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Had a chat with a retired installer that flipped my view on old coax runs
I was finishing a job in this 1970s split-level in Akron last Tuesday, pulling new RG6 through a tight chase. The homeowner, an older guy named Frank, was watching and said, 'You know, we used to run RG59 with just a pocket knife and a prayer.' He told me about doing whole apartment buildings in the 80s with no toner, just tracing lines by sound and feel. He said the worst was when you'd hit a staple and have to start over, but you learned the 'give' of the wall. It hit different because I was there with my $150 Klein toner and my fish tape, complaining about the old cable, and he made it sound like an adventure. Made me appreciate how much easier the tools are now, but maybe we've lost some of that gut feel for the walls. Anyone else have an old-timer drop some wisdom that changed how you see a routine part of the job?
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the_sean23d ago
Just a pocket knife" is a bit of a stretch, they had proper crimpers too.
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avery_flores24d ago
Just a pocket knife? That's insane. No toner at all, just listening? I can't even find a cable in a drop ceiling without my tone generator going nuts. The idea of feeling for a staple through drywall and starting over makes my hands hurt just thinking about it. They really were built different back then.
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