Coaxial cable, connectors, and tool

[mugs]

This is a shot in the dark, but what's the best place to buy this stuff? I'm looking for RG-6 cable, this tool and the type of connectors it uses (these). I checked Home Depot last night, it's ~$60 for the tool, $12 for 100 foot of RG-6 cable, and the connectors would be either 4 for $5 or 50 for $29. It will probably take me years to use 50 of them... but I hate paying twice as much to get lower quantities. I don't forsee finding this tool for less than $50 which sucks, because it's a really nice tool and it makes it so easy to make the cables.

[Guest beatmix01]

Let me tell you, that toool rocks. In the past I have crimped RG-6 with a dinky cheap-o crimper. The crimps never stayed on and it would take forever to get them looking remotely good. For me buying many connectors isnt a big deal, since I end up losing half of them when I put them away. (I don't have a very organized tool box) The problem w/ these is they are buy-in-bulk products. Have you tried ebay for the tool?

[mrn8]

Link

 

They have a better price on the cables, but I'm not sure if you want to buy the cable in bulk. If you do, it comes out to ~half the price of the 100' at Home Depot.

[steveh]

I would definitely buy a 500' roll of RG6 cable from Home Depot... You'll kick yourself if you buy the 100' roll and then need 120'... Last time I bought them, the price for a 500' roll was 50% more than the price of a 100' roll...

 

I would also look into the *screw-on* RG6 connectors... They sell them individually, in boxes of 10, and in boxes of 50... Obviously the higher the quantity, the lower the unit price... But the best part of these is that you don't need a crimper... These things work great (I've used *hundreds* of them and never had a problem)...

 

The only other thing you'll need (whether you go with crimp or screw-on connectors) is a stripper for coax... I highly the recommend the one by Ideal... You should be able to pick one up at HD for ~$25-30...

 

Make sure the connectors you get are for the same type of wire you buy... coax comes in RG6 and RG59... The connectors also come in both types... they look very similar, but are not compatible with each other, so make you sure you decide which you're using and stay consistent (I believe RG6 supports the broader range signal used in digital cable, I don't think RG59 does)...

 

Check out these guys... http://www.rexelusa.com and I would also suggest checking ebay for this stuff...

[mugs]

Turned out my father in law has the tool, as well as a coax cable stripper that cuts the wire that sticks out to just the right length. Funny thing is, that second tool was made my the company I work for. :)