Extending Sky+HD Box ...what cable?

therealgirl

Hi,

I want to move my Sky box (it is a HD one if that makes any difference!) and I went to get the connectors but the guy didn't have any cable so sent me to another place to get it, gave me the cable type as RJ45....went to the other shop & He said they don't do that cable, never heard of it and sold me one for Sky boxes....I went home and connected it up and the Sky box said no signal...

Just wondering, as I double checked all my connectors, if I have to do anything else to the Sky box before turning it on or if the cable is the incorrect one?

The wire in the centre of the new cable looked a bit thicker than the Sky cable.

Thanks!

zg3409

Can you take a photo and upload it here? What you are saying does not make sense. Be sure the box is plugged out when connecting or disconnecting anything.

therealgirl

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Just went looking for the cable but its in my husbands car, he was going to take it back after work.

I'm not sure what you want to see photographed...let me know if this is helps?

So I connected the new cable to one end of one of the set above....screwed in the centre bit & connected the Sky cable to the other end...the Sky box was plugged out for this...after I plugged it back in I gave it ten minutes then turned on the box ....but it said no signal (I cant remember if it said 'searching for listings' at some point...I think it did)

Thanks

zg3409

The connectors and barrel joiner you have are fine. It may be a problem with cheap thin cable, or a strand from the outer screen touching the inner centre.

You should not need to add tape to hold the cable to the connector if the cable is the correct thickness and screwed in correctly.

Photos here:
http://www.radioland.co.za/how_to_fit_f-connector_on_co-ax_.html
, and check CAREFULLY all connections are done properly. It should then work. If the cable keeps falling out of the connectors then get thicker satellite cable.

therealgirl

zg3409 wrote: »

The connectors and barrel joiner you have are fine. It may be a problem with cheap thin cable, or a strand from the outer screen touching the inner centre.

You should not need to add tape to hold the cable to the connector if the cable is the correct thickness and screwed in correctly.

Photos here:
http://www.radioland.co.za/how_to_fit_f-connector_on_co-ax_.html
, and check CAREFULLY all connections are done properly. It should then work. If the cable keeps falling out of the connectors then get thicker satellite cable.

I snapped the barrel after taking it off , after nothing worked for me though so that's not the problem...I taped it but I think i will buy a new set before trying connecting a cable again.

Thanks for the photo's on how to make the connections...I had done everything the way they said to do it...

What is an ethernet cable? Is the RJ45 cable the wrong one to be looking for then? The guy in the first shop said he wasn't going to sell me their cable, as even though it says satellite cable on it he said it is actually for the old analogue tv's.....or something along the lines of that....So he sent me to this big electrical place & said to ask for the RJ45

therealgirl

...I think the cable the guy sold me was RG6....definitely something with the number 6 in it...

zg3409

The cable you have is probably OK for short runs. It might be an idea to get the guy in the shop to make it up, assuming he knows what he is doing.

I think RJ45 is the wrong name. You need a satellite coax extension cable X 2. Ideally the cable should have a copper centre, and a copper screen, but for short runs it doesn't matter too much. The thickness of the cable needs to match the "F" connectors.

therealgirl

zg3409 wrote: »

The cable you have is probably OK for short runs. It might be an idea to get the guy in the shop to make it up, assuming he knows what he is doing.

I think RJ45 is the wrong name. You need a satellite coax extension cable X 2. Ideally the cable should have a copper centre, and a copper screen, but for short runs it doesn't matter too much. The thickness of the cable needs to match the "F" connectors.

The cable length was 5 meters...so I snipped it to use it as 2.5m for each dish input cable...the wire seemed to fit the connector, maybe I'll check that again...the cable is plastic layer on the outside, then a thin wire mesh/wire strands type layer and a plastic centre layer with a copper wire in the centre. The copper wire in the centre looks a tiny bit thicker than the copper wire in the centre of the original Sky cable.

Thanks very much for all the advice

therealgirl

...Mu husband went to B&Q and bought 2 packets of a ready made 10m satellite cable with the F connectors already connected...problem solved...Every other shop I tried said there was no such thing! Maybe they were just trying to get me to buy the cable & connectors separately...and I did *dope*

Thanks again for all the advice

Liameter

For anyone else needing a Sky extension lead, this explanation might help:
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/extend_cable.htm