Reddit mentions: The best digital coaxial cables

Sure. Here's the shopping list:

Project Box (5 pack, $5.80)

SMA Connectors (4 Pack, $5.85)

SMA Pigtails (Need 2, $4.85/ea)

SMA Extension Cable (Need 2, $8.50/ea) (3 feet)

RAM Suction Cup Mount ($15.99)

Start out by making four small pilot holes in the project box where you see both the connectors and antennas on mine.

Use the screws included with the RAM mount to go through the bottom left and top right corners of the bottom of the project box. This almost perfectly lines up with the holes in the suction cup, but make sure to use a template. You will not use the ball piece that comes with the suction cup.

Connect an SMA Female-Female connector on one end of each of the pigtails. Tighten with a wrench and pliers, but careful not to mess up the thread.

Enlarge the two holes on the small side of the project box to fit the female-female connectors (that you just attached) through, barely. Use generous hot glue to fix them in place on the inside, with the screw end from the SMA pigtail being pushed all the way up to the project box wall to allow as much of the connector to stick out as possible. Note, you may need to apply pressure to keep the connectors as straight and tight as possible until the glue cools/dries completley.

Take the other ends of the pigtail connectors (with the included nuts and other stuff) and put them through the other two holes on opposite long sides of the project box (Make sure you don't mix up left and right), enlarging the holes as necessary to ensure they fit. Use the included fittings to fix them in place firmly. (Use a wrench to tighten)

Stuff the pigtails in the project box, again verifying that you didn't mix up left and right. Close it up, connect the 3 foot SMA cables to the plugs on the bottom, and wire them into your Stratux. You should be good to go!

Photo

• Potato
  
• Fancy Potato
  
• DMR Potato. $110, but close enough.
  
• Nice Mobile Antenna + mount
  
• Cheapie, but still good mobile antenna
  
• RTL-SDR
  
• Upconverter for your new RTL-SDR
  
• A snazzy enclosure for your new upconverter for your new RTL-SDR
  
• A bunch of RG8X coax
  
• Or about half as much RG-213
  
• A chest harness if you do event volunteer work or just like to play whacker.
  
• A nice desk stand to organize all your HT's
  
• Dry or wet dummy loads
  
• Raspberry Pi starter kit
  
• A Ham Radio Deluxe license
  
• A bitchin' yagi antenna
  
• Hamsticks and dipoles and verticals, oh my!
  
• High Sierra JAWS mount. Ridiculously useful.
  
• Antenna tuner or a nicer one for a tad over.
  
• Antenna analyzer
  
• Cheap straight key or a nice paddle for a bit over budget.
  
• Coax switch
  
• Powerpole all the things!
  
• Rigrunner for all the stuff you just powerpoled.
  
• Scanner
  
• Headset
  
• Analog or a digital SWR/watt meter
  
• A Pelican case to start working on your go box.
  
• A sweet atomic wall clock for the shack.
  
  That's all I can think of for the moment. I may add to the list as I think of more cool sub $100 ham toys.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Hi there! I would really love this cable extender so that I can attempt to get more than 2 channels in the bedroom! Living on an extremely tight budget, you see. :)

If the price point is too high, I'd love just about anything on either one of my wish lists.

Thanks for the contest!

Sure!

The first part is a MCX to F connector, since I had a lot of coax with F connectors. Here's the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CTJN480/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any coax will work really, but from what I've seen and heard, RG-6 is the best for RTLSDR. You want the coax to be as short as possible. If you need to distance yourself from the antenna, consider using a USB extension cable (shielded if you can afford it) and powered hub for it.

As for the actual antenna, I used this guide to figure out the dimensions:

http://antirez.com/news/46

The author uses a wine cork and some stiff copper wire. I tried doing this with a coat hanger that I had sanded the enamel off, but it was too fragile and fell apart. Instead, I cut a short piece of coax, stripped it back, and put them 180 degrees to each other so they were in a straight line. I then borrowed calipers to measure out 137mm from tip to tip, and cut the wire to size. Then I just taped it to my bike frame to keep it vertical and used dump1090 to interface with the rtlsdr and show the planes in a browser.

Good luck! I can take more photos if you'd like, but there's not much more to see.

Yep... at the frequencies your phone link most likely uses, you need to be real careful about working with the cable and connectors. Probably your best bet would be to open the connection between the coax cable (which looks like a male N-connector on the coax) and the adapter piece, then add in some more length here if you need it. You can buy a pre-made low-loss coax length like this fairly readily (that link is for a 50ft length. Other lengths are readily available too) and all you also need is an N-connector female-female adapter to join the existing coax to the extension. The adapter piece you have looks like an N female to TNC male....verify that it's indeed what you have before buying anything. :-)


EDIT: Oh...a silly after thought... If punching a hole in the wall is an issue, have you considered leaving the phone link where it is and just running phone cable to where you want the phone? Scratch that... I realise now that what you have is a cordless phone cradle.

Well you've got a subwoofer, and an amplifier that isn't meant to work with a subwoofer, so that's the bulk of the problem.

The TV has a headphone and an optical out... the Headphone output you can use with a 3.5mm to stereo RCA cable, which is good... but The BasX S8 has line level in and out, but that's only going to work with one source, so no matter what there are going to be sacrifices made, here.

​

Here is my proposed method:

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• This optical cable out from television ($9)
  
• To THIS DAC ($20)
  
• This Chromecast Audio ($35) (or you could use a bluetooth adapter to play your phone, with lower quality audio)
  
• Using THIS Cable plugged into Chromecast Audio and to DAC ($12)
  
• TWO Sets of THESE RCA Cables ($9 each), one from DAC to Subwoofer's LINE LEVEL IN, one from Subwoofers LINE LEVEL OUT, to Yamaha AMP input
  
  Total cost: $95
  
  But you'd need to run an aux cable/bluetooth/chromecast audio to have phone input on the yamaha anyway. Obviously if you have any of these cables you can save the money. RCA cables are pretty easy to find. So are optical cables.
  
  If music is more important to you than tv sound, you could run the optical cable to the chromecast and the 3.5mm rca to coaxial from the headphone output of your tv... your choice.
  
  ​
  
  The dac needs to exist because your amp lacks bass management and a subwoofer output.
  
  You will then use the subwoofer's crossovers to control the bass it receives and what it is sending out to the amplifier, and your Q100's will get the rest.
  
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  ​

Honestly just Ebay and amazon. Here is some really good quality coax (RG-213) : https://www.amazon.com/JEFA-Tech-RG-213-MILSPEC-PL-259/dp/B00GWKL0R4/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=rg213%2Bcoaxial%2Bcable&qid=1571013598&sr=8-8&th=1

And finally an swr meter: https://www.ebay.com/itm/WORKMAN-SWR-2T-CB-RADIO-ANTENNA-SWR-METER-3-FOOT-JUMPER-COAX/192914212024?hash=item2cea9544b8:g:dGQAAOSwBOlagJoY

Don't be shy about getting a used swr meter, I purchased a used one through ebay for $15 and works great.

Thanks for the info! We ordered and tested these two cables (briefly) -- both seem to work! Signal strength seems good and the headset seems to work fine so far

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AUQF8VY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (1m)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071Y7FXWW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (2m)

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MAR and BFF are both UHF .. if you could get wbal and not WJZ i would be wondering more but it seems vhf and possibly direction is your problem

are you pointing the antenna or is that window pointed towards the station towers? did you use compass on your phone?

that rabbit ears should pull it in with the signal to your home but only if you are pointing it out the window or getting signal from the wall where the tower is.. if you are on the opposite side of an apartment building you have a lot of interfearance between you and the signal

you could try somethign like https://www.amazon.com/SMA-Male-Female-Jumper-Transmission/dp/B00JMMG56K/

to extend the reach of the rabbit ears and also you can find amplified rabbitears which probably wouldn't have a bad effect .. maybe just cause PBS your top station to glitch a bit from too much power but probably not your signal isnt at the very top of the range.

if you have some extra coax around you can just get one of these to extend a line http://www.ebay.com/itm/291866853511


thats about all I can suggest.

The exact adapters I have don’t appear to be for sale anyone but there are plenty of similar adapters available. It’s a TS9 to SMA Female adapter. Here is one example https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HG7HBDY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Fp-SAbC06B2HA

The cables I used were MPD Digital LMR400 cables with an SMA Male connector on the modem end and an N-Male connector on the Antenna side. Where you intend to setup your modem and antennas will dictate how long of a cable you will need. I would tend to recommend ordering a length beyond what you think you will need. For reference my cables are 35ft long.

I would recommend trying to find the best Multiband yagis you can get with N-Female plug. These Proxicast yagis work well but their false advertising on their brackets left a bad taste in my mouth.

I bought this, and it did me pretty well as a jack of all trades. You can spread the ends out fully horizontal then adjust the length for the frequency you want. you can also give it a 120^o bend for NOAA satellites. It's cheaply made though so it can break easily, but it's done me well for the price.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Rabbit-Ear-VHF-Snap-in-TV-Antenna-w-Coax-Cable-and-F-Type-Connector-/290806992874?hash=item43b5728fea

You'll need an SMA adapter like this too. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CQ35NOW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd like to get a coaxial cable to plug my DX50 into a receiver I have. Right now I'm using the one that came with the DX50(this), but I want a longer one. This looks like what I need but it says the device must support 4-pole digital audio out and from what I've read the DX50 may or may not have that. So will the Extreme Audio cable work or do I need something different?

I just went through the process of setting up an M1 with external antennas and can give you my experience. For background, I'm located in a pretty rural area where satellite is the only option for internet, so I was probably willing to put in a little more time and money than the average person.

Initially, with no antenna, I was getting around 3-4Mbps most of the time. Occasionally, I had issues connecting at all.

Added the following equipment (x2 of everything for MIMO):

• Antenna https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Wideband-Directional-700-2700-314411/dp/B00J14YEHQ/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=wilson+antenna&qid=1573746790&sr=8-4
  
• Cable (LMR-400 low loss) https://www.amazon.com/Wilson-Electronics-Black-WILSON-400-N-Male/dp/B0018PVVBS/ref=pd_bxgy_107_3/139-1718440-5788748?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0018PVVBS&pd_rd_r=8d6f1840-34a4-4572-8713-4822574eecf0&pd_rd_w=VYOji&pd_rd_wg=nasqR&pf_rd_p=09627863-9889-4290-b90a-5e9f86682449&pf_rd_r=99B6JM5BAAC48ZBM3Z3B&psc=1&refRID=99B6JM5BAAC48ZBM3Z3B
  
• Pigtail connector https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LBRK94Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  With these antenna at a high point (~25ft above ground level) in my attic at +45/-45 degrees, I'm getting consistent 25Mbps minimum and frequently 60+Mbps, no issues with connectivity or slow speeds since moving it. Before getting the antenna up high, I could only ever connect to band 12, but moving to the attic allowed me to pick up bands 2 and 14 which I assume is where I picked up the massive speed increase.
  
  This wasn't a cheap setup, unfortunately, but I am very pleased with it overall.

So this would be ok, as I wouldn't plug anything else into it - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UUSTN2S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_DujlDbG5XNW24

The other options are the ones I'd have to unwind or the ones that wrap around H frame but they're all bright orange and seem like overkill?

Absolutely, I would love to share. I will get the Amazon link for the mmcx extensions that I used.

Mmcx-
1.8M RF RG316 Pigtail MMCX Male Antenna Connector to MMCX Female Coaxial Adapter Extension Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KYJF98G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_sjIPDbJY7S669

Cable if anyone needs it, I used the 2.5mm balanced which is sold out right now.
Linsoul TRIPOWIN C8 8-Core Silver Copper Foil Braided Earphone Replacement Upgrade Cable, Tinsel Silver Copper Wire for UE900s SE215 SE425 TIN Audio T2 T3 BGVP(3.5mm Plug, MMCX Connector) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SS9DB16/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1kIPDbBVCJG3X

yes, you need a DAC (digital analog converter) to be able to use the speakers.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EPW7TA/

something like this.

connect a simple rca wire, you probably have one spare somewhere between the TVs 'Digital Audio Out' and the DAC. then plug the speakers into the DAC.

example of RCA cable:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002J2B8I/

if you have one of those Yellow/Red/White AV hookup cables laying around, you can use that. you just need one of the three.

you may need to enter your TVs setup menu to enable the audio out jack. it may be under an item called speakers: TV speakers or External. put to external. this is just a typical example, the language varies by TV. Some TVs do not need to change any option to enable external speakers, just you may want to use the setup to turn off the TV speakers.

one more note, is that if you receive digital stations from an antenna hooks to your TV you MAY need a higher end model. this is because those digital stations may be in 5.1 and you need a converter that can accept 5.1

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EPW7O0/

if you are using Satellite or Digital Cable, there will be an option to turn off 5.1 in the box for that unit. only antenna feeds cannot turn off 5.1

the same applies to any game console, turn off 5.1 in the settings.

I've been using RTL-SDR with the Ham-It-Up. You'll need to get one of these SMA to MCX to connect them. After that I just built a simple wire dipole and strung it up in my attic. I can now do Rx on all bands. Furthest signal I've received so far was from Pakistan and I routinely listen to the shortwave broadcasts out of Cuba and the Bahamas. Best $100 I've ever spent in the hobby for sure.

Hardware in my shopping cart and about to pull the trigger (using your referral links) just want to confirm I have everything I need. I'm planning on the SD793-II, SA50, MB42x, and Martin Logan 300.

I see from the pictures and your video review, the SD793 doesn't use USB, so I need to use the SPDIF out on my motherboard. The cable you link to in the description of the video appears to have a square with one beveled side connection rather than the round plug on both my motherboard and the DAC, so I want this cable, right?

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-29115-Meters-Velocity-Digital/dp/B0002J2B8I/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1409014620&sr=1-2&keywords=spdif+cable

Then I just need generic male/male RCA cable, speaker wire, and a 1/4" to 3.5mm adapter?

http://www.amazon.com/Male-High-Quality-Audio-Cable/dp/B000I1IG8Y/ref=pd_tcs_subst_e_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1683ZH8R85EQNR32BSRZ

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-16-Gauge-Speaker-Wire-Feet/dp/B006LW0WDQ/ref=lp_597566_1_9?s=audio-video-accessories&ie=UTF8&qid=1409014042&sr=1-9

Do you have specific brands/cables you suggest? It seems every review of 1/4" to 3.5mm adapters I look at says they are flimsy crap that fails right away. Surely there is a cheap option for such a simple part that won't crap out right away?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for the help!

Oh yeah. Should’ve known haha. It’s this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Type-C-3-5mm-Coaxial-Cable-Chord/dp/B07JR2YV8P

Could I add something to this? This device would be nice if it also had one of these, a USB, digital TOSLINK or co-axial link as well.

http://www.amazon.ca/Digital-Optical-Toslink-Analog-Converter/dp/B0055MZCCY

I have never seen a stock antenna with actual coax, it's usually thin USB cable or something completely unsuited for the job. Even if you manage a perfect splice it will suck. You're better off buying something like this.

The description on the site says “Has SO-239 for VHF/UHF antennas and a 3/8-24 threaded GumDrop connector for HF antennas.” That seems pretty clear — the SO-239 part of yours is missing. Except, wait, the manual disagrees:

“A second “D” mounting hole is supplied for a VHF/UHF SO-239 connector.”

So, they're expecting you to supply your own. The keyword here for one that can be mounted like this is bulkhead connector. They will have a flange, nut, and lock washer to clamp against the hole. They come in two varieties: F-F adapter, or a cable with a female connector. You want one that has a flat to match the “D” hole.

Other than finding the right part, that should be straightforward. Here's a random example off Amazon — I am not recommending this product, just showing the right kind of picture. You might want one that is right-angle to fit inside the mount; I'm not sure.


You could also use the 3/8-24 hole for a VHF whip. Don't know where to buy one offhand but they exist (I have one now-discontinued) or could be made — 3/8-24 is a standard thread size.

Sorry for all the posts. I don't know if you'll get separate channels with a basic 3.5mm to RCA connector.

If you get a 3.5mm to digital coax:
https://www.amazon.com/Micca-Premium-SPDIF-Digital-Coaxial/dp/B00V436UQU

And run that to a DAC:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KNNSKV0

You should keep your L/R channels for RCA. Monoprice might have better pricing on the cable; a lot of the ones on Amazon were for optical-to-coax.

What kind of TV and amp are you using? I wouldn't spend too much trying to get an analog setup working.

Maybe something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00V436UQU/

Thank you for confirming. I also learned today that a coax to rca cable can also be used, such as this one. My receiver has two coax inputs so I am thinking about using this instead of 3.5 mm to rca (split type). Although, 3.5 mm to rca seems to be cheaper.

Coax cable to run into my bedroom

ORRRRRRR A rope, for surviving and such

https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-L21-3-5mm-Digital-Coaxial/dp/B019OWCID6

This would do: https://www.amazon.com/DHT-Electronics-coaxial-assembly-female/dp/B00CQ35NOW/

Here's a link to a set of antenna connectors

2PCS RF coaxial coax cable assembly SMA female to MCX male right angle 6''

https://www.amazon.com/DHT-Electronics-coaxial-assembly-female/dp/B00CP17WMG/

I had a much more complicated surround sound setup, as my sub was not powered, so I had to add an additional amp. Long story short, it all started working after I threw the RCA cable (component cable) away and got an s/pdif coax (as my receiver said it needed), similar to this...

Uxcell a15113000ux2549 Male to Female Antenna Connector Extension Cable, this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AUQF8VY/ref=pe_2640190_232586610_pd_te_s_rtpb_im?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01AUQF8VY&pd_rd_r=1TZZ1JCSEE0A293G27EM&pd_rd_w=lPyH3&pd_rd_wg=sJUw2

What cords do I need to purchase along with this ?

Edit:


http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B001TH7GSW/ref=lh_ni_t_mi?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER


http://www.amazon.com/Cables-29115-Meters-Velocity-Digital/dp/B0002J2B8I/ref=lh_ni_t_mi?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

These work ?

An optical cable and a RCA cable. Buy whatever length you need, I guessed 6ft for each.

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Digital-Optical-Audio-Toslink/dp/B001TH7GSW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372815510&sr=1-1&keywords=optical+cable

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-29115-Meters-Velocity-Digital/dp/B0002J2B8I/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372815232&sr=1-1

For the first link they mention MCX and that matching transformer mentions F because it plugs into a TV

Did you look at this thing?
https://www.amazon.com/DHT-Electronics-coaxial-assembly-female/dp/B00CTJN480/

I'm using these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CP17WMG/ref=ox_sc_act_image_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2JO7YP9I9Y3D6

I have. Both with my Xbox (When I was using an older TV with just the 3-way RCA cables for audio AND video) and with my smartphone via 3.5mm adapter.

I live in Canada so I'm looking the same up on amazon.ca and I'll need the coaxial cable too.
These look right:
http://www.amazon.ca/Digital-Optical-Toslink-Analog-Converter/dp/B0055MZCCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412784010&sr=8-1&keywords=Digital+to+Analog+Audio+Converter

http://www.amazon.ca/RCA-Digital-Coaxial-Audio-Cable/dp/B003CAMG34/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1412784051&sr=8-3&keywords=coaxial+audio+cable

I bought one of these and cut it down for 144.39Mhz (22.5in IIRC) for APRS:

https://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-FM-Dipole-Antenna/dp/B000M9EREE

If you want another range you can cut accordingly.

Don't forget the F type balun:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002ZPIOQ/ref=pd_aw_fbt_23_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WVAR63WQK6KZVGP0GTRK

and an adapter to fit on your rtlsdr:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CP17WMG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469591788&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=mcx+male+to+sma+female&dpPl=1&dpID=31Q6jniv9vL&ref=plSrch

It’ll do fine in the weatherproof enclosure. It’s enclosed it has power going into it. It’ll do fine.

BUT if you really don’t trust it you need a HUGE cable. This is what you’ll need.

Wilson Electronics 50 ft. Black WILSON-400 Ultra Low Loss Coax Cable (N-Male to NMale) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0018PVVBS/

Even this way you’ll have signal losses, but don’t get anything thinner otherwise it’ll be useless.

Sounds like the same, tended to fail around 1 or 2 hours.
TRENDnet Low Loss RP-SMA Male to... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071Y7FXWW

I've been using this 1m since late Oct. No issues.
Uxcell a15113000ux2549 Male to... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AUQF8VY