The best way to join two coaxial cables is to use a barrel connector. A barrel connector has two female ends. You can also use a coaxial coupler.
Here are some steps for joining two coaxial cables:
- Put male connectors on each cable.
- Use a coax compression crimper tool to clamp the compression connectors onto the wires.
- Connect the first coax cable to one end of the coupler.
- Connect the second coax cable to the other end of the coupler.
- Push the connector over the cable so the copper conductor sticks out.
- Insert the conductor into the hold in the center of the connector.
- Continue pushing until the conductor sticks out just above the edge of the connector on the other side.
You can also splice together coax cables by directly soldering the inner and outer layers together.
What does a 2 way coax splitter do?
A 2-way coax splitter takes the power from an input port and splits it equally between two output ports. For example, if the input signal is 10 units of power, the splitter will send 5 units to each output port.
Coax splitters are used to split a CATV signal so that it can be used for more than one device. They are a simple plug and play device that can be installed in minutes.
Splitters weaken the signal level, which can cause intermittent loss of service or, in rare cases, service failure. You can connect your modem or Spectrum receiver directly to a wall outlet rather than using a splitter.
How much signal does a 2-way splitter lose?
A two-way coax splitter typically loses about 3.5 dB of signal strength on each port. This is roughly a 50% decrease in signal strength. The more outputs a splitter has, the more signal loss there is.
A 50-foot coaxial cable setup can lose up to 20% of the original signal. A 100-200 foot cable can lose up to 50% of the signal.
A splitter with multiple outputs is usually made up of multiple two-way splitters. A second splitter in the chain can degrade the signal another 50%.
Low quality coax splitters can cause excessive signal loss and multiple reflections, which can cause ghosting.
