Can you identify the "Gold Coax" cable used on Oyster Sat Dish? (1 Viewer)

[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi All,
I noticed at Peterborough that Oyster use a very thin coax about 1 to 1.5mm to the LNB's on their internet systems. They are prepared to sell it but in cut lengths of about 1mt I presume, for £48 per length without connectors. Does anybody know exactly what cable it is. It must be very good quality to reduce losses when being used for a two way satellite system. Which is my use for it. It may well be that sort of price of course.
I successfully converted the Teleco system on my last van for simultaneous TV and Internet but have now bought a Hymer with an Oyster Vision 2 system fitted. I understand (although have not yet verified it) that the hole through the centre of the shaft through which the cables must pass is quite a small diameter hence the need for the ultra small diameter coax.
Any suggestions of a possible supplier of such a cable and connectors which I believe are crimped on, so that may be an obstacle. I probably need three 1mt lengths.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Steve

 

[patnlee]

In a previous life I used to get cables from:

https://www.rfsolutions.co.uk/cable-assemblies-adapters-c4/cable-assemblies-c153

Let them know what connectors you need and they can advise. You may be ok with using SMA which are small diameter typically found on GPS antenna modules. This will allow you to thread the cable and then add adaptors to either end as needed. There will be additional signal loss but if the run is short should be ok. Also consider using just enough cable to pass through the bulkhead so 200mm may suffice. Standard low loss on either side should balance things up again.

 

[tonka]

As a compromise the WF65 Twin "shotgun" cable they use on Sky plus systems is about 4mm when split apart.
That can be found easily and cheaply.. Plus you can get the correct plugs for it..

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[Deleted member 29692]

Hi All,
I noticed at Peterborough that Oyster use a very thin coax about 1 to 1.5mm to the LNB's on their internet systems. They are prepared to sell it but in cut lengths of about 1mt I presume, for £48 per length without connectors. Does anybody know exactly what cable it is. It must be very good quality to reduce losses when being used for a two way satellite system. Which is my use for it. It may well be that sort of price of course.
I successfully converted the Teleco system on my last van for simultaneous TV and Internet but have now bought a Hymer with an Oyster Vision 2 system fitted. I understand (although have not yet verified it) that the hole through the centre of the shaft through which the cables must pass is quite a small diameter hence the need for the ultra small diameter coax.
Any suggestions of a possible supplier of such a cable and connectors which I believe are crimped on, so that may be an obstacle. I probably need three 1mt lengths.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Steve

It might actually be gold but more likely just has gold plated contacts. Top quality speaker/audio cable is made from gold.

Precious metals - silver, gold, platinum - have the best conductivity of any metal.

If you Google "gold plated satellite cable" you will find loads of options. A 3 metre one with connections is less than a fiver from Amazon.

 

[seanoo]

you must get 75 ohm rg179 coax for your internet system and use no extra connections i.e cable from ilnb all the way to your modem. you will need to buy some rg179 crimped f connectors also the correct tools to crimp them on (not easy as they are fiddly as hell to get a good qyality connection). make sure you get some spares to practice with . once you have fed your 3 cables down the centre tube pump some grease down as well to keep things going smoothly , if you dont you will be changing cables fairly regularly. heres a starter for you

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Thanks @seanoo that looks exactly what I am looking for but they don't seem to do the F-plugs. Do you think it would be lower loss to run them the whole way about 4mt total from the lnb's? I was thinking of just running from the Lnb's to a junction box then connecting to a high quality cable to run through the roof to the modem. That would also make it very much easier if a cable change was necessary. And better for damp integrety.
@NickNic The "Gold" in the name refers to the outer being transparent so the copper screen shows through. Like in the link @seanoo gave, although at £48 per meter that Oyster was quoting I thought it may have been pure gold £48 for one meter is quite a mark-up though compared to £5 for five meters in seanoo's link. But there may be a quality difference. The proof will be in the result.
Anybody have a link to an exploded diagram of the Oyster dish or an installation manual?
Thanks to all for the input.
Steve

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[Gorse Hill]

you must get 75 ohm rg179 coax for your internet system and use no extra connections i.e cable from ilnb all the way to your modem. you will need to buy some rg179 crimped f connectors also the correct tools to crimp them on (not easy as they are fiddly as hell to get a good qyality connection). make sure you get some spares to practice with . once you have fed your 3 cables down the centre tube pump some grease down as well to keep things going smoothly , if you dont you will be changing cables fairly regularly. heres a starter for you

Just out of interest is the cable suitable/rated for contiuious outdoor applications, am sure it must be as most sats are located externally, however do you know if there is such a cable with a IP rating
Thks

 

[seanoo]

h

Thanks @seanoo that looks exactly what I am looking for but they don't seem to do the F-plugs. Do you think it would be lower loss to run them the whole way about 4mt total from the lnb's? I was thinking of just running from the Lnb's to a junction box then connecting to a high quality cable to run through the roof to the modem. That would also make it very much easier if a cable change was necessary. And better for damp integrety.
@NickNic The "Gold" in the name refers to the outer being transparent so the copper screen shows through. Like in the link @seanoo gave, although at £48 per meter that Oyster was quoting I thought it may have been pure gold £48 for one meter is quite a mark-up though compared to £5 for five meters in seanoo's link. But there may be a quality difference. The proof will be in the result.
Anybody have a link to an exploded diagram of the Oyster dish or an installation manual?
Thanks to all for the input.
Steve

hi steve , i have done many tests with connections in line and it will drop the signal considerably. you must try to use one length for best results. the cable i gave you the link for is no different to the cable you will get from oyster, its rated 75 ohm and works perfectly well. you should be able to get f plug crimped terminals and crimp tool from rs components. if you put the dish up then undo the 4 x 10mm nuts that hold the oyster to the base plate, you can then the whole thing up a small bit and you will see there is a BNC connector in a recess. undo this and you can get the oyster down from your van. undo the small phillips screw in the top cap then you can remove the whole dish/lnb arm assembly via the 2 x 17mm bolts. this gives you access to the tube you need to thread your new coax down . under the oyster there is a plastic cover and you will need to bring out your new rx and tx for your modem. get yourself some mini trunking and run it to your roof gland once you have the dish back on the van.

 

[seanoo]

Just out of interest is the cable suitable/rated for contiuious outdoor applications, am sure it must be as most sats are located externally, however do you know if there is such a cable with a IP rating
Thks

yes you can use it as its an external cable. never seen a ip rating on any coax. it would be an expensive way to go about it though unless you need cable that small

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[Gorse Hill]

yes you can use it as its an external cable. never seen a ip rating on any coax. it would be an expensive way to go about it though unless you need cable that small

Am I right in thinking it's better if connectors are IP rated to ensure no moisture ingress or have you found this not to be an issue
Just did a quick Google search for IP cables, they do them but very expensive as you say and probably not required if connectors are suitable
Thks for info very useful as am about to look at installing a satellite

 

[seanoo]

Am I right in thinking it's better if connectors are IP rated to ensure no moisture ingress or have you found this not to be an issue
Just did a quick Google search for IP cables, they do them but very expensive as you say and probably not required if connectors are suitable
Thks for info very useful as am about to look at installing a satellite

hi , there is no reason not to use standard f connectors , they are designed to be outside in the elements.

 

[Jaws]

Every joint in an rf application will cost you ABOUT 3dB, so if you can do the run with one piece you are always gonna be better off

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[OldAgeTravellers]

hi steve , i have done many tests with connections in line and it will drop the signal considerably. you must try to use one length for best results. the cable i gave you the link for is no different to the cable you will get from oyster, its rated 75 ohm and works perfectly well. you should be able to get f plug crimped terminals and crimp tool from rs components. if you put the dish up then undo the 4 x 10mm nuts that hold the oyster to the base plate, you can then the whole thing up a small bit and you will see there is a BNC connector in a recess. undo this and you can get the oyster down from your van. undo the small phillips screw in the top cap then you can remove the whole dish/lnb arm assembly via the 2 x 17mm bolts. this gives you access to the tube you need to thread your new coax down . under the oyster there is a plastic cover and you will need to bring out your new rx and tx for your modem. get yourself some mini trunking and run it to your roof gland once you have the dish back on the van.

Thanks for that Sean, I wondered if the losses in such a thin cable would be higher than using a standard low loss cable connected to short lengths. But will order a couple of 5mt lengths and some connectors fron RS. Looking at their crimp F plugs they look the same as BNC and I have a crimp tool for those as I used to do lot of networking stuff when it was single BNC connectors.
@Gorse Hill I always put a squirt of Silicone Grease in the F-plugs before assembly and even years later there is no corrosion and they are easy to dismantle. It is also very important to protect the outer cover of the cable as the sun quickly damages that. Even paint helps.
Thanks all for all the help.
Steve