How to fit 'F' Connectors to coaxial cable for UK Sky and Freesat and Virgin cable and US TV
How to fit How Tight? Extension cables Joint Kits Protect unused ports Self-Amalgamating Tape Watch movie Push-on adapter Right-angle adapter Rubber boot Best Cable?	Twist-on 'F' plug fitting
	The method shown below is also used for "shotgun" or ultra-thin 4.5mm coaxial cable but you must use our "Special" 'F' plugs.
	First ensure that you have the correct plug to suit your cable. There are several sizes and they all look the same! Read our info Click HERE.
(All 'F' plug nuts are the same 11mm AF. Only the cable entry size is different.)
	About 25 mm from the end, use a knife to cut around the outer plastic covering. Be careful not to cut the braided copper wires inside!
	Pull off the plastic cover. Separate the braided copper wires then push them back over the black insulation.
	Cut off the exposed metal foil shield.
	Cut off the white plastic insulation to expose the inner wire core, leaving about 3 mm of white plastic insulation. This reduces the risk of the braided copper wires touching the inner wire core which must never happen!
	Now for the previously unpublished trade secret!
	Apply silicone grease to all the exposed copper at the end of the cable. Alternatively, push the cable end into a jar of petroleum jelly so it soaks into the copper braid. This will help weatherproof it and make screwing the plug on much easier. (Silicone grease is better as it doesn't oxidise and go brown).
The grease coats the inner copper wire and the outer copper braid, preventing moisture and oxygen from causing corrosion. The electrical connection is unaffected because there's more than enough pressure for the contact metal to bite through to the copper. (Our 'F' plugs are chosen to be a tight fit and may be very difficult or even impossible to screw on if you don't use grease.) Some "professionals" will not use grease because they don't want the connection to last beyond the guarantee period (they want you to call them out after a year) or because they simply don't realise that it helps. But SatCure doesn't do installations so we've got nothing to lose by telling you how to make yours survive longer. Continued, below... See more uses for silicone grease. CLICK HERE It's handy stuff!
	This photo from "What Satellite TV" magazine shows what can happen when inferior rubber boots are used without silicone grease protection. Don't let anyone convince you that silicone grease is unnecessary!
"For indoor use you don't need to bother with grease." This is incorrect. We choose our plugs to be a tight fit so you MUST use some sort of grease, otherwise you'll find the plugs very difficult to turn. Continued...
	Screw an 'F' connector as far as the inner white plastic, holding it with a piece of cloth or leather or pliers to protect your fingers.
The copper strands must be cut off and this means that sharp ends will protrude. You can wrap these with self-amalgamating tape or heat shrink tube indoors. (Alternatively, another quick way of dealing with this problem is to cut the ends off just before completing the last 2 or 3 turns of the connector. That way the sharp ends disappear under the connector out of harm's way. This tip came from Ivan Dally.)
	Make sure that the inner wire core can not touch the braided copper wires. Cut off the exposed copper braid.
	Use sharp cutters to cut the inner wire core to leave about 3 mm exposed. Make this cut at a 45 degree angle to make a point. This makes it easier to push the wire into a connector without risk of damage or bending the wire. Be careful not to cut yourself on this sharp point!
	For indoor use, you can wrap self-amalgamating tape over the end of the plug to prevent the sharp copper wires from cutting your fingers. Alternatively, use heat shrink sleeving.
I can not stress too strongly the importance of applying a waterproof grease coating to the copper wires in the 'F' plug, especially if used outdoors. This will prevent corrosion caused by the combination of moisture, air and electricity.
Many otherwise "professional" people attack my suggestion but why take the risk? I am a qualified electronics engineer and one of my previous occupations was "Reliability Test Quality Assurance Engineer" - a job in which I subjected various equipments to rigorous environmental tests in a humidity chamber. In all cases of connections with no protective plating or poor quality plating, the connections that were carrying electric current failed very quickly, due to a build-up of corrosion that forced the metal contacts apart. The best solution I found was silicone grease. How Tight? An 'F' plug nut should be "finger tight plus one flat". Tighten it as far as you can until you feel it stop. Then use an 11mm spanner to turn it a further 1/6 of a turn. You should not then be able to loosen it with fingers. If you can loosen it, turn it another 1/6. (You may find instructions telling you to use a torque wrench and giving a specific figure such as 1.4 foot-pounds. However, the actual torque depends on the manufacturer's tolerances, the plating type (nickel or gold), the plating thickness - impossible for you to measure - and whether grease is applied. Consequently, such figures can not be relied upon.) Extension Cables
	You can use ultra-thin 4.5mm coaxial cable to feed TV around the house and for SkyLink "magic eye" connections.
	If you MUST join cables please do it correctly (see below). Ready-made Terrestrial and Satellite extension cables are available from SatCure in many colours.
Joint Kits
Joint Kits are also available.
Protect LNB Outputs
	Blu-Tack can be used to cover unused LNB output connectors. It's also a good (temporary) sealant for outdoor cable connections and a permanent protection for connections inside aerials.
	Seal joints outdoors against moisture ingress with silicone grease and self-amalgamating tape. (Don't get grease on the tape.)
Movie
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THANK YOU Just wanted to congratulate your company for an easy to understand web site with lots of helpful hints. The Silicone Grease will be wonderful in this wet and windy part of the Scottish Highlands where "F" connectors often become inoperable because of water ingress despite self amalgamating tape!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again. Ewen S.
Push-on Plug
	Push-on adapters are available. These screw into an 'F' connector to turn it into a push-on plug. Useful when you are using a sat finder meter and also as an LNB selector (see below). Much favoured for temporary connections to caravans and motorhomes!
	Right-angle adapters are available. These can be used where space is limited - such as behind a wall plate.
	Outdoor 'F' connectors outside MUST be sealed to keep water out, otherwise it will run through the cable, damaging the inside of the LNB and the satellite receiver. Water runs VERY quickly through coaxial cable by "capillary action". Be sure to use Self Amalgamating Tape (or a rubber boot - see below). Cut off about four inches (100 mm) and peel off the plastic backing.
	Wrap the tape around the cable, just below the 'F' connector, stretching it strongly as you wrap in a spiral. Overlap by at least half the width of the tape so it bonds to itself. Continue to stretch and wrap it around the cable then the 'F' connector all the way up to the body of the LNB. (We used an "Alps" LNB for the demonstration).
	Now stretch the excess length and spiral it back down the cable to finish off the joint neatly. As you stretch the tape to twice its normal length, you create energy that makes the tape melt into itself to form a solid rubber tube. You won't believe this stuff till you try it. There's NO glue. Also great for repairing leaking hose on car or washing machine! The only way to remove it is by cutting with a very sharp blade.
	A useful alternative to tape is our unique rubber boot. More information HERE.
See catalogue page 8	>I have an easy question for you! Basically I am moving my digibox to the other side of the room and I need to extend the cable. I have already been told by sky that I need H109 or CT100 cable, but which connector do I buy? That cable is obsolete. Ideally you should replace the entire length, using the correct, double-screened coaxial cable. See page 8 of the catalogue. In practice you will get away with using two Threaded "F" plugs and an 090-3078 Threaded "F" barrel to join two lengths of cable. See our Cable Joint Kit.
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	>I installed El-Cheapo no-name cable throughout my house before consulting you. Please tell me what 'F' plugs will fit? If this cable has no metal foil screen, I recommend you rip it all out and use the proper stuff. Otherwise it might cause problems with interference that can be difficult to diagnose. Obviously we can't tell you what "F" plugs will fit because we don't sell this cable. Order each of the three 7 mm sizes that we stock and try them. Or ask your cable supplier, who, unfortunately, will probably tell you (incorrectly) that "one size fits all".
What's the best cable? Read the review > I understand that professional installers use crimped "F" connectors. Why don't you sell them? We do sell WF100 with compression 'F' plugs fitted. We can also supply the tool and plugs, if required. It takes training and practice to fit a crimp connector correctly and we haven't found the result is nearly as good as with compression or twist-on connectors. Twist-on connectors give adequate performance in most circumstances whereas a badly fitted crimp connector will give far worse performance than a twist-on or compression. Indeed, I've seen such connectors actually fall off the cable after being fitted by so-called "professionals"! A crimp connector must be chosen to fit the cable being used (generally only foam dielectric cable is suitable). An expensive crimping tool is required and it must be fitted with a die that matches both the crimp connector and the cable. There are some really cheap crimping tools available (under £20). In my opinion these are unlikely to give a satisfactory result unless you are extremely lucky in your choice of cable and connector. (We can supply crimp connectors in boxes of 100 on request. Also professional crimping tools and foam dielectric cable. However, be warned - I tried for two days to make a decent crimp connection using the proper cable, stripping tool, crimping tool and crimp connector and I failed).  Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend !

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