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Valued Contributor
Posts: 667
Registered: ‎12-04-2011

Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

Well, a few days ago I was on here with questions about directv now's free apple tv offer. Today I'm here with a totally different issue concerning my ongoing effort to say goodbye to cable. As I've mentioned in my previous posts, I will be streaming instead of paying for cable and will get my local channels with an OTA indoor antenna.

 

Last night was my first time hooking up the antenna to see how it would work and have run into a problem. Initially I connected the RCA Ant121f indoor antenna (rabbit ears type) directly to my TV and was delighted. Pulled in all the local channels beautifully. The next thing I wanted to try was connecting it to the TV via my Magnavox HDD & DVD recorder (model MDR513H/F7). I connected the DVR to the TV with a coax and then tried to connect the antenna's coax to the RF input of the DVR only to find that it won't fit. Not sure why. It connected to the TV's RF input without any problem, but won't to the DVR's. I tried looking online for an answer, but am not getting anywhere. This is something that I just don't know anything about, nor do I know whom to ask. Would there be any experts out there about what kind of coax connector I need? I know that one can connect an antenna to this--just need to know which brand might have the right kind of rf connector. Thanks for any help.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

RF connectors are all the same. I would suspect one of two issues. You may have a bad connector on the RF input of the DVR or the cable (check the threads) or, and more likely, there's a stiff copper wire that sticks out the middle of the coax cable that may have gotten pushed to the side that's stopping the cable from inserting properly. That would be the easy problem to fix. Simply wriggle it back to the middle and you'd be good to go.

 

The first thing I'd do is examine the cable end you're trying to get into the DVR input. Is the copper wire centered? (More or less, it does't have to be perfect.)  If that's good then look at the threads inside the RF connector on the cable. (I bought a bag of connectors a few months ago at Home Depot and one had no internal threads which made it useless. Someone missed it in the QC check.) If those threads look good and the threads on the RF input on the DVR look good then you could try reversing the cable so that each end goes to a different device to see if that makes a difference. If you find one end of the calbe that consistently fails, or if the RF input on the DVR won't take any cable, then you know where the problem lies.

 

Hint: The really cheap coax cables that used to come with VCR's often had push on connectors that just shoved on over the threads, so if the threads on the DVR are damaged, scrounge around and see if you've got one of those lying around someplace. They aren't especially good cables, but they're really handy if you've got damaged threads on a device you still want to use. 

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Valued Contributor
Posts: 667
Registered: ‎12-04-2011

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

Thanks for getting back with me, gardenman. Unfortunately, I can't reverse the cable. One end is attached to the antenna and can't be removed. It's just so weird since it connected without any trouble to my TV but not to the DVR. And other coax cables that I have connect to the DVR without any issues--the only coax I'm having trouble with is the one on the antenna. According to both devices' manuals, they each use an F connector. So, there shouldn't be a problem. When I try to connect it to the DVR, I can see the pin going into the hole, but the sleeve (?) (the part that screws to tighten it) doesn't seem big enough to fit over the input and consequently won't allow me to tighten it. I don't know, maybe I just got a bad one. Think I'll exchange it and hope I have better luck. Thanks again for your great help!

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,913
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

[ Edited ]

 

@qualityshopper

 

gardenman pretty much explained everything I know about coaxial cables, so nothing else I can add there. Do you have any other coax end connected to anything on your components? If so, remove that and see if it connects to your DVR.

 

I have had at least 12 different Dish DVR's connected to various TV sets and front projectors around our home and our home theater. Some were/are a bit harder to start threading than others, but I have yet to find one did not fit. I am speaking now of connecting to components that THREADS are not "stripped or badly nicked".

 

The copper pin many times is the problem also. While it may look like it is inserting, it can still be bent enough to prevent threads to line up properly. I have seen smaller coax cables, but only cables that came with specific devices that had separate pieces that had the same size Input and Output coax ports of the same size.

 

I have never seen DirecTV/Dish Network or Cox Cable use a smaller size(or different coax than what they all use). Do you own the DVR, or is it provided by your Satellite or Cable Provider? If they own it, they all use the same size, unless they have changed since I last hooked them up to coax inputs and outputs, including RF.

 

Other than that? If that same coax fits the RF on your tv set and not your DVR? It can be because of only 2 reasons. Your threads on your DVR are damaged or somehow something on the coax end of these rabbit ears got messed up.

 

Never seen or heard anything different, and over decades, I have hooked up hundreds coax cables to just as many devices. Some are harder to get started than others, but there was always a reason. The most common reason for me? Installer error in  lining the threads correctly or the copper pin being bent off center.

 

 

 

hckynut(john)

hckynut(john)
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,328
Registered: ‎10-21-2014

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

@qualityshopper I totally agree with the information you've been given. I don't even want to guess how many times I had problems getting the threading started, even with no damage. Sometimes it's due to working at an awkward angle. Sometimes things just dont' want to line up.. The wire pin in the center does get bent  sometimes. You might also want to make sure the cable itself hasn't gotten slightly pulled out of the screw connector. A time or two I've had that happen just enough that the pin was receded enough that it didn't make a good connection.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 667
Registered: ‎12-04-2011

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

Thanks, hckynut and juperier, for responding. I really appreciate it.

 

Hckynut--You asked about my DVR. It's mine, nothing to do with the cable company. And, I have no issues with connecting other coax cables to it, just the antenna's coax. I'm going to exchange it for another antenna--either another one of this same model or a completely different brand. . I know that the DVR was made to use with either cable or an antenna. Apparently, I just need to try a different one.This one should work, but I guess there's just something off about its connector. Thanks for all your advice.

Regular Contributor
Posts: 243
Registered: ‎09-30-2013

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input


@qualityshopper wrote:

Well, a few days ago I was on here with questions about directv now's free apple tv offer. Today I'm here with a totally different issue concerning my ongoing effort to say goodbye to cable. As I've mentioned in my previous posts, I will be streaming instead of paying for cable and will get my local channels with an OTA indoor antenna.

 

Last night was my first time hooking up the antenna to see how it would work and have run into a problem. Initially I connected the RCA Ant121f indoor antenna (rabbit ears type) directly to my TV and was delighted. Pulled in all the local channels beautifully. The next thing I wanted to try was connecting it to the TV via my Magnavox HDD & DVD recorder (model MDR513H/F7). I connected the DVR to the TV with a coax and then tried to connect the antenna's coax to the RF input of the DVR only to find that it won't fit. Not sure why. It connected to the TV's RF input without any problem, but won't to the DVR's. I tried looking online for an answer, but am not getting anywhere. This is something that I just don't know anything about, nor do I know whom to ask. Would there be any experts out there about what kind of coax connector I need? I know that one can connect an antenna to this--just need to know which brand might have the right kind of rf connector. Thanks for any help.


Do you still have cable tv service? Or just internet service? What I'm understanding is that you are trying to get a setup without having cable tv service. If correct, then I believe there's no need for the coaxial cable.

 

Depending on how old your tv/dvd is, you should connect your tv and dvd player viai HDMI cable or via the really old way (I believe yellow/red/white connector).

 

In summary:

 

1. Connect your antenna to tv.

2. Connect your tv and dvd using HDMI cable or the red/yellow/white connector.

 

Getting streaming contents is another subject and to do that you'll need an appropriate device (i.e., smart tv, roku, apple tv, etc.) and you have to connect that streaming device wirelessly or via an ethernet cable (I think that's why you think you need the coaxial cable).

 

I am absolutely no expert in this subject but this is what I think you're trying to do.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input


@Runner26 wrote:

@qualityshopper wrote:

Well, a few days ago I was on here with questions about directv now's free apple tv offer. Today I'm here with a totally different issue concerning my ongoing effort to say goodbye to cable. As I've mentioned in my previous posts, I will be streaming instead of paying for cable and will get my local channels with an OTA indoor antenna.

 

Last night was my first time hooking up the antenna to see how it would work and have run into a problem. Initially I connected the RCA Ant121f indoor antenna (rabbit ears type) directly to my TV and was delighted. Pulled in all the local channels beautifully. The next thing I wanted to try was connecting it to the TV via my Magnavox HDD & DVD recorder (model MDR513H/F7). I connected the DVR to the TV with a coax and then tried to connect the antenna's coax to the RF input of the DVR only to find that it won't fit. Not sure why. It connected to the TV's RF input without any problem, but won't to the DVR's. I tried looking online for an answer, but am not getting anywhere. This is something that I just don't know anything about, nor do I know whom to ask. Would there be any experts out there about what kind of coax connector I need? I know that one can connect an antenna to this--just need to know which brand might have the right kind of rf connector. Thanks for any help.


Do you still have cable tv service? Or just internet service? What I'm understanding is that you are trying to get a setup without having cable tv service. If correct, then I believe there's no need for the coaxial cable.

 

Depending on how old your tv/dvd is, you should connect your tv and dvd player viai HDMI cable or via the really old way (I believe yellow/red/white connector).

 

In summary:

 

1. Connect your antenna to tv.

2. Connect your tv and dvd using HDMI cable or the red/yellow/white connector.

 

Getting streaming contents is another subject and to do that you'll need an appropriate device (i.e., smart tv, roku, apple tv, etc.) and you have to connect that streaming device wirelessly or via an ethernet cable (I think that's why you think you need the coaxial cable).

 

I am absolutely no expert in this subject but this is what I think you're trying to do.


I believe her issue is in connecting the coaxial cable from the antenna to the antenna input jack on her DVR. And it appears this is a molded-in cable on the antenna, so it can't be swapped out for another cable.

 

There is another work around possible in that you can get a male to male connector (shortish threaded on both ends metal connector) that if you could get it to screw into the antenna RF connector you could then attach another shorter length of coax to that that could then screw into the DVR antenna input connector. (Or if that input is damaged you could use one of the old push on types that came with old VCR's.) 

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Valued Contributor
Posts: 667
Registered: ‎12-04-2011

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

[ Edited ]

Magis--Gardenman is right. I need to connect the antenna directly to the DVR in order to record shows. If I wanted to just use my DVR device as a playback unit, I would only need to connect the TV to the DVR. I do appreciate your input though. Very nice of you.

 

Gardenman--Thanks for the workaround suggestion. That might be what I'll have to do. I've been trying to check out other rabbit-ear type antennas online, but can't tell what kind of connector any of them have (they all say coax, but that doesn't mean they'll fit). I need to either see them in person or contact the manufacturer. Looks like ones like the Mohu Leaf might work, but I want to stick with the smaller rabbit-ear type. I can actually hide that behind my TV. We're lucky that we live close enough to the towers that I don't have to worry about placing an antenna high up or on a window. Since my DVR input connector is just fine, I believe your solution will do the trick. Thanks, again!

Occasional Visitor
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎07-02-2018

Re: Help please with coax cable that won't fit rf input

[ Edited ]

Hi.,....as per my knowledge the really cheap coax cables that used to come with VCR's often had push on connectors that just shoved on over the threads, so if the threads on the DVR are damaged, scrounge around and see if you've got one of those lying around someplace. They aren't especially good cables, but they're really handy if you've got damaged threads on a device you still want to use. 

 

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