Satellite wiring question

aislingw

Hi - new to these parts so hopefully this is the right place to post this.

I have 2-way satellite, due to there not being anything else available here - I work from home so my company pays for it. However the current set up is a bit crap in that the wires come in one end of the house, travel half-way through the house, over doors and under stairs etc - to the 2 boxes, then from there a network cable travels the rest of the way - outside under ground etc to the glorified garden shed I call an office. It was always meant as a temporary set up.

At the moment we're building an extension and i'll have a new office in the house - the electricians are chasing the walls at the moment and the ideal thing would be to get the wires into the walls properly - don't envision us giving up the satellite anytime soon unfortunately - and not having ugly black wires draped all over our shiny new rooms - but obviously I can't use the wires i have at the moment as i need them. So rang the satellite company and they said a guy can come out and set up new wires at the satellite ready to go and then come back another time to do the switch over - all for the princely sum of 600 euro A VISIT!!! Which is a bit of a joke really. I don't think my boss would be on for it and we're not really either :eek:

So the question - where can I buy these satellite wires, what are they called and do I really need mr. installer man to come out and connect them?! And am I in big trouble if the satellite company ever find out what we did?

Thanks!!
Aisling

swoofer

as with everthing it is a ripp off but their day will come.

From my bit of know how, what you need is ct cable and the best quality is ct125 for the satelllite bit, this is cheap when u relate it to the quote. If u are any way handy look at ur kit and it should be an f connector that is used to join cable. then between the pc and modem u will need network cable and this is usually cat 5.

If u could post a picture that would be better or say the name of ur provider.

Look at peats for cable but I tend to buy everything from uk. Maplins spring to mind. When u run the cable avoid too many kinks or right angle bends.

hope this helps

gb-

bminish

There is not such thing as 'cat125' at least in cabling terms

Generally sat systems use RG59 for the coax runs with F type connectors. pretty much any local Sat TV installer will have that. In a pinch the semi Air-spaced foil screened stuff they use for short runs on SKY setups will probably work ok

The tricky bit would be realigning the dish if you opt to physically move it but if you can leave it where it is and just run new wires your local sat Tv bod should be well up to the job.

.brendan

Sponge Bob

there is a high grade but thick and hard to bend sat cable called CT125 , there is a cheaper cable called CT100 which is better than RG59 and RG6 , a 100m drum would cost about €60 or €70 from any reputable electrical wholesaler , I have 35m long runs of CT100 in my house .

€600 is taking the piss for a run of cable, I would name and shame whoever quoted you that , the CT125 is expensive but about €1 a metre .

Satcure have an explanation of cable quality where they grade into Types A B C and D which is

http://www.netcentral.co.uk/satcure/cable.htm , and there another good explanation of cable http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/coaxcablequalityhmdim.htm

CT100 is a generic name in a way and that page names equivalent brands of similar quality if you are sourcing (the real original CT100 is hard to get in the sense that a Frigidaire fridge is hard to get )

Satcure sell an equivalent called H109F http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page8.htm#CT100 and give a good explanation of installation there too if time is of the essence but delivery is expensive .

I am unaware of other online sources for quality cable apart from this one sells CT100 by the 1m length , www.satellite.ie

swoofer

@bminish I meant ct125 and sponge bob knew what I meant. As he is sending data he should use the best quality to avoid any loss.

I got my ct mixed up with my cat???/

gb--

bigpaddy2004

Sponge Bob wrote:

€600 is taking the piss for a run of cable, I would name and shame whoever quoted you that , the CT125 is expensive but about €1 a metre .

Aramiska I wouldnt doubt

aislingw

bigpaddy2004 wrote:

Aramiska I wouldnt doubt

And you would be right!! My company is based in the uk and they wanted to go with a name they were familiar with...

It's a joke - 600 euro for a length of cable which we don't even want him to install and then another 600 to plug it in!! Thing is each visit falls under their relocation ticket, even though I'm not relocating anything

The thing is there are 2 cables, one for transmit and one for receive, one is thicker than the other, as far as i remember - and they have coaxial connections... They go into a satellite modem which in turn is connected to their Aramiska arc which is basically an internet appliance in a slimline case, at the moment they're in our kitchen and the constant hum would get on your wick, so they need to be moved - hence the whole problem.

Anyway, you have given me somewhere to start, so that's great - thanks a million!

Alternatively I might get on to them and read them the riot act and see if I can get some concessions - I know for a fact the guy is in this area a lot, it wouldn't cost 600 euro for him to drop by a length of cable, I'ld even meet him somewhere to get it!!! He was a nice fella, just can't contact him without going through aramiska itself.

Sponge Bob

If you read the writing on the 2 cables you have as in Cablecom AB123 or similar and post in here we may be able to give you an equivalent you can source easily and get installed in the walls and plastered over .

It may be indeed CT125 which requires careful treatment as in no kinking ...print those links out and make sure the electrician is clear on them. Also make sure you do not kink/twist any cat5 or cat 6 network cables you install in your house.

Rule of thumb when planning is that a sat cable run like ct125 or ct100 is max 30-40m long but a network cable can go 100m no probs.

once you have the right cable and DO NOT move the dish at all then the local sat guys in your area should be able to sort termination and testing for you unless they are total gobsh1tes which is unfortunately true of many sky installers .

€600 cost could possibly mean that the installer is doing a whole day trip in a van from Dublin to Kerry and back but its still really steep for one days work when the materials are probably €60 max .

Let this serve as a warning to anyone who is thinking of getting Aramiska 2 Way VSAT though , one storm twitching your dish out of whack will probably cost you €600 to fix and thats tightening a few bolts really .

Set up a groupscheme (eg)
http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/Communications/Group+Broadband+Scheme/Group+Broadband+Scheme.htm

in your area and break your cycle of dependency on Aramiska.

rogue-entity

Make life easier for yourself. There are two cables running from the dish to the receiver/modem right. These are running along the floors as you discribed. Take the cables from the dish and run them into the attic, run them to the other end of the house and connect them to the receiver near to where your shed is. Then take a short cat5 cable and connect it to a wireless router, and get a network card for your PC/laptop. Setup the wireless network by enabling WEP or WPA encryption, turning off the SSID broadcast and enable MAC address filtering so only your computer can connect to the network. This is they way my uncles sattelite broadband was setup and it can only be accessed from his companies laptop.

When you get your new office, you can continue with the wireless setup or you can get a network cable dropped down from the ceiling to your PC/laptop, but U think that the wireless setup is nicer and you dont have to mess with any of the sattelite gear, or cables, just leave them coiled up in the attic.

Zaphod

Unless the run is greater than 50M, CT100 should be sufficient. CT125 is better, but is harder to work with, and you may need to pare the core to get it to fit into you transceiving equipment.

Radionics.ie sell high quality 100M CT100 for €74, and 100M CT125 for €90.

aislingw

Thanks for all the reponses, sorry for not getting back earlier... Anyway, one of the wires says:
Belden Venlo 2004 H125 which I am assuming means it's CT125.

The other is
Ericsson Network Technologies 1402 TZC 500 45 (UL) 15 AWG VW-1 Max 75C Max 100V
- which I have found on the Ericsson site:
TZC 500 45

is an optimized coaxial cable with low attenuation and compact design for outdoor and indoor installations. A foamed PE dielectric covering the inner conductor of silver plated copper wire, double braided and jacketed with a halogen free, flame retardant TPE-U compound.
Features
• halogen free design
• dimension 1.4/3.75
• silver plated conductors
• double braid
• jacket of TPE-U
• for outdoor and indoor applications

Any ideas where I might get this? Or would the ct125 do for that too?

Thanks

Aisling

rogue-entity

As per my previous post, why go to all the trouble of adding additional wires to connect the dish to the receiver/modem when a simple wireless router would sort all the hassle and you can get one for 60Eur.

Just reroute the existing cable from the Dish into the attic, the easiest way is to go into the attic through the eves, then run the cables through the attic to the other side of the house and connect it to the receiver which you can leave in the attic.

You said that the receiver connected to another device which then connected to your computer by an ethernet cable. You could run an ethernet cable from the device to your computer but it would be easier to:
a) run an ethernet cable from the device in the attic down through the ceiling to where your computer will be, or buy a wireless router and a wireless card for your PC and connect them that way. This way you can save on buying extra cables just to bury them in the walls. It is just that easy.

aislingw

Rogue-entity - sorry, didn't mean to ignore your previous post. I did consider it and am still considering it. However, our house is one and a half storey, ie, not quite a 2 storey but not a dormer either. There is a small attic but only about 2 foot height max. It is very awkward to access and to work in. At the moment there is no power there but that could be organised I suppose. Also the only half of the attic that is accessible is separated from the end of the house nearest the current office by a 3-ft concrete or stone chimney - the attic space on the far side is not accessible at all. Will the wireless work through that mass? Will I lose speed?

Actually today we played with the idea of just sticking the boxes in the new office in a dust-proof box of some sort, running a jojo out to power it and just setting it up like it's going to be in the end. It will probably need to be moved whenever there are guys out there mullicking, but the electric first fixings are done now, so it's really only a radiator fitting and the plastering, so hopefully not too much messing about. Himself is going to have a play tomorrow and see do we even have enough wire currently to do that...

Sponge Bob

a linksys wrt54g wireless/wired hub can be souped up and will work thru c.3ft of concrete all right