Re: Cutting Coaxial Cable
- From: "Pete C." <aux3.DOH.4@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:32:14 GMT
On 17 Aug 2006 19:20:43 -0700, redbrickhat@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I am going to cut the RG6 coaxial cable from my cable tv to add a
splitter.
Do I have to call my cable tv company to tell them to turn off power to
the signal before I cut, to prevent electrocution?
Thank you.
frank1492 wrote:
NO, these cables carry RF, no dangerous voltages/currents.
Not entirely true. CATV line power, used to power line amplifiers and
fiber optic gear on the line is 60VAC. This voltage is normally limited
to the lines on the pole, but now and then a cable tech forgets to cut a
power pass jumper or remove a jumper plug which results in the line
power being delivered to the back of someone's TV or cable box. Not
generally a hazard to humans, but can kill some TVs.
That said, if you have to ask if you'll get electrocuted cutting a CATV
line you almost certainly do not have the knowledge / skill to
reterminate the lines properly. There is more to it than just squeezing
a connector with pliers and doing so will almost certainly result in a
poor signal to your TV(s) as well as leakage of the signal from the CATV
line. The splitters you will generally find are lower grade than the
ones supplied by the cable company as well.
This signal leakage is not a joke either, the FCC has pretty stringent
regulations on signal leakage from CATV systems since the signals on the
CATV system overlap many over-the-air signals including police, fire and
air traffic control radio frequencies. CATV operators regularly sweep
their systems looking for leakage problems and there are contract
companies that do aerial leakage surveys of CATV systems.
Call the cable company and ask them to have a tech stop by to install
the splitter for you. Most companies won't charge for this, or will
charge a very small amount, probably less than you'll pay for the
splitter and connectors yourself. It's in their interest to insure the
connections are made correctly since it both aids in their FCC leakage
compliance and also helps avoid customer complaints of bad pictures
resulting from their own actions and the bad word of mouth that can
result.
Pete C.
(worked for a large cable company for quite a few years)
.
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- Cutting Coaxial Cable
- From: redbrickhat
- Re: Cutting Coaxial Cable
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- Cutting Coaxial Cable
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