c/cable-installers

I was crimping coax connectors with my linesman's pliers for a solid month

A customer in Tempe asked if I had a proper crimp tool after watching me struggle for ten minutes. I felt like a total goof when he pulled his own out of a drawer and showed me how clean it was. How many other basic things have I been doing the hard way without knowing?

Question about those cheap coax strippers from the truck stop

I bought a pair for $8 thinking I'd save a trip, but they mangled the shielding on three lines before I tossed them and cost me an extra 45 minutes on a job in Tempe.

A homeowner in Phoenix told me his old coax run was 'good enough' for 4K streaming

He argued the existing line was fine, but I had to explain how signal loss over distance and older fittings can cause pixelation. It made me think about how we balance customer pushback with doing the job right. How do you handle a situation where a client resists a needed replacement?

Back in 2015, I started using a cheap laser pointer to trace runs in drop ceilings and it saved me hours.

A customer said my cable runs were 'too neat' and it actually made sense

They pointed out that my perfectly straight, tight bundles were a nightmare for anyone needing to add a line later. Now I leave a service loop at every drop, even if it looks a little messy. Do you prioritize future access over a clean look?

Just learned the first transatlantic cable had enough wire to wrap around the earth three times

I was reading an old book about engineering history at the library, trying to kill time between jobs. It said the first working telegraph cable laid across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866 used over 340,000 miles of iron and copper wire. That number just sat in my head. I was up in an attic yesterday, fighting with maybe 50 feet of RG6, and I tried to picture that much cable. The book said they made it on a ship called the Great Eastern, and it took them four tries over eight years to get a line that held. It makes my bad days with a tangled drop line seem pretty small. Has anyone else run into a fact about our trade that just stopped you for a minute?

Had a brand new Klein coax stripper snap on me in a crawl space yesterday.

The blade just gave out while I was prepping a line for a new drop in a house over in the West End. Had to finish the job with my old backup cutter, which slowed me down a lot. Anyone have a stripper they've used for years without it breaking?

Had a customer's pet parrot try to help me run cable in Tampa last week.

Can we talk about that job at the old theater on 4th Street?

I was running a new drop to the projection booth and found the original 1950s conduit runs were still good. The manager told me they had been rewired three times since the 80s, but never used the old path. Saved me about 75 feet of cable and a full hour of work. Anyone else run into a spot where the old way was actually the best way?

Overheard a guy at the supply house complaining about his new crimper

He said it was a cheap brand and the jaws slipped on every third connector, ruining his terminations. It made me check my own gear, and I found my stripper blades were getting dull. What's your go-to crimper that actually holds up?

Rant: Overheard a guy at the supply house say 'a good crimp is just a good crimp, doesn't matter the tool'

I've seen too many service calls from bad connectors to believe that. What's your go-to coax crimper that actually lasts?

Warning: The crawl space under a house in Salem taught me a new trick

Last month I was on a job in Salem, Oregon, and had to run a line under a really old house. The path was full of old pipes and I only had about 4 inches of clearance. I ended up taping my fish stick to a piece of flexible conduit to get it to bend just right around a corner. Anyone else have a go-to method for super tight spaces like that?

I finally saw the point of a proper fish tape after a crawl space in Omaha

Was pulling a line through a tight, insulated space and my old method of just pushing the cable just wouldn't cut it. Grabbed a Klein fish tape from the truck and it went through in one shot. What's your go-to tool for a tough pull?

PSA: That new Klein coax stripper is not worth the hype

I bought the Klein VDV512-058 stripper last month thinking it would speed up my apartment complex jobs. Used it on a whole building in Tempe and it kept slipping on the RG6 jacket, leaving nicks in the braid half the time. I went back to my old manual method and saved myself a headache. Anyone have a stripper that actually works on that thin apartment-grade cable?

A customer in a small town said something that made my whole week

I was doing a standard install in a little place called Millersburg last Thursday, running a new line to an older house. The homeowner was this older guy who watched me work for a bit. When I was done, he just looked at the clean wall fish and said, 'You made that look easy, son. I was sure you'd have to tear up my wall.' I told him it's all about the right tools and taking your time. He shook my hand and said real skill is quiet like that. It's not often you get that kind of thanks, you know? Has a simple compliment from a customer ever stuck with you like that?

Just read the average cable tech drives over 20,000 miles a year

Saw it in some industry report from last year. That's more than a long-haul trucker in some cases. Anyone else's odometer look like that?

Just read that the average house has over 2 miles of low-voltage wiring now, which explains a lot about crawl space tangles.

I found that stat in an old trade magazine from 2022, and it makes every retrofit job feel like a bigger puzzle, so what's your best method for tracing lines in a pre-wired mess?

I overheard a veteran installer in Phoenix say he uses a cheap plastic putty knife to gently pry coax from under baseboards without marking the wall.

Tried it on a job yesterday and it saved me at least 10 minutes of careful coax fishing and kept the paint perfect, so what other simple tool hacks have you guys picked up over the years?

Just hit 5,000 feet of coax pulled in one week

Was doing a big apartment job in Phoenix and the numbers added up fast. We had to run lines to 80 units, all from a single hub. The boss printed the total on Friday and I couldn't believe it. That's more than I used to pull in a whole month back when we did mostly single-family homes. Anyone else seeing these crazy numbers on big multi-dwelling jobs?

Got a call for a simple coax run in a two-story house in Dayton last Tuesday that turned into a full crawl space adventure.

The homeowner said the old line was just 'loose', but when I got under there I found the original installer had zip-tied the cable directly to the main sewer pipe, which had sagged over time and pulled the connector right out of the wall plate.

Changed my mind about using a fish tape for long attic runs

I always grabbed the steel fish tape for any pull over 20 feet, thinking the fiberglass rods were too flimsy. Last month in a hot Sacramento attic, the steel tape got stuck on a nail and kinked bad. My partner handed me his Glow Rod set, and it flexed right past the snag and made the pull easy. Now I use the rods for any cramped or long attic job. Anyone have a favorite brand for those fiberglass kits?

I used to see a lot more aerial drops on my route in Tampa

Last week I was working a new neighborhood and every single house had underground conduit. Three years ago, I'd say half my jobs needed a pole climb or a ladder. Now it feels like maybe one in ten. The builders are putting in the pipes before the slab even goes down. Has anyone else seen this shift in their area?

Pro tip: an old lady in Tacoma showed me why you should always check the attic before drilling

She pointed at her dusty photo albums stacked right under the ceiling joist and said, 'My memories are up there, son, so please be careful,' which made me realize our work cuts through people's lives, not just their drywall.

I keep seeing guys use the wrong size drill bit for wall plates and it drives me nuts

My Klein coax crimper just gave out on a job in Phoenix last Thursday

I was finishing up a triple play install and the handle snapped clean off when I crimped the last connector. Had to run back to the van for my backup tool, which set me back almost an hour. Has anyone else had a Klein tool fail like that, or should I just switch brands?