Ideal for running from a dish/LNB to all Sky Plus/HD boxes or Freesat boxes. Once the cable is run, simply terminate it with 'F connectors', also available in our shop. We recommend not using this cable for runs over 35 metres. Suitable for outdoor and indoor use. The TV 100 cable is ideal for carrying digital TV, digital aerial & satellite and CCTV signals. This features dual copper screening, a foamed PE dielectric and a 1.0mm solid pure copper conductor for high quality signal transference. To smallest of all the coaxial cable sizes is 0.65mm cable.This is most commonly used in a pair to form “shotgun” satellite cable for Sky+,Sky Q, Freesat+ and other satellite PVR’s which require two separate LNB connections. Being the smallest of cable sizes, it should only be used for short cable lengths, nothing really above 25m. It will typically lose around 5dB at the highest used frequency every 10m. The next coaxial cable size is 1.25mm cable. This almost always used in communal TV systems to overcome signal losses on long cable runs. 125 cable will typically lose around 2.5dB per 10m at the highest frequency so you can for it to be a worthwhile upgrade over 1mm coax you would need a long cable length. When you get to this cable size normal screw on type plugs start to become unsuitable and you should consider using compression and crimp on style plugs instead. Also when you get to this cable size and above it isn’t suitable for terminating into wall plates, LNB’s, aerials etc. I have also included modern CT100, PF100 and NX100 as almost equally good to WF100. To be honest they are so similar I wouldn’t worry if you have one instead of the other.

When installing a coaxial cable, it is imperative at that the centre conductor and the cable braid and centre never touch, even one single strand of the cable braid touching the centre conductor will create a cable short and could result in loss of TV signal altogether. This definitely will happen where line power is present which could be powering your satellite dish, amplifiers and magic eyes. As the dielectric inside a coax cable is to primarily stop the conductors touching this must made from a non-conductive substance with insulating properties. This is most commonly a foam filled substance,but some coax cable types use a PVC/ air where the PVC keeps an air separation.The dielectric also helps define the impedance of the coaxial cable, so it is also carefully keeping the correct distance between conductors. For this reason,it is important not to squash the cable at terminations or kink the cable when installing it. If you read the early part of this blog you will see I talked about the different coaxial cable sizes, this depends on the cables lengths that you’re installing. I again rate Webro the highest so if you’reinstalling a communal IRS system, I recommend WF100, WF125 and WF165 as suitable cables for doing so. You may even want to get these a multi-core cable to assist with the installation.

There are different types of dielectric materials used for coaxial cabling. The most common are foam filled (my preference) and air spaced, which uses plastic dialectic to maintain the separation between conductors, a common type of the latter is also called honeycomb cable. Although both types work well in terms of performance foam is becoming the norm as it doesn’t kink as easy as the air-spaced cabling. Finally, we get to the part of the blog where I actually recommend cable types for TV systems. I’m just going to bunch a whole bunch of cables here as they’re essentially the same cable made by different manufacturers. Another term you’re likely to encounter is “shotgun” cable.This is two coaxial cables joined together which makes installation easier as you would usually install a twin cable to satellite PVR’s like Sky+ and Sky Q boxes. Shotgun or twin cable is also commonly referred to as Siamese cable on the other side of the Atlantic for obvious reasons. Most shotgun cable that is installed is a twin 0.65mm coaxial cable which is suitable for short cable lengths and is handy as it can fit through a 10mm hole. There are twin 1mm coaxial cables on the market which are suitable for longer runs. When you see the terms SDU and MDU, these stand for Single Dwelling Unit and Multiple Dwelling Unit meaning domestic and communal basically. This means that cable that is certified for “MDU” use is suitable for both domestic and communal installations but not the other way around.

Please note that this has been written from a TV aerial/satellite perspective, so we are focusing on the best coax cables for Sky, Freeview & Freesat. There are lot of other types that are used in CCTV and data cabling functions which are not mentioned in this blog. The next cable size above is 165 coaxial cable. I’m sure you know where I’m going from here so I’m not going to list anymore coaxial cable sizes, although there are more. The reason being when you get higher it would be more suitable to install fibre optic cabling instead. 1.65mm cable is pretty much used exclusively in communal TV system and CATV systems. It has a signal loss of around 2dB at the highest frequency. With cables this size and above it can even be difficult to get crimp on plugs to fit well so I would advise installing compression plugs instead. I would however be very wary of called branded or marketed as “RG6” as the modern equivalent is far inferior in terms of performance. It is cheap to buy which is why some people use it. It has a solid copper clad steel centre conductor with a foam filled dielectric and aluminium.If you’re going to be installing lots of internal coaxial cabling you should install LSZH coaxial cabling. LSZH stands for Low Smoke Zero Halogen which means in the event of fire the toxic fumes given off from this type of cable is far less than other types of coaxial cabling intended for outside use. One way of getting the cable cost down is to reduce the amount of copper inside the cable. This is where Copper Clad Steel & Copper Clad Aluminium cables come in. Although you save money, you lose out considerably in terms of performance so I would opt for all copper conductors instead if the budget allows it. The steel conductor in CCS is prone to rusting over time and the steel conductor doesn’t have it very good current carrying capacity. As there is a considerable voltage drop with cables lengths exceeding 30m using a CCS cable for satellite LNB connections is not a good idea as the voltage drop could cause issues with the LNB switching.