. Aansluiten F-connectors	fplug
	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. Only the cable entry size is different.)
	About 25mm 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 3mm 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	Now for the previously unpublished trade secret!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. 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.
	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 protude. You can wrap these with self-amalgamating tape or heatshrink 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 harms 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 3mm 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 heatshrink sleeving.
	If you MUST join cables please do it correctly. Ready-made extension cables are available from SatCure.
	Seal joints against moisture ingress with silicone grease and self-amalgamating tape.
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	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).
	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 (100mm) 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.
	>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 one of each of the three 7mm 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? It takes training and practice to fit a crimp connector correctly. Twist-on connectors give adequate performance in most circumstances whereas a badly fitted crimp connector will give far worse performance than a twist-on. 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. Although we could stock crimping tools and connectors for professionals, most of our customers are amateurs who would use the tool only once or twice and wouldn't know how to use it correctly in any case. It's unlikely that they'd want to pay a lot of money for these things when a twist-on connector will do the job for pennies. 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 !

Piping TV Around the House Downloadable electronic book How to connect your TV, video, satellite, DVD, and send the signals to TVs in other rooms. An invaluable guide and reference that explains UHF channel utilisation without unnecessary technical terms. Includes sketches to show wiring methods. 56 pages. Click here

Signal Distribution Plate You can make this plate very easily by drilling 9.5mm holes and fitting 090-3078 threaded 'F' barrel connectors with nuts. A "flying lead" coaxial cable fitted with 090-3636 push-on adaptor is used to select the output. You can have as many connections as you want and this simple "selector" does not involve the expense or signal losses involved if you use an electronic switching unit. Remember that LNB signals can be as high as 2GHz in frequency so an ordinary switch is useless. This distribution plate system can be used to swap your LNB connection from downstairs to upstairs when you go to bed. It can also be used for swapping UHF signals around the house. Or it can be used to select one of several LNBs to feed one receiver!

These accessories are available from SatCure

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