c/cable-installers

My neighbor's comment about my old drill made me switch tools for good

Honestly, I was finishing a drop in a Phoenix attic last week and my neighbor, a retired electrician, watched me struggle with my corded drill. He said, 'Kid, you're fighting that cord more than the joists.' Tbh, I'd always thought cordless was for light work, but he showed me his 20V brushless model and I tried it. Ngl, not having to drag an extension cord through a crawlspace changed the whole job. Anyone else make a switch like that and find it actually saved time on long runs?

Rant: I always thought the cheap crimpers from the hardware store were fine until a connector popped off a job in the rain.

I switched to a Klein Tools VDV226-110 ratcheting crimper for $65 and haven't had a single fail since, so what's your go-to tool for weatherproof connections?

Heard a guy at the hardware store say 'a clean drop is a happy drop'

I was picking up some cable clips in Tacoma last week and it really stuck with me. Do you have any little sayings or rules of thumb that help you remember the basics?

My sister asked me why I still run coax for a living

We were at a family thing last week and she said, 'I thought everything was wireless now.' I tried to explain about signal loss, bandwidth, and how a solid line is still king for real work. But the way she said it, like my job was from another time, it got to me. I've been doing this for eight years and I know the work matters, but it made me wonder how many people think that way. Has anyone else had to defend the actual need for a physical cable install lately?

PSA: Tried using a cheap coax stripper from Harbor Freight on a job in Tempe

It nicked the center conductor on three drops in a row, causing signal issues I had to go back and fix. What's your go-to stripper that won't mess up the braid?

Bought a cheap cable toner from a truck stop near Toledo... it lasted maybe two jobs.

Wasted about $80 on that thing before it just stopped picking up the signal. What do you guys use for toning out long runs now?

Hit 500 feet of buried cable pulled in one day on a solo job

Never thought I'd manage that without a helper, but using a new cable lube and my old Greenlee puller made it happen. Anyone else have a personal record that shocked them?

Had a coax splitter fail on a job in Tacoma last Tuesday

I was finishing up a triple play install in a split level house. The main line tested fine, but the signal dropped completely at the living room outlet. I traced it back to a cheap 4-way splitter in the crawl space that had water damage from a slow drip. I swapped it out for a weatherproof model and sealed the entry point. Anyone run into this kind of hidden failure before?

My fish tape snapped on a Friday afternoon job in a crawl space

It was this past Friday, pulling a new line for a customer in a really old house. The tape just gave out about 15 feet in, leaving the head and a chunk of cable stuck in the wall. I had to cut open a small section of drywall to fish it out by hand, which added an extra hour to the job. Honestly, I think the cold from last winter made the metal brittle. What brand of fish tape do you guys trust for tough pulls like that?

I was crimping coax connectors wrong for years and didn't know it

I was on a job in Tempe last month, helping a new guy finish up. He was watching me put on an F-connector and just said, 'Hey, why are you crimping it before you trim the braid?' I froze. I've been doing it that way for like eight years, ever since my trainer showed me. I'd always crimp the connector on, then use my knife to cut off the extra shielding sticking out. The new guy showed me the spec sheet from the connector box, which clearly says to trim the braid flush with the cable jacket first, then crimp. I tried it his way on the next run and the signal test was way more stable. I must have been causing micro-shorts or something all this time. How many service calls for 'intermittent signal' were my own fault? Has anyone else had a basic step they were taught wrong that stuck with them?

I know everyone swears by the Klein coax stripper, but the one from Ideal has been way more reliable for me over the last three years

I finally figured out why my coax crimps kept failing after a weird call in Phoenix

I was on a job in Phoenix last week and the customer's internet kept dropping every few hours, even with a fresh line and new ends. The guy I was training pointed out that I was using my stripper on the wrong notch, which left tiny nicks in the center conductor I couldn't even see. How many of you actually check the center conductor for damage before you crimp, or am I the only one who missed this?

Why does nobody talk about the time a squirrel chewed through a main line in a Denver attic crawl space?

I had to splice in a new section of RG-6 under a low beam with only a headlamp, using my last compression connector from the truck, and now I keep a rodent deterrent spray in my kit.

Back in 2010, I had to choose between a standard fish tape or a fiberglass glow rod for a tough attic run.

The job was a retrofit in an old house in Savannah, with insulation packed tight. I went with the glow rod because it was new to me and seemed easier to push. It snapped clean in half about fifteen feet in when it hit a nail plate. I had to go back to the truck for my old steel tape, which bent but got the job done. Anyone still using those old steel tapes for tight spots?

Shoutout to the guy who thought zip ties could hold a whole drop cable across his driveway

I saw this last month in a suburb outside of Dallas. The homeowner had used about twenty tiny zip ties to hang a coax line from his gutter to a pole. First good rain, the whole thing sagged into the driveway like a sad hammock. It matters because that's a trip hazard and it'll wreck the cable jacket. I had to re-run it properly with a messenger strand and proper clamps. How many of you have found some truly wild DIY fixes that just made your job harder?

Appreciation post: I finally listened to that guy in Phoenix who swore by using a toner for every drop

Last month, after wasting a whole afternoon tracing a bad line in a 12-unit building, I dug out my old toner and found the break in under 10 minutes, saving me from having to re-run the entire hallway.

DAE realize they were stripping coax wrong for years?

I was helping a new guy in Phoenix and saw him leave a tiny bit more jacket on before crimping. My signal meter jumped 3 dB cleaner on the test. I always trimmed it flush, thinking that was the 'clean' way. Which method actually gives the better connection?

A simple coax fitting trick I learned from an old timer in Cleveland

I keep seeing new guys strip the jacket back way too far, leaving the braid exposed and prone to snagging on walls. This happened to me last week on a tricky attic run, and I had to redo the whole fitting. How much jacket do you leave past the collar before you crimp?

A customer in Akron once told me his attic was 'a time capsule of bad coax'

I was up there replacing a line from the 90s, and he pointed to a dusty spool of RG-59 and said, 'That's from when we got the box for the O.J. trial.' He kept every old cable from every upgrade, just stacked in a corner. What's the oldest piece of cable you've pulled out of a wall?

Hit 500 jobs without a single callback for a bad splice

My log hit 500 installs this week and I haven't had one callback for a bad coax splice. I'm super proud of that number, it means my crimps are solid. But my buddy says it's a waste of time to be that careful on every single one, that most customers won't ever know the difference. I think it's about doing the job right so it lasts. What's the line between good enough and perfect for you guys? Do you check every splice with a meter or just go by feel?

I thought those $15 coax strippers from the truck stop were junk, but they've been my main tool for a year now.

This attic in Phoenix yesterday felt like a 120 degree oven with extra fiberglass

I had to run a new line for a customer's home office, and the only path was through their unfinished attic. My thermometer read 128 degrees up there, and I was stuck for almost two hours trying to fish the cable through a wall with zero clearance. The insulation was so thick I had to wear my full suit, and I drank two liters of water without even needing to use the bathroom. What's the worst attic or crawlspace you've had to work in, and how do you even prepare for that?

Just got called out for my lazy coax terminations

A senior tech named Ray watched me rush a connector on a job in Tempe and said, 'You're leaving a quarter inch of braid exposed, kid. That's a moisture wick waiting to happen.' I started using his method of trimming the jacket back exactly 3/8 of an inch and folding the braid before crimping. Has anyone else had a simple critique that fixed a bad habit?

Changed my mind about using a fish tape for every drop

I always thought a fish tape was the only way to go for pulling cable through finished walls, but last week I had a job in an old house with plaster and lath. My boss said to try a fiberglass push rod instead, and honestly I was sure it would snap. I used a 12-foot rod from Klein and it went through a tricky corner way faster than my steel tape ever did. The flex let me feel around the blockage without getting stuck. Has anyone else switched tools for old construction like that?

I was crimping coax connectors wrong for years until a guy in Denver showed me his trick

I always just twisted the braid back over the jacket and crimped, but he showed me how to fan it out flat first. The signal loss on my meter dropped by 3 dB instantly. What's the one thing you learned that made a huge difference in your signal quality?