Coax / RG6 Distribution Panels, Is There Such A Thing?

YEs there are a variety of RG6 patch panels including rack-mounted ones such as something like the leviton quick-port you just get the RG6 inserts you need. With that many runs, having them all terminated to some kind of a patch panel is neater and you can label things well, etc: a good idea.

You can also make your own very easily - I did. All you need is a blank rack mount face (I used a 2u) and a lot of F-style barrel connectors. Just make sure the ones you buy come with a washer and nut - like these.

1) Mark out the face plate with as many connectors as you want. I was able to fit three rows of perhaps 15 connectors in each row. I didn't want them so close that it was hard to terminate the coaxial wires. They are spaced about 1" apart.

2) Drill the plate with the correct size drill bit - something like 3/8 or 1/2 if I remember correctly

3) Fit the barrel connectors in the holes and fasten them with the nut and washer.

4) Mount face plate in rack

5) Terminate coaxial wires, label and enjoy

Total cost is much, much less than purchasing a premade unit.

why not buy an unpopulated patch panel and insert keystone f connects into it?

This is exactly what I did:





That is a 24-position keystone rack panel as sold by Monoprice.com It happily accepts F-type keystones for a neat and tidy patching setup. Just create yourself a couple of 1.5 ft RG-6 "patch cables" and you are all set.

FWIW, the Monoprice panel doesn't look nearly as substantial as the CablesToGo panel in terms of securing the keystones. You can find the CablesToGo ones for about the same price as the Monoprice one if you search around.

Monoprice:


CablesToGo:


When I did my networking "closet" I bought a genuine Ortronics coax patch panel off ebay for <$50 shipped instead of using keystones and a blank panel.

Just curious, what is the reason you would want a ethernet or RG6 patch panel for your home? Wouldn't you always want all the signals going everywhere, is there a reason you'd want to change the route? Are they used for another purpose I'm not thinking of?

Also, what is the best way to split the signal so many times? Do we need to have the one line coming into the house go into a powered splitter?

ckellyusa, it gives you the ability to send signals from one locations to another simply by using a patch cord at your head end.

Examples of this may be some RG-6 is used to distribute cable, and others satellite.

For the Cat5e/Cat6 patch panels, you may have extra cables run to all tv/media/future locations.
Say for example you want to add a Ipod jack in the kitchen to your distributed audio system located in a component shelf in the great room, near the audio equipment.

You could patch the kitchen cable through the to the great room effectively creating a cable going from the kitchen to the great room.

The possibilities are endless.

It should also be noted that RG6 can be used for more than television distribution. I have part of my RG6 "network" passing coaxial digital audio from a remote computer back to my central HT closet. This allows me to have computer music from my office available to the main living area without a dedicated HTPC (at least for now).

Thanks for the explanation, I think I'm getting the idea now...

But what about the actual splitting of the incoming cable/sat signal. I've been hearing different things about it, but if I have one cable (FiOS) line coming into the house and I need the signal going to the modem and then each room, is a 1 x 8 splitter good enough or do I need a power splitter/etc?

I'm starting to appreciate the need for patch panels, as I install cables slowly over time.

If the cable is permanently installed, terminating in a patch panel, the install is neater. Without a patch panel, I have very long 'service loops' in the wiring closet, as I'm unsure of the exact final location of each termination.

If I was installing everything in a week, with known final termination locations, I could do without patch panels.

Every installation is different, but this might give you a starting point.

For a traditional cable modem, you would want to do a 2-way splitter in front of your modem on the incoming line. One leg of this goes to the modem, the other leg goes into your distribution amp/splitter for television. I've never dealth with FiOS before, so I'm not certain if the same advice applies.

Just came across this thread while searching for a way to distribute video signals in my home. I love the idea of using a Patch panel for these coax runs and so far I've purchased the following:

1) MonoPrice 7U Wall Mount
2) Belden 1694a RG6 coax cable (1000 feet)
3) CablesToGo 32-Port Blank Keystone/Multimedia Patch Panel

So, it looks like the only remaining parts to purchase are the inserts for the Patch Panel. Captaincondor & KingLeerUK both recommended using F Type Keystone Jacks so I was wondering if this would be the highest quality connections available for the patch panel? Also, WebCrawlr mentioned 3ghz rated barrel connectors, presumably for satelite support, so I guess I'm looking for the highest quality connectors that would support all available TV signals, especially since I'm using RG6 coax cable.

Any recommendations?

When I did a blank keystone panel for coax I went to Monoprice and purchased the cheap F-connectors with a black keystone (something like .50/ea.) and then replaced them with 3Ghz ones.

What about something like this rack mounted RF splitter with amplifier? This would be used in conjunction with the patch panel you are all discussing, not as a replacement.

http://www.markertek.com/CATV-Headend-Interface/RF-Splitters/Pico-Digital/TSMS-2150X-16A.xhtml

However, you should first use a 2-way splitter where one goes to the cable modem and the other goes to this amplified splitter, both to have as direct a line as possible to the modem and because you shouldn't go through the amplifier.

Or, if you don't get a rack mountable splitter, you could still have the coax patch panel and put something like the following splitter in place and then feed it back into the appropriate spots on the panel.

http://www.amazon.com/8-Port-Bi-Directional-Amplifier-Splitter-Booster/dp/B000WDR94U

Sorry about bringing up an old thread. I'm looking to set up an OTA antenna and would like to keep it all organized in a similar fashion. I'm hoping to be able to split a single antenna signal to at least four TVs if possible.

If you only need up to 8 outlets, just get a standard 15dB gain drop amp and an vertical 8-way splitter.

Let's say I'm gaining 15dB with this 1-port amplifier then going to a 4-way splitter that loses 7dB per port. Does that mean that each port is ending up with an 8dB overall gain? Would I be better off just using this 4-port amplifier with 7dB gain per port and only needing the one device?

A 4-out drop amp is merely a standard drop amp with a 4-way splitter on the output in the same housing.

You can get a drop amp for $30 and a 4-way splitter for $7 (includes shipping). Save yourself ~$20 + shipping costs.
Edited by egnlsn - 10/10/12 at 11:35am

I purchased an Evolution 9 port amplifier and splitter. It amplifies 8 CATV outputs and and has a separate passive port for the cable modem. I bought mine on a popular auction site for about $30 with the power injector. I placed the Evolution unit onto a shelf in the Monoprice wallmount rack and placed a keystone patch panel right above with F-type keystone jacks.

Are you pleased with it? I've just recently lost some digital channels upstairs, and wonder if something like this is necessary.

I'm waiting for the cable install on Thursday and I could let you know. Right now, I'm just running my cable modem through there and it works perfectly fine.

You can also buy a black anodized aluminum pre -drilled rack panel that can easily be fitted with a solid mount RF barrel from Mid Atlantic audio. The y have very large range of racks, panels, shelves, mounting plates that are pre-drilled or punched for most any AV connector and as the mount to a solid metal faceplate, there are no plastic clamps to break and fail to adequately clamp a connector.
The metal mount also provides a common ground point. These panels are available in a variety of heights and holes drilled. You can also customize a single plate by using a modular metal punched plate system.

I'd appreciate that

ALL my splitters are hanging on the side of my house, outside. Not sure why they did it that way, but it looks like I'm going to have some wire to pull.

Working flawlessly. My HDHomerun Prime reports 100% signal and 100% quality. Cable guy tested the outputs directly at the Evolution unit with his fancy tester and he said the output was perfect. I wish this came in a 1U size, but alas I can't have everything. If you buy it on e B a y, make sure you get one that comes with the COAX power injector.

Thanks for the update

Looks like I need to pull/reroute some coax