c/cable-installers

Unpopular opinion: I was crimping coax connectors wrong for my first two years on the job

I was on a service call in a big apartment complex last month, helping another tech who was swamped. He watched me prep a line and just said, 'Dude, you're stripping way too much braid.' I always thought you needed a good half-inch of the center conductor exposed past the connector for a solid connection. He showed me his method: just enough to see a tiny bit of the dielectric after the connector is on, maybe an eighth of an inch. He said over-stripping lets the braid push back and can cause signal leaks or a weak connection over time. I tried it his way on the next five drops, and my meter readings were actually MORE stable. I've been doing it ever since. Has anyone else found a small step in their prep routine that made a big difference in signal quality?

Crawled an attic in July and found a nest of old RG-59 from the 80s

Was doing a rewire in a house built in '84. Pulled back the insulation and found a perfect coil of that old, thick cable. Must have been left by the original installer. The jacket was still soft, not brittle. Made me wonder how much of that stuff is still hidden in walls. Anyone else come across vintage installs like that?

So my main compression tool gave out halfway through a crawl space job yesterday

Three years ago in a Dayton attic, I found a dusty old splitter that taught me to always bring a toner...

Question about a crawl space job that went sideways in Tacoma

I was under a house in Tacoma last week, trying to run a new line through a tight crawl space. The ground was wet from a leak, and I was about halfway through when my drill bit snapped off inside the joist. I had to crawl back out, get a new bit, and then spend an hour trying to dig the old piece out with pliers in the dark. My back was killing me and I was covered in mud. The customer kept asking if it was done yet, which just made it worse. I finally got the line through, but it took me almost four hours for what should have been a one hour job. Has anyone else had a tool break at the worst possible moment like that? What do you do to keep your cool when everything goes wrong at once?

Back when I started, I'd climb every pole with gaffs and a belt, no questions asked.

About two years ago, my company in Phoenix switched to bucket trucks for almost every aerial job. The change came after a guy on our crew had a close call with a rotten pole. Now I only climb if the truck absolutely can't reach, which is maybe once a month. It's slower to set up, but I can't argue with the safety. Anyone else's outfit make a full switch like that?

Had a coax line short out inside a wall in a house from the 1950s

I was working in an old brick house in Richmond and the signal just dropped on a line I'd just run. Traced it back and found a staple had pinched the cable right against a metal pipe. I had to cut a small access hole, replace the section, and patch it up. Anyone else run into hidden shorts like that in old construction?

Got chewed out by a homeowner in Springfield for leaving cable loops in the attic, now I always pull slack to the drop point.

Finally got my attic crawl time down from 45 minutes to under 15 on a retrofit in Phoenix.

I used to drag a whole spool and my drill up there, but after getting stuck in a tight spot last month, I started pre-making 50-foot jumpers with connectors in my van, which lets me just pull the line through and go.

This attic in July heat almost broke me

Had a job in Phoenix last week where the attic temp hit 130 degrees. The homeowner wanted a new drop in a back bedroom, which meant crawling over blown-in insulation for about 50 feet. My drill battery overheated and shut down twice. I drank three liters of water and still got a headache. Honestly thought about just walking off the job. How do you guys handle those extreme heat calls without passing out?

Found a family of raccoons living in a customer's crawlspace while running a line

I was under a house in Chattanooga last month, pulling cable through a tight spot, when I heard rustling and saw four little eyes glowing back at me from the insulation. I just backed out slowly, told the homeowner, and rescheduled for after animal control cleared them out. Anyone else had to deal with unexpected wildlife on a job?

I used to laugh at the guys who carried a $150 Klein toner and probe set, but after tracing a buried line in a 1950s house last week, I'm a total convert.

What's one tool or method you were totally wrong about, and what specific job changed your mind?

Heard a customer in Denver say 'just run it under the welcome mat' and I had to shut that down

I explained how that's a huge trip hazard and a sure way to get a service call for a crushed line. Anyone else get wild suggestions that would definitely break code?

A chat with a retired installer in Omaha made me see my work differently

I was finishing a job at a retirement home last week and got talking to a guy named Frank who used to do this in the 80s. He told me, 'We didn't have cable testers, we had to listen to the hum on the line to know it was live.' That stuck with me because I rely on my Fluke meter for everything now. It made me think about how much the tools change but the core job of getting a good signal through stays the same. Anyone else have a moment like that, where an old timer's story gave you a new view on a routine part of the job?

Serious question, is that $40 cable toner from the hardware store ever worth it?

I bought one for a job in a pre-wired apartment building and it gave me a false positive on a dead line, costing me two hours of rework and a frustrated customer.

Hot take: I was wrong about using my own zip ties on every job

For years, I carried a big bag of cheap zip ties and used them for everything, thinking I was saving the company money. Last month in Tampa, a homeowner pointed out the white ties I used on his gray siding looked terrible and were already fading after six months. He showed me the black, UV-rated ones the previous installer used, which still looked new. I realized I was focusing on cost over quality and making my work look bad. What specific brand of outdoor cable ties do you guys actually trust?

My brother-in-law, who's a plumber, saw my cable clips and asked why I didn't just use his PEX mounting plates.

He was helping me redo a laundry room in his house in Tacoma and pointed at my bundle of coax. He said, 'Those little plastic things always break on me. I use these metal plates for pipe, they're like two bucks each and you can screw them anywhere.' It got me thinking about all the times I've had to re-run a line because a clip snapped in a hot attic. Has anyone else tried using plumbing hardware for low-voltage runs?

Unpopular opinion: I stopped using zip ties for attic runs about a year ago.

I saw a new guy use Velcro straps on a job in Phoenix and realized how much time I was wasting cutting out old, sun-baked ties. Now I carry a roll of 1-inch Velcro and it's a game changer for service calls. Anyone else make a simple switch that saved them a headache?

Had a job in a 1920s brick house in St. Louis that turned into a full day crawlspace adventure

The drop was supposed to be simple, but the old plaster walls had zero clear paths. I spent six hours belly-crawling through a tight, dusty crawlspace to fish a line from the basement to the second floor office. What's your go-to method for getting a clean run in those old solid-wall houses without tearing up all the trim?

Remembering the time I drilled straight through a water line in a 1970s split-level in Akron.

I was fishing coax through a finished basement wall and hit a copper pipe I couldn't see on the stud finder, so I spent the next frantic hour with the homeowner's main shut-off valve and my truck's soldering kit before the drywall guys showed up for their scheduled work.

My uncle swore by using a coat hanger for fishing lines, I learned the hard way

My uncle, a guy who did cable back in the 90s, always told me to keep a straightened metal coat hanger in my truck. He said it was the best tool for fishing lines through tight spaces in old walls. Last month, I was on a job in a 1920s house in Springfield, trying to get a line from the attic down to a first floor outlet. The path was a mess of old plaster and blocking. I used the hanger trick, and it got stuck, good. Spent over an hour trying to wiggle it free before it snapped off inside the wall. Had to cut a small access hole to get it out, which the homeowner was not happy about. I should have just used my fiberglass rods from the start. Anyone have a better method for those really tricky, old plaster lathe walls that doesn't risk leaving tools in the cavity?

Showerthought: Bought a $40 cable toner that just beeped at everything

Turns out it was a cheap knockoff that couldn't tell the difference between a live coax line and a phone wire. Anyone know a good brand that actually works?

Can we talk about how many guys are still using the wrong compression tool on RG6?

I've been on three service calls this week where the customer's internet was dropping out because of a bad connector. Every single time, it was a hex crimp connector put on with a standard tool, not a compression fitting. The techs who did the original installs saved maybe 30 seconds per drop, but now it's costing hours in truck rolls. I found one yesterday behind a TV stand that was so loose it fell off in my hand. What's the best brand of compression tool you guys actually carry on your belt?

Vent: My truck odometer hit 200,000 miles right after a job in the rain

I was driving back from a house call in Everett, finished up a coax run in a crawlspace. Pulled into my driveway and saw the numbers flip to 200,000. This truck has been through every muddy site and tight attic with me for eight years. Kind of a weird thing to notice, but it felt like a big deal. Anyone else have a vehicle that's basically a work partner?

TIL a squirrel chewed through a main line in a Dayton attic and I had to splice it with my last connector in the dark.

What's the weirdest animal damage you've had to fix on a job?