Satellite Cable Guide

F type connectors

An F type plug screws onto a threaded socket. On a cable, the centre pin is the core of the cable itself, so check it is straight before you screw the plug on. F type sockets are found on:

• The LNB on the arm of a satellite dish, and satellite wall plates
• Sky, Sky Q and Freesat boxes, and Virgin Media cable TV boxes
• TVs with a built-in satellite tuner, on a socket usually marked Satellite or SAT

The satellite cable also carries power from the box up to the LNB on the dish. Switch the box off at the mains before connecting or disconnecting the cable, and do not let the centre core touch the outer braid.

Which satellite cable do I need?

Satellite signals run at much higher frequencies than TV aerial signals, so cable quality and length matter more. Choose a length that reaches comfortably, and avoid sharp bends or crushing the cable under doors or furniture.

All satellite cablesSatellite cables and adapters

How many cables from the dish?

• With a standard LNB, each satellite tuner needs its own cable. The box changes channel by sending signals up the cable to the LNB, so two tuners cannot share one cable. Some newer systems, such as single cable (Unicable) setups and the wideband LNB used with Sky Q, carry several tuners on fewer cables.
• Sky boxes that record usually have two cables from the dish, one into each satellite input, so you can record one channel while watching another. If you replace or extend the cables, do both.
• A second box in another room needs its own cables from the dish, which means an LNB with enough outputs, such as a quad LNB, or a multiswitch for larger systems.
• For two cables side by side, dual RG6 (twin) satellite cable keeps the run neat.
• Sky Q Mini boxes connect to the main Sky Q box over Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable, not a satellite cable. Sky Stream and Sky Glass work over broadband, with no dish.

Extending a satellite cable

• Extension cables come with a coupler on one end to join onto your existing F plug, such as our black satellite extension cable, 0.5m to 20m, and our white extension cable, 1.5m to 20m.
• Joining two leads with F plugs: an F coupler (socket to socket), in gold or nickel plated versions.
• Joining two F sockets, or changing a socket into a plug: an F plug to F plug coupler.
• One longer cable gives a better signal than several short ones joined together, so where you can, replace rather than extend.

Satellite extension cablesSatellite couplersF type adapters

Splitters and combiners

• Satellite: with a standard LNB, a splitter cannot give two satellite boxes their own channels from one cable, because each box needs to control the LNB itself. Use a twin or quad LNB, or a multiswitch, instead.
• Cable TV and other F type systems: 2 way and 3 way F type splitters, with DC power passed through, share one cable between outputs; each output gets a smaller share of the signal.
• TV aerial and satellite on one cable: a TV / satellite combiner at each end lets both signals share one cable, because they use different frequencies.

Satellite splittersTV and satellite combiners

Fitting your own F plugs

• Cable: use satellite grade RG6 coax for runs from the dish, such as our 100m black or 100m white drums.
• Plugs: screw-on F plugs for RG6, also in packs of 10.
• Fitting: strip the outer jacket, fold the braid back over it, remove the inner insulation so the bare core shows, and screw the plug on until the white insulation is level with the inside of the plug. Trim the core so it stands about 1 to 2mm beyond the front of the plug, and make sure no strands of braid touch the core.
• Outdoors, use a weatherproof boot or self-amalgamating tape on the connection at the LNB to keep water out of the cable.

Satellite F plugsSatellite coax cable