RG-6 Quad Shielded Cable

So you finally went out and got that 1080p HDTV you always wanted. Realizing that you should be using RG-6 cable you ran out to Lowes and picked up a spool of quad-shielded coaxial cable and even spent the extra money for the Type F compression connectors. All of this to come home and realize that the consumer grade tool is almost impossible to use. Well before you give up and go back to 480 let me show you, step by step, how to terminate a RG6 with a few easy tips.  

Using a knife or set of wire strippers remove 1" of the outer jacket. If you use wire strippers be careful as most are meant to be used with the smaller RG-5 cable.

With the outer jacket removed you will see the first of two tin or aluminum braids. Using a piece of tape, tape off the exposed wire 3/8 of an inch from the jacket. This will give you a line to follow while cutting off the shielding. In addition the tape will catch all of the loose wires before dropping on the floor to later become embedded in your hand while you bend over to plug in your wire. (Ask me how I know this.)

With a razor carefully cut the cable down to the center conductor and remove the dielectric as shown below. Do not worry about the length of the center conductor as it is easier to trim once the cable is complete.

Push the exposed shielding back over the outer jacket of the wire as shown below. Depending on the composition of your cable be careful as the shielding wires may be sharp. Also note the two connectors shown below. One is shown as it comes in the package and one has the ferrule removed. Removing the outer swaging ferrule makes building these cables a lot easier. They fit snugly to the ferrule so it will take some effort to pull them apart, but it is worth it. Be sure you insert the swaging ferrule on the cable prior to pressing on the connector, otherwise you will be saying a few choice words when it comes to the final steps!

Now push the connector onto the cable until the dielectric comes all the way flush with the front of the connector as shown below. This usually takes a decent amount of force but with the ferrule out of the way you can twist the connector and work it onto the cable. If you have wire assembly lube it does help. Be careful that you do not puncture your finger when inserting the cable into the connector!

Once you are sure the cable is fully inserted into the connector, push the ferrule back into place and insert the cable and connector into the compression tool as shown below. As you press down on the tool the ferrule will compress onto the connector giving you a secure watertight seal.

If you have access to a cable tester, test the cable to make sure both ends are correctly terminated. If you are the typical home owner and do not have access to a Fluke tester, you can simply plug the cable in and see if you have a signal. Congratulations. If all has gone well you have now built a RG6 cable that has double the signal strength of an RG5 over 100ft for just a few dollars.