How To Extend a TV Aerial Cable to Another Room?

You’ve mounted your TV to the wall in your bedroom, only to find that there’s no aerial outlet! 

The aerial cable you have is too short to reach from the nearest port to your TV, so what should you do? 

Is there a way to extend the aerial cable to another room? 

Don’t worry, your TV setup isn’t a lost cause. 

Extending cables may seem complicated, but all you’ll need are a few affordable and easy-to-use supplies, along with a few simple steps. 

Let’s get started! 

Materials Needed: 

• A Tape Measure 
• A TV Aerial Cable 
• Additional Aerial Cable
• Wire Stripper/Crimping Tool 
• 2 Screw F-Connectors 
• An F-type Coupler 
• An F-type Female Coaxial Connector 
• Self-Fusing Tape  (Optional)
• Nail-in Cable Clips 

Step 1: Measure

Before you can begin cutting and connecting your wires, you need to know how much additional aerial wire you’ll need. 

Measure from the coaxial outlet to your TV. We recommend using a tape measure and running it along the floor or baseboards where the cable will lay. 

Account for an extra few feet of spare cable to ensure it won’t be pulled taught once connected. 

Step 2: Remove the TV Connector from Your Aerial Cable 

Using the wire cutters, cut away the F-type female connector from your aerial cable. Try to cut about 2 centimeters below the connector. 

You will need to connect this end of the cable to the extension cable. Don’t worry we’ll reattach the TV connector later. 

Step 3: Prep Your Wires

Now you need to prep your wires. You will need to repeat this process twice: once on the aerial cable you trimmed in Step 2, and another time on one end of the extension cable. 

Take your wire stripper and cut off two centimeters of the wire casing. 

Find the copper braid wrapped around the chord. Unwrap it from the cable and pull it to the side. 

Use the wire stripper to cut away and discard the thin layer of copper foil wrapped around the wire. 

Cut away the white foam leaving a half-centimeter of it on the base. Slide it off the wire and discard it. 

Now you should be left with about a centimeter and a half of exposed wire. 

Repeat these steps until you have two exposed copper wires. 

Step 4: Attach the Extension Cable to Your Aerial Cable

Now that your cables are prepped, we can attach the extension cable to the existing aerial cable. 

Attach one F-connector to the trimmed end of the original aerial cable. Screw it onto the chord, making sure it’s tight. Leave the copper braid poking out of the bottom of the connector. 

Once the connector is in place, snip off the copper braid using wire cutters.

Use your wire cutters once more to trim most of the wire poking out of the connector. You’ll want to leave about ⅛ an inch left (or 3 millimeters). 

Repeat this process to the prepped side of your extension cord.

Once you have the two F-connectors securely in place, you can connect them using the F-type coupler. 

Screw the F-type coupler into both F-connectors, ensuring everything is tight.

If you’d like, you can wrap some insulation tape around the connectors to ensure they stay in place. 

Watch the video below demonstrating how to connect your aerial cable to an extension cable using F-type connectors and an F-type coupler. 

Step 5: Prep the Last Wire End to be Connected to the F-type Female Coaxial Connector

Watch the video below demonstrating how to do steps five through nine. 

You should have a remaining wire end that’s been untouched so far. This end will connect to an F-type female coaxial connector, which is the plug that will go into your TV’s port. 

Before we can screw on the connector, we need to prep the wire. 

Using a wire stripper, remove the plastic wire coating. 

Pull down the copper braid and twist it to the side. 

Remove the copper film, revealing the white foam. 

Now we’re ready to start putting the connector pieces onto the cord. 

Step 6: Attach the Lowest Piece of the F-type Female Coaxial Connector 

When you take apart the connector you should notice it’s made of four parts which, when stacked, create the TV connector plug. 

Unscrew the connector and remember in which order the pieces are stacked in. 

Take the bottom piece, which will look like a short cylinder with wavy cutouts on the bottom.  

Slide it over the white foam coating and copper wire braid. Press it gently onto the base of the wire. 

Wrap the copper wire braid around the wire beneath the bottom piece of the connector. 

Step 7: Slide the Central Conductor Wire Into the Tubing Piece 

The next step is to slide the central conductor wire (i.e. the exposed bit of copper wire) into the following connector piece, which will look like a white piece of foam with a small metal tube in the middle. 

Trim off any wire poking out from the tube. 

Step 9: Screw on the Remaining Connector Pieces

You’re almost there!

All you must do is slide on the two final connector pieces and screw them together. 

Make sure everything is lined up properly and securely. 

This process is a little tricky, but watching someone else go through the steps can make it easier. 

If you’d like, you can also wrap the connectors in some self-sealing tape for extra assurance. 

Step 10: Use Cable Clips to Secure the Wire to Your Baseboards

The last thing you want is someone undoing your hard work by tripping on loose wires. 

To avoid this, we recommend fastening them to your baseboard using cable clips. 

These handy C-shaped clips have a small nail in them. These fit over the wire and are nailed into your home’s baseboards. 

Nail your wire to the baseboards with the cable clips, being sure to not pull the wire too taught, especially around corners. 

Once all the wire is secure, you’re good to go! 

See the video below to learn how to use nail-in cable clips.