RF TV Cables at Blue Jeans Cable

hdmi - component video - s-video - rgbhv - rf - composite - a/v - dvi
digital audio - stereo audio - multichannel audio - balanced audio - subwoofer - speaker - adapters

Analog/Digital RF TV Cable

Ever since the advent of cable television, coaxial RF ("radio frequency") television cables have been an essential part of most home video installations. Recently, however, the demands placed on these cables have increased substantially. With higher bandwidth digital cable systems, there's a real need for precision-engineered, low-capacitance, high performance RF cables for the home. We offer these cables in a wide variety of lengths and will cut to custom lengths also.

The Coax: Belden 1505A

For short (say, under 25 foot) RF cables, we recommend Belden 1505A "Brilliance" precision video coaxial cable, a 75 ohm coax engineered specifically for high bandwidth applications. This coax, sweep-tested to 4.5 GHz and triple-shielded with a tinned braid and two layers of foil for maximum protection from noise and interference, offers superb low-loss performance over the whole television spectrum, but with better flexibility than with a larger RG-6 type cable. For longer lengths or where the very lowest loss characteristics are critical, we recommend Belden 1694A, below. View the technical specs for Belden 1505A.

The Terminations: Canare F-Connectors

Have you ever looked at a traditional F-connector and found it...well...lacking? Most F-connectors just pass the center conductor of the coax through the connector body, resulting in a less-than-dependable, corrosion-prone contact; they are often only weakly attached to the coax braid, for a poor completion of the cable shield and a contact which is prone to vary in quality as the cable is handled. Great cables need great connectors, and for that reason we use the Canare F-connector on our RF cables. These connectors use a gold-plated center pin for a firm and corrosion-proof contact with the jack, and have a solid, nickel-plated brass body with deep, well-machined threads that ensure a connection which is both mechanically and electrically sound. The connector body is tightly crimped to the braid, to complete the shielding from cable tip to cable tip. View Canare's specs and description of this F-connector.

We hand-cut and terminate each of these cables ourselves, using Canare tooling, so we know they're done right and tested before they go out. We think you'll be impressed with the performance of this cable; but we also offer a complete, unconditional return privilege. If for any reason--or for no reason--you're not completely, utterly satisfied, just return the cable within 30 days and we'll refund your purchase price in full.

Alternative coaxes:

Belden 1694A:

Belden 1505A, discussed above, is a great product; we prefer it, for short-run RF applications, to anything else on the market because its small size and good flexibility make it more manageable than a larger coax without any perceptible sacrifice in performance. However, in longer runs or where low loss performance is critical, Belden 1694A offers the same features as 1505A in an RG-6 type cable. View the technical specs for Belden 1694A.

Belden 7731A:

Belden 7731A is an RG-11 coax; it is huge, stiff, and unpleasant to work with, but is extremely low-loss due to its large center conductor size and is built to the same tight tolerances as Belden's smaller precision video cables. We recommend it for extreme long runs (100 feet and up), and then only if flexibility is not likely to be important.

Other Accessories:

RF Isolation Transformer:

On occasion, a/v systems can have trouble with hum resulting from a ground loop involving the CATV signals coming into the home. A CATV ground loop typically will result either in an audible, level 60-cycle hum in your audio or in "hum bars," moving diagonal lines in your video. For these situations, we offer an RF isolation transformer from Calrad; this is just a straight 75 ohm/75 ohm impedance transformer, meant to break the ground connection between the CATV system and your home, thus eliminating any ground loop.

To Order:

Just fill in your cable length in feet in the appropriate form below, select any applicable options, and the price will display to the right. To purchase, click "add to cart." To view a list of sample prices of these cables in various lengths, see our RF Cable Price List.