and transmitting them to the receiving device. It also prevents signal loss. This shielding is specified either as shielding attenuation in decibels or transfer impedance in mOhm / m. In the case of antenna cables, the shielding attenuation is the more meaningful value. The larger the value, the better the cable is shielded. The shielding attenuation is 100 db for most cables.
- The other value that matters is called the wave impedance. This should be 50 ohms when it comes to RF technology in general, 75 ohms are useful for the transmission of television or video signals.
Coaxial cables are constructed in such a way that one phase is used for shielding at the same time. In most cases it doesn't really matter which one cable You use.
Which cable is suitable for which purpose
- The antenna cables are identical for most devices, you only have to connect or use the appropriate plugs for the other equipment. Take cables to which these are mounted.
- For the connection between the antenna socket and the receiver you usually need cables that are shorter than 10 m, most of them are no longer than 1 to 2 m long. With these lengths you can use almost any cable. If there is no major noise in the area, you don't need any special shielding. On the short distances, even wave resistance is usually meaningless.
- The longer the cable and the higher the frequency that is to be transmitted, the better the cable must be shielded. For example, if you want to establish a connection from the satellite antenna on the roof to the receiver in the basement, you will need a double-shielded, rather rigid cable.
A television cable can be damaged very quickly by external influences, which ...
As a general rule, you can use almost any coaxial cable if the length is only short enough. However, if you experience interference, you should check which cable you are using. Go for either a shorter one or one with better cushioning to solve the problem.
