Is all CT100 aerial cable me equal? What's best for external?

[Max Rasa]

Hi all

I want to replace the aerial cable in my house as the old stuff is... old! And it has several joins along the way. In the first instance the run from aerial to TV will be around 20 metres.

I remember when I looked into it years ago that CT100 is the best stuff to get. So just looking now I see that Toolstation do CT100. What I wondered is, is all CT100 made by the same company or is it more of a general term, and made by different companies and therefore of differing qualities?

Also, the run will all be internal, but at some point in the future I may have to do a longer external run to a different part of the house. That'll be around 40 metres in all. Is CT100 suitable for external use?

Cheers

 

[rsgaz]

CT100 isn't manufactured any more because it had an unfortunate design flaw. Toolstation probably just call it that because people still Google the term.

The dielectric had hollow extruded 'tubes' running along the entire length, and so, even with a correctly fitted 'drip loop' at the bottom of the cable, water would still enter the house if any got in up at the aerial/dish, as it was inside the cable, not running down the outside.

The good stuff now is WF100, made by Webro and has a Foam dielectric, hence WF. Yes there are cheap copies, with less braids, thinner foil, thinner centre conductor, etc, etc, which should be avoided. There will be people on eBay selling cheaper RG6 and pretending it is WF100. Avoid!

If you can find some genuine Webro WF100, buy that. Yes, it will cost more, but it is the best quality and you won't have to end up ripping it all out again as soon as the cheap stuff.

With a black or brown jacket, it's OK for outside.

 

[static zap]

So CT100 only good for those , indoor loft ant fiddles !
( that fail with rain or snow on roof )
.... Cabling up any indoor bits ....

 

[mhar]

In the analogue days, cable quality was paramount. With digital transmissions it is not nearly so important.
Additionally with all tv broadcasts gradually migrating down from the higher frequency bands (800mhz already gone and the 700mhz band currently being cleared) for 4,5 & 6G, attenuation of the signal by the cable is greatly reduced due to the lower frequencies.
Think that the 100 refers to a 1mm central core, 125 being 1.25 mm core and so on

 

[Shoei]

If you can find some genuine Webro WF100, buy that. Yes, it will cost more, but it is the best quality and you won't have to end up ripping it all out again as soon as the cheap stuff.

Agree, WF100 or Webro HD100 are the way to go. Decent cable has a solid copper core while lower grade stuff is often copper plated steel. If you can pick up a bit of the core with a magnet it's not the best, may be fine for a shorter run though.

 

[GeorgeCooke]

CT100 isn't manufactured any more because it had an unfortunate design flaw. Toolstation probably just call it that because people still Google the term.

The dielectric had hollow extruded 'tubes' running along the entire length, and so, even with a correctly fitted 'drip loop' at the bottom of the cable, water would still enter the house if any got in up at the aerial/dish, as it was inside the cable, not running down the outside.

I wouldn't call it a design flaw. With a correctly installed dish or aerial water does not get into the cable.

 

[GeorgeCooke]

All this information was given to you on your exact same post on DIYNOT.co. Why did you post twice?

 

[GeorgeCooke]

In the analogue days, cable quality was paramount. With digital transmissions it is not nearly so important.

Wrong. It is even more important with digital. On analogue odd impulse interference appeared as black dots, on digital it causes blocking and freezing with loud splats on sound. That is why old "low loss" coax is no longer recommended.

Additionally with all tv broadcasts gradually migrating down from the higher frequency bands (800mhz already gone and the 700mhz band currently being cleared) for 4,5 & 6G, attenuation of the signal by the cable is greatly reduced due to the lower frequencies.

Reduced, but I wouldn't say greatly reduced.
By the way it is MHz megahertz, not mhz millihertz which is 10 to the power 9 times smaller.

6G ?

 

[Max Rasa]

All this information was given to you on your exact same post on DIYNOT.co. Why did you post twice?

I just don't think it hurts to get more opinions. If I need work doing in the house, I get more than one quote. If I'm learning about something, I consult more than one source. Opinions and answers are subjective so I think it pays to have a few. Just seems sensible to me, although I'm the first to admit I tend to be more thorough in things than perhaps I need to be. But hey, we all have our foibles.

If it is against forum rules to post the same question elsewhere, then please someone let me know. Otherwise, I can't see what the problem is.

Anyways, thanks for the helpful replies - I really appreciate them. I'm going to go with the WF100, especially seeing as it is quite a long run. So next, onto connectors! I'll save that for a different thread though...

 

[GeorgeCooke]

Crimp or compression F connectors with Belling Lee adapters where required.