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Technical Index Aerial+LNB 1 Cable Aerial amplifier Aerial Filters Aerial Groups Aerial Points Aerial - Which? Amp Adder Analogue Switch-Off A18QR aerial Arcon Dish Atticbox Audio Adapter USB AV equipment BBC/ITV outside UK Bedroom sound Best aerial Cable Kinked Cable specs Cable-Thin Coax Cable - Which? CAMs etc. Capacitor Kits Channels Chimney Brackets Coaxial Cable Cooling fan Compass use Cupboard Control DAT45 aerial DC inserter Decouple cable Denso Tape Digibox in loft Digisender Digital Ariel Diplexers DirecTV Disconnect safely Disguise a dish Dish indoors Dish Painting Dish Sharing Dish Size E-books Electric shocks Electronic Kits Electronic Parts Epoxy resin glue Extend cable Extender Plate F1 for Free Filter-notch Fire Hazard Fit F Connectors Fit TV plugs Foxsat HDR Free channels Freeview/Freesat Freeview Problem Freesat Install DIY French sat TV German sat TV Greek sat TV Heatshrink Sleeving Hole Cover Humax PSU Inside Sky Digibox Instructions Interference Invacom LNB Italian sat TV IR sensor-locate Large Dishes Lightning Protect Liquid Spilt LNBs - about LNBs - add more LNB amplifier LNB Boots LNB Fitting LNB-Replace Sky LNB Reset LNB skew LNBs-Switching two LNBs 2 in 1 cable LNB-waterproof your Loft Boxes Magic eyes Make Fly-Lead Multiroom phone Multiswitches No Satellite Signal Omnisat Semitronic Orbital dish Phone Socket Wires Phone surge protect Plate-Twin-F Plugs-which? Plug-Top PSUs Plus Combiner Powermid+cable TV Powermid XL Reed Switches Remote Codes Remote Eyes Remote extenders RJ45 plugs Satellites-where Scart leads Self-Amalg Tape SelfSat Antenna Signal Combiners Signal Meter Silicone Grease Sky x2 same room Sky+ batteries Sky Digital Sky in Europe Sky Install DIY Sky LNB Sky LNB-extra Sky Multiroom Sky Remote Probs Sky room wiring Sky Plus Solder - How to Split Digibox RF Split Dish cable Split satellite signal Stacker-Destacker Stuck in standby Thomson Problems Tree blocks signal Triax minidish TV/VCR faults TV Links tvLINKplus TV set New TV eyes USALS Videosenders VisionLink Wall Plates WF125 Plugs What Channels Which plugs Wire my house 304114 wall plate Shop Index All Aerials Aerial Amplifiers Aerial Attenuators Aerial Boosters Aerial Filters Aerial Hardware Aerial Meters Aerial Splitters Audiophile Bargains Books to download Boosters, Amps Cable & Extensions Cable Joint Cable on Reels Capacitors Caravan/motorhome Car Radio Adapters CAT5-HDMI Components Computer Batteries Computer Leads Digibox spares DiSEqC Switches Dishes Dish Hardware DVD Players Earth rod Electrical - mains Electronic components Electronic Kits Electronic Kits 2 Extension - Coax Extension - mains Faceplates Filters electrical F Plugs Fly Leads Freeview cable Freesat Digiboxes FTA Digiboxes Freeview receivers Fuses Gaming Accessories German Sat TV HDMI / Audio Headphone Amp Home Cinema Installation kits Leads + Plugs LED Torches LNB cable LNBs for Sky LNBs 40mm LNBs C120 LNB switches LNB amplifiers Loft Boxes Magic Eyes Mains Electrical Meters Motorhome Motorised dish bits Multiswitches Power supplies Remote Controls Remote extenders Resistors RF Cable RF Modulators Satellite Cable Satellite Meters Scart Leads Screen Cleaning Signal Combiner Sky Digiboxes SkyLink Amplifiers SkyLink Bypass Splitters Telephone cable Thomson PSU Tools Grease Glue Transistors TV Eyes TV Plugs TV Wall Brackets Videosenders Video/Leads Wall plates 1 Wall plates 2 Technical Index FAQs BLOG Contact Us		Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend ! Which plug to use for Sky, Freesat or Freeview? I am planning to buy a Global 2-way distribution amplifier, but do not know whether I need 'F connectors' or 'IEC connectors', or exactly what sort of cables to go with it. I am confused by the terminology used for different connectors. This confusion also affects my consideration of cables, which will be required to connect this very distribution amplifier to two different TVs. The technical specs of the TVs only say that they have a 'RF in'. Is this an 'F connector'? An 'IEC connector'? Something else? If questions at this level of ignorance are answered by your eBook on piping TV around the house, I'll buy it. But I have the feeling that you may not descend to this level of ignorance. My apologies for this question. You DO encourage women to boldly go into the unfamiliar arena of electronics, so you must expect this level of idiocy. Deborah Hahaha, that's me told. But, according to the Internet test, my wife has an IQ of 136 and mine's 135, so I generally accept that women are as intelligent (or more so) than most men. :-) Let me explain the terms, with pictures. Twist F One "F" connector that we sell is designed to twist onto the (prepared) cable, leaving the centre copper wire sticking out as the connecting "pin". Please note that we stock FIVE different sizes of "F" plug to suit various cables. If you order the wrong one, it may be too loose or too tight. We do not stock gold-plated "F" plugs. If the gold plating is thick enough to be useful then it makes the nut section difficult to tighten. And there's no way to gold-plate the copper centre core of the cable, so a gold-plated "F" connector is just a waste of money. Nickel plating works just fine. You can see how to fit it here: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/fconn.htm An "F" connector "plug" is always male but it can be converted to "female" by fitting a screw-in adapter. This is really needed only for joining two pieces of cable. compression F Another "F" connector has a compression fitting and is fixed to the cable with a special hand tool. DON'T order this type if you plan to remove a plug to pass the cable through a hole! TV plug COLCM Adapter The IEC connector is an ordinary "TV aerial plug" and can be male or female. The problem with the female plug is that the centre core wire can not usually be soldered or crimped. This doesn't matter for ordinary TV aerial use but it does matter for output connections which have to carry power to a device such as a remote extender "tvLINK". So I prefer converting a male plug to female by fitting a "COLCM adapter" to it. Remote extender "magic eyes" and masthead amplifiers need to be powered via the coaxial cable. If the "TV" plugs aren't fitted correctly, the connection will be intermittent and you'll have problems. See a short movie of how to fit a plug correctly by clicking HERE. So which plugs to use? Well, we stock amplified splitters with either "F" connectors (which need male "F" plugs) or "IEC connectors" (which need male TV plugs of the type that can be soldered or have a screw). My personal choice is for "F" connectors because I think they give less problems and are easy to fit, with a little practice. See instructions. TV aerial sockets are invariably female and require a male IEC plug. RF output sockets are invariably male so I recommend a male plug with a "COLCM adapter" to convert it to female. (Female TV plugs can not be soldered so the DC connection is not guaranteed). You can see the three types of socket here: The top two are female "F" sockets. Bottom left is a male IEC and bottom right is female IEC. Fitting a TV Plug (IEC connector) We have devoted a whole page to this subject. Please click HERE to see how to fit a TV plug to coaxial cable. "This looks too difficult!" Hey, no problem. We have an expert who makes these leads every day. Here's an example --> He can also put "F" plugs on them. This is WF100 cable, not cheap, thin RG59. And we can supply them in different colours. You can colour-code your connections so it's easy to see which fly-lead goes where. To order yours go to our order page by clicking HERE. But, if you prefer DIY, there's more photos and a movie you can watch. Click HERE. Sturdy but flexible. Minimum recommended bend radius 50 mm (2"). Note: Some people advocate the use of gold-plated plugs. Our advice is that this is an utterly pointless waste of money unless the mating sockets are also gold-plated. As I have yet to see a TV set with a gold-plated aerial socket, I'm standing my ground on this point! Gold plated plugs offer no advantage. Don't waste your money. Q. "For the UHF links I replace, am I better off directly terminating with UHF connectors, or F type then using the F to UHF adapters? i.e. assuming the extra length is not an issue, which will give me the better connection (less loss)?" A. The less connectors the better. Terminate direct. Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend ! ©2004-2011 SatCure