Rg6 to rg59?

[rls8r]

I have a TV antenna with a female rg59 connector. However, the antenna wire going up the mast is rg6. Is there an adapter/connector that will allow me to connect the rg6 cable to the rg59 antenna? If not, how would I make this arrangement work? Thanks.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by rls8r

I have a TV antenna with a female rg59 connector. However, the antenna wire going up the mast is rg6. Is there an adapter/connector that will allow me to connect the rg6 cable to the rg59 antenna? If not, how would I make this arrangement work? Thanks.

rg59 is a type of cable, not a connector?

[S/V Illusion]

A “RG6 to RG9 connector” search shows lots of options.

[rls8r]

Jedi -

Yes, thanks. I'm afraid that my question wasn't as clear as I'd hoped. Perhaps I should have said that my antenna has a female f-connector sized to accept an RG-59 cable, but my antenna cable is RG-6.

As I understand things, an RG-6 cable has a larger core than an RG-59 cable so a "typical" male f-connector sized to fit an RG-6 cable will not be able to connect to a "typical" female f-connector sized to fit an RG-59 cable.

If my understanding is not correct, please let me know. If it is - how do I connect the antenna to the antenna cable?

Thanks again - I hope that is clearer.

[rls8r]

Illusion -

I tried searching "RG6 to RG59" and, just as you say, there were a lot of hits. But, I didn't see any that answered my specific question - just a lot of discussions about the best antenna (and similar). If you've seen one that answers my question would you please post a link to it? Thanks.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by rls8r

Jedi -

Yes, thanks. I'm afraid that my question wasn't as clear as I'd hoped. Perhaps I should have said that my antenna has a female f-connector sized to accept an RG-59 cable, but my antenna cable is RG-6.

As I understand things, an RG-6 cable has a larger core than an RG-59 cable so a "typical" male f-connector sized to fit an RG-6 cable will not be able to connect to a "typical" female f-connector sized to fit an RG-59 cable.

If my understanding is not correct, please let me know. If it is - how do I connect the antenna to the antenna cable?

Thanks again - I hope that is clearer.

It makes sense now. The right thing to do is replace the rg6 cable with a marine grade rg59 cable. I don’t think rg6 is suitable for the marine environment.

[smac999]

put a male f connector on both ends and buy a female coupler

[rls8r]

Just a follow-up to my question.

It seems that a female F-connector will accept a male F-connector on both RG59 and RG6 cables even though the conductor wire in the two cables are different sizes.

There doesn't seem to be much consistency in conductor wire sizes. I've seen specs for RG59 cable that show conductor wire diameters of 20 - 22 AWG (0.022 - 0.32"; 0.56 - 0.8 mm). I've seen specs for RG6 cable that show conductor wire diameters of 18 AWG (0.029 - 0.040"; 0.74 - 1.02 mm).

Most "standard" (e.g., Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.) cable has a copper-coated steel conductor wire which I suppose is not good for marine use. West Marine does sell RG6 cable with a solid copper core. Solid copper core cables are also provided by many outlets (e.g., Pasternak, Belden, etc.) - but you have to check the specs to make sure. Many suppliers on Amazon describe the cable core to be "copper" - but a glance at the detailed descriptions of the cables show the cable core to be copper-clad steel. Be careful!

Often, comparisons between RG59 and RG6 cables mention that there is a lot of signal loss in RG59 cables when they're run over "long distances" and RG6 should be used for "long distance" runs. But - only rarely does the comparison let us know what is considered to be a "long distance." Several articles that I've read seem to say that anything over 10 - 20 feet is a long distance. Since the distance from the top of my mizzen mast to the antenna booster is about 40 feet, I used quad-shielded RG6.

So, my final setup consists of a Shakespeare 3004 SeaWatch antenna at the mizzen masthead connected to a Shakespeare 4360 AM/FM/TV splitter/booster via 40' of quad-shielded, solid copper core RG6 cable. The F-connector on the RG6 cable fit into the female connector on the antenna - even though the antenna came with 20' of RG59 cable. I made a "boot" over the F-connector at the antenna with self-amalgamating tape, which also held in place a corrugated wire cover (for UV protection) which I ran over the cable from the antenna to the mast entrance. I also used RG6 from the splitter/booster to the TV. I used RG59 from the splitter/booster to the radio.
So far - everything seems to be working nicely.

[smac999]

Originally Posted by rls8r

Often, comparisons between RG59 and RG6 cables mention that there is a lot of signal loss in RG59 cables when they're run over "long distances" and RG6 should be used for "long distance" runs. But - only rarely does the comparison let us know what is considered to be a "long distance."

rg59 was used 40 years ago. everything in the last 30 years is rg6. there is no reason to ever buy rg59 for anything, for any distance. it's antiquated

[wholybee]

I am an engineer at a TV station and have a lot of experience with F connectors and various 75 ohm cable sizes. Below is probably more information than you want.

The F connectors will mate with each other because the female has spring loaded contacts to accept any size center conductor. However, sometimes if you plug in a cable with a large center conductor, those contacts stretch out, and will no longer work with a cable that has a smaller center conductor. You are doing the reverse, so no problem. But RG59 might not work with that antenna anymore.

RG59 is a smaller cable, and RG6 a larger cable, and the tolerances are not well controlled between manufacturers. Generally, the RG6 is a lower loss cable, but quality varies a lot. I would never consider using a copper clad cable, and would look for a quality braided shield. Cheaper cable there is little to no braid, just strands, and a foil wrap. Better cable has a heavy thick braid. I would probably replace the RG59 with RG6. RG59 is usually a cheaper cable without a good braid. It has no place in anything I would work on.

I would skip the splitter booster if possible. In analog days amplifiers were needed for long cable runs (and should be near the antenna, not the bottom of the mast), but digital TV works with a much lower signal level. And a digital signal can be picked out of the noise if the S/N is bad. However, digital is more sensitive to non-linearities that an amplifier can introduce. So often you get better, or at least equal, reception without the amplifier. But if it is working and you are happy, then more work is only more work.

[rls8r]

smac999 -

"there is no reason to ever buy rg59 for anything, for any distance. it's antiquated"

Yes, that's the impression I was left with after reading up on the two cables. However, a lot of A/V vendors (including Shakespeare antennas) package their products with RG59. It must be cheaper - and they anticipate use scenarios where the run is less than about 20' so the degradation in signal quality is less likely to appear.

Thanks for the confirmation - I've made a "note to self ..."

Wholybee -

"I would skip the splitter booster if possible."

I got the splitter/booster so I could separate out the FM from the TV and use the 3004 antenna for both TV and FM reception. If there's another way to do it ... I haven't found it. The Shakespeare rep that I talked with at the Annapolis Sailboat Show told me that the splitter that comes with the 3004 would separate the FM from the TV signal - but when I got the antenna I found that wasn't the case (it only allowed you to run the TV signal to two TVs), so I looked for another way and found the 4360 (which I was surprised to see isn't listed on the Shakespeare web site).

Thanks for the info on the F-connector, cables and the booster/splitter. It confirms and expands what I've been able to pick up by doing Internet searches and it echos what smac999 recommends regarding cables. I'm always grateful for more information.