Hi All,

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the great information you
posted on this topic.

After a lot of research into this, a friend of mine put in a system
for video/ audio distribution a couple of years ago which made me
think that I may have been approaching this problem from the wrong
direction. I have been considering how many locations I want to view
video/ audio and how do I get everything to an end device at these
locations such that they can all work concurrently. What he did was
locate his standard equipment (dvd player, PC, CD player, video etc)
in a central location and consider how many people will want to watch
a different DVD (for example) at the same time. Then simply buy that
number of DVD players. Maybe not the best example as I am looking to
store the DVDs centrally so you don't have to go into the cupboard to
change them but it shows the principle.

Everything is then distributed via CAT 5 cable (apparently you can buy
a sort of video/ audio router for this) and controlled via radio
remote controls.

It all seemed fairly cunning to me as you can scale it up as you need
to and you don't have to buy the end devices for each room. Has
anyone had any experience of this type of setup?

All help appreciated.,

thanks again

Lee.

On 12 May 2007 23:43:45 -0700, wrote:

|!Hi All,
|!
|!Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the great information you
|!posted on this topic.
|!
|!After a lot of research into this, a friend of mine put in a system
|!for video/ audio distribution a couple of years ago which made me
|!think that I may have been approaching this problem from the wrong
|!direction. I have been considering how many locations I want to view
|!video/ audio and how do I get everything to an end device at these
|!locations such that they can all work concurrently. What he did was
|!locate his standard equipment (dvd player, PC, CD player, video etc)
|!in a central location and consider how many people will want to watch
|!a different DVD (for example) at the same time. Then simply buy that
|!number of DVD players. Maybe not the best example as I am looking to
|!store the DVDs centrally so you don't have to go into the cupboard to
|!change them but it shows the principle.
|!
|!Everything is then distributed via CAT 5 cable (apparently you can buy
|!a sort of video/ audio router for this) and controlled via radio
|!remote controls.

Designing a system for what *you*, want before doing anything on the ground
is always a *very* good idea. Your plan all depends how easy it would be
to run more cable/coax round *your* house.

Having gone to no end of trouble running CT100 coax around the house for
DTT and then found that people want to arrange their rooms in a different
way, so the CT100 should end up in a different place. Then in the near
future I expect to fit a quad LNB to my Sky dish and run *another* set of
cables round the house for generic/freesatfromsky boxes I would not run a
*third* set of cables round my house. I have decided that when our many
VCRs reach the end of their lives, I will fit R/W DVD players/recorders in
every room and just swap the R/W DVDs around between the players as we do
with Video cassettes.
--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

On 13 May, 08:17, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:
On 12 May 2007 23:43:45 -0700, wrote:

|!Hi All,
|!
|!Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the great information you
|!posted on this topic.
|!
|!After a lot of research into this, a friend of mine put in a system
|!for video/ audio distribution a couple of years ago which made me
|!think that I may have been approaching this problem from the wrong
|!direction. I have been considering how many locations I want to view
|!video/ audio and how do I get everything to an end device at these
|!locations such that they can all work concurrently. What he did was
|!locate his standard equipment (dvd player, PC, CD player, video etc)
|!in a central location and consider how many people will want to watch
|!a different DVD (for example) at the same time. Then simply buy that
|!number of DVD players. Maybe not the best example as I am looking to
|!store the DVDs centrally so you don't have to go into the cupboard to
|!change them but it shows the principle.
|!
|!Everything is then distributed via CAT 5 cable (apparently you can buy
|!a sort of video/ audio router for this) and controlled via radio
|!remote controls.

Designing a system for what *you*, want before doing anything on the ground
is always a *very* good idea. Your plan all depends how easy it would be
to run more cable/coax round *your* house.

Having gone to no end of trouble running CT100 coax around the house for
DTT and then found that people want to arrange their rooms in a different
way, so the CT100 should end up in a different place. Then in the near
future I expect to fit a quad LNB to my Sky dish and run *another* set of
cables round the house for generic/freesatfromsky boxes I would not run a
*third* set of cables round my house. I have decided that when our many
VCRs reach the end of their lives, I will fit R/W DVD players/recorders in
every room and just swap the R/W DVDs around between the players as we do
with Video cassettes.
--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberghttp://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_PageCompletely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

Thanks for the reply. In my case, we are about to embark on a major
renovation so I want to run the cable now to cover my bases as running
it afterwards will be a pain. My friend ended up running 3 x CAT5, 1
x Coax and 1 x phone to each major room to cover

CAT 5 - network
CAT 5 - video/ audio distribution
CAT 5 - spare
Coax - normal terrestrial TV
Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

Seemed like a fairly good idea given the price of CAT 5

What do you guys think?

On 13/05/2007 09:53, wrote:

Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

Even though an extension phone outlet only uses 3 wires, combining two
extensions using 3 pairs means you will get cross-talk, an alternative
is to only wire the A/B pair to each and use master outlets at the
extensions, but the multiple extra components can affect ADSL on the line.

Andy Burns wrote:
On 13/05/2007 09:53, wrote:

Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

Even though an extension phone outlet only uses 3 wires, combining two
extensions using 3 pairs means you will get cross-talk, an alternative
is to only wire the A/B pair to each and use master outlets at the
extensions, but the multiple extra components can affect ADSL on the line.


As you're buying a bunch of Cat5, you could use that for 'phone, too --
good article about it he

http://www.readman.dsl.pipex.com/oth...ecatwiring.htm

Styx

On 13 May 2007 01:53:13 -0700, wrote:

|!On 13 May, 08:17, Dave Fawthrop
|!wrote:
|! On 12 May 2007 23:43:45 -0700, wrote:
|!
|! |!Hi All,
|! |!
|! |!Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the great information you
|! |!posted on this topic.
|! |!
|! |!After a lot of research into this, a friend of mine put in a system
|! |!for video/ audio distribution a couple of years ago which made me
|! |!think that I may have been approaching this problem from the wrong
|! |!direction. I have been considering how many locations I want to view
|! |!video/ audio and how do I get everything to an end device at these
|! |!locations such that they can all work concurrently. What he did was
|! |!locate his standard equipment (dvd player, PC, CD player, video etc)
|! |!in a central location and consider how many people will want to watch
|! |!a different DVD (for example) at the same time. Then simply buy that
|! |!number of DVD players. Maybe not the best example as I am looking to
|! |!store the DVDs centrally so you don't have to go into the cupboard to
|! |!change them but it shows the principle.
|! |!
|! |!Everything is then distributed via CAT 5 cable (apparently you can buy
|! |!a sort of video/ audio router for this) and controlled via radio
|! |!remote controls.
|!
|! Designing a system for what *you*, want before doing anything on the ground
|! is always a *very* good idea. Your plan all depends how easy it would be
|! to run more cable/coax round *your* house.
|!
|! Having gone to no end of trouble running CT100 coax around the house for
|! DTT and then found that people want to arrange their rooms in a different
|! way, so the CT100 should end up in a different place. Then in the near
|! future I expect to fit a quad LNB to my Sky dish and run *another* set of
|! cables round the house for generic/freesatfromsky boxes I would not run a
|! *third* set of cables round my house. I have decided that when our many
|! VCRs reach the end of their lives, I will fit R/W DVD players/recorders in
|! every room and just swap the R/W DVDs around between the players as we do
|! with Video cassettes.


|!Thanks for the reply. In my case, we are about to embark on a major
|!renovation so I want to run the cable now to cover my bases as running
|!it afterwards will be a pain. My friend ended up running 3 x CAT5, 1
|!x Coax and 1 x phone to each major room to cover
|!
|!CAT 5 - network
|!CAT 5 - video/ audio distribution
|!CAT 5 - spare
|!Coax - normal terrestrial TV

If you are installing trunking initially a spare CT100 coax for Sat TV
might be a good idea. Depends if you have a good view of Astra and/or a
good view of the transmitter for DTT, after analogue switch off.

|!Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.
|!
|!Seemed like a fairly good idea given the price of CAT 5
|!
|!What do you guys think?


--
Dave Fawthrop sf hyphenologist.co.uk 165 *Free* SF ebooks.
165 Sci Fi books on CDROM, from Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Completely Free to any
address in the UK. Contact me on the *above* email address.

On 13 May 2007 01:53:13 -0700, mused:

Thanks for the reply. In my case, we are about to embark on a major
renovation so I want to run the cable now to cover my bases as running
it afterwards will be a pain. My friend ended up running 3 x CAT5, 1
x Coax and 1 x phone to each major room to cover

CAT 5 - network

Cat5e.

CAT 5 - video/ audio distribution

I'd use cat7, or cat6, for AV distribution. This does need to be
installed properly though, it is less forgiving of dodgy installatio
than cat5\e.

CAT 5 - spare

Wouldn't hurt.

Coax - normal terrestrial TV

I'd run 2, while I was at it.

Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

This is a debateable one, I'd probably run a minimum of 2 cat5e cables
to each point and use LJAU's at the outlets.

--
Regards,
Stuart.

Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

This is a debateable one, I'd probably run a minimum of 2 cat5e cables
to each point and use LJAU's at the outlets.

--
Regards,
Stuart.

This is what I am doing.
This also gives the possibility of moving to a VoIP system later.
( My IP phones are currently on an isolated 'asterisk lab' for me to screw
around. )

--
Ron

On 13 May, 10:37, "Ron Lowe" ronATlowe-famlyDOTmeDOTukSPURIOUS
wrote:
Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

This is a debateable one, I'd probably run a minimum of 2 cat5e cables
to each point and use LJAU's at the outlets.

--
Regards,
Stuart.

This is what I am doing.
This also gives the possibility of moving to a VoIP system later.
( My IP phones are currently on an isolated 'asterisk lab' for me to screw
around. )

--
Ron

Thanks all. Has anyone used or seen one of these AV router things? I
can't seem to find them anywhere?

On 13 May, 10:31, Lurch wrote:
On 13 May 2007 01:53:13 -0700, mused:

Thanks for the reply. In my case, we are about to embark on a major
renovation so I want to run the cable now to cover my bases as running
it afterwards will be a pain. My friend ended up running 3 x CAT5, 1
x Coax and 1 x phone to each major room to cover

CAT 5 - network

Cat5e.

CAT 5 - video/ audio distribution

I'd use cat7, or cat6, for AV distribution. This does need to be
installed properly though, it is less forgiving of dodgy installatio
than cat5\e.

CAT 5 - spare

Wouldn't hurt.

Coax - normal terrestrial TV

I'd run 2, while I was at it.

Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

This is a debateable one, I'd probably run a minimum of 2 cat5e cables
to each point and use LJAU's at the outlets.

--
Regards,
Stuart.

I had read that cat 6 was much more expensive and wouldn't give many
benefits? Also, I hadn't heard of cat7 until now? Is the cost
benefit there?

thanks

Lee.

On 13 May 2007 09:53:20 -0700, mused:

On 13 May, 10:31, Lurch wrote:
On 13 May 2007 01:53:13 -0700, mused:

Thanks for the reply. In my case, we are about to embark on a major
renovation so I want to run the cable now to cover my bases as running
it afterwards will be a pain. My friend ended up running 3 x CAT5, 1
x Coax and 1 x phone to each major room to cover

CAT 5 - network

Cat5e.

CAT 5 - video/ audio distribution

I'd use cat7, or cat6, for AV distribution. This does need to be
installed properly though, it is less forgiving of dodgy installatio
than cat5\e.

CAT 5 - spare

Wouldn't hurt.

Coax - normal terrestrial TV

I'd run 2, while I was at it.

Phone - one cable supporting 2 lines.

This is a debateable one, I'd probably run a minimum of 2 cat5e cables
to each point and use LJAU's at the outlets.

--
Regards,
Stuart.

I had read that cat 6 was much more expensive and wouldn't give many
benefits?

For an ethernet network, correct. For sending AV round the house
though, cat5e would do, but wouldn't be fantastic. I'd prefer to see
cat6. All of the units I've looked at have used\recommended the use of
cat6 for the cabling.

Also, I hadn't heard of cat7 until now? Is the cost
benefit there?

Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

--
*Middle age is when it takes longer to rest than to get tired.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Mon, 14 May 2007 00:49:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
mused:

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

I've used twisted pair (cat5e) on 250m runs for sending 3 CCTV video
signals down one cable on 3 pairs and the results have been spot on.
Some people have complained of problems with doing this. I think it
depends, as you say, on baluns and to an extent, the cable. Cat7 is
designed to eliminate the problems with multiple frequencies down a
shared multicore, but for the most part cat6 would perform just as
well.

For a single signal\frequency with decent baluns then I can't see
there being much of a problem using just about any twisted pair, cat3
phone cable would do.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On 14 May, 01:19, Lurch wrote:
On Mon, 14 May 2007 00:49:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
mused:

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

I've used twisted pair (cat5e) on 250m runs for sending 3 CCTV video
signals down one cable on 3 pairs and the results have been spot on.
Some people have complained of problems with doing this. I think it
depends, as you say, on baluns and to an extent, the cable. Cat7 is
designed to eliminate the problems with multiple frequencies down a
shared multicore, but for the most part cat6 would perform just as
well.

For a single signal\frequency with decent baluns then I can't see
there being much of a problem using just about any twisted pair, cat3
phone cable would do.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

May be a dumb question but what are baluns?

In my setup, I would have thought that the longest run from the "comms
room" would be 50m at the max (by the time you go up over and down
again). Also, if I work on running one set of wires (cat x, sat etc)
to each room from the central hub, can I chain more than one socket in
each room? It would be unlikely that I would use more than one socket
in a particular room but thought if I had 2 or 3 sockets per room it
would deal with future layout changes?

This is all very helpful

thanks.

In article . com,
writes
On 14 May, 01:19, Lurch wrote:
On Mon, 14 May 2007 00:49:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
mused:

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

I've used twisted pair (cat5e) on 250m runs for sending 3 CCTV video
signals down one cable on 3 pairs and the results have been spot on.
Some people have complained of problems with doing this. I think it
depends, as you say, on baluns and to an extent, the cable. Cat7 is
designed to eliminate the problems with multiple frequencies down a
shared multicore, but for the most part cat6 would perform just as
well.

For a single signal\frequency with decent baluns then I can't see
there being much of a problem using just about any twisted pair, cat3
phone cable would do.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

May be a dumb question but what are baluns?

In my setup, I would have thought that the longest run from the "comms
room" would be 50m at the max (by the time you go up over and down
again). Also, if I work on running one set of wires (cat x, sat etc)
to each room from the central hub, can I chain more than one socket in
each room? It would be unlikely that I would use more than one socket
in a particular room but thought if I had 2 or 3 sockets per room it
would deal with future layout changes?

This is all very helpful

thanks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balun
--
Tony Sayer

On 15 May 2007 06:17:58 -0700, mused:

On 14 May, 01:19, Lurch wrote:
On Mon, 14 May 2007 00:49:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
mused:

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

I've used twisted pair (cat5e) on 250m runs for sending 3 CCTV video
signals down one cable on 3 pairs and the results have been spot on.
Some people have complained of problems with doing this. I think it
depends, as you say, on baluns and to an extent, the cable. Cat7 is
designed to eliminate the problems with multiple frequencies down a
shared multicore, but for the most part cat6 would perform just as
well.

For a single signal\frequency with decent baluns then I can't see
there being much of a problem using just about any twisted pair, cat3
phone cable would do.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

May be a dumb question but what are baluns?

In my setup, I would have thought that the longest run from the "comms
room" would be 50m at the max (by the time you go up over and down
again). Also, if I work on running one set of wires (cat x, sat etc)
to each room from the central hub, can I chain more than one socket in
each room? It would be unlikely that I would use more than one socket
in a particular room but thought if I had 2 or 3 sockets per room it
would deal with future layout changes?

Do you mean run 1 cable to each room then run it aorund several
sockets, all connected in parallel? If so, I'd advise against it. Each
socket\outlet ideally wants to be wired back to the central point
individulaly.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On 15 May 2007 06:17:58 -0700, wrote:

On 14 May, 01:19, Lurch wrote:
On Mon, 14 May 2007 00:49:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
mused:

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

I've used twisted pair (cat5e) on 250m runs for sending 3 CCTV video
signals down one cable on 3 pairs and the results have been spot on.
Some people have complained of problems with doing this. I think it
depends, as you say, on baluns and to an extent, the cable. Cat7 is
designed to eliminate the problems with multiple frequencies down a
shared multicore, but for the most part cat6 would perform just as
well.

For a single signal\frequency with decent baluns then I can't see
there being much of a problem using just about any twisted pair, cat3
phone cable would do.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

May be a dumb question but what are baluns?

In my setup, I would have thought that the longest run from the "comms
room" would be 50m at the max (by the time you go up over and down
again). Also, if I work on running one set of wires (cat x, sat etc)
to each room from the central hub, can I chain more than one socket in
each room? It would be unlikely that I would use more than one socket
in a particular room but thought if I had 2 or 3 sockets per room it
would deal with future layout changes?

This is all very helpful

thanks.

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/sear...&satitle=balun

All unbranded from China, so you take a risk on the quality.

On 15 May, 21:07, Lurch wrote:
On 15 May 2007 06:17:58 -0700, mused:





On 14 May, 01:19, Lurch wrote:
On Mon, 14 May 2007 00:49:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
mused:

In article ,
Lurch wrote:
Performance benefits, cat7 is designed for AV systems apparantly. It's
similar in characteristics to cat6, but has additional shielding.

I've no real idea how they send vision over these cables but if it's done
properly and balanced the sheilding shouldn't matter much for domestic
runs. I saw demonstrations of video sent round a large site using old
twisted pair audio multi-core and it worked very well.

I've used twisted pair (cat5e) on 250m runs for sending 3 CCTV video
signals down one cable on 3 pairs and the results have been spot on.
Some people have complained of problems with doing this. I think it
depends, as you say, on baluns and to an extent, the cable. Cat7 is
designed to eliminate the problems with multiple frequencies down a
shared multicore, but for the most part cat6 would perform just as
well.

For a single signal\frequency with decent baluns then I can't see
there being much of a problem using just about any twisted pair, cat3
phone cable would do.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

May be a dumb question but what are baluns?

In my setup, I would have thought that the longest run from the "comms
room" would be 50m at the max (by the time you go up over and down
again). Also, if I work on running one set of wires (cat x, sat etc)
to each room from the central hub, can I chain more than one socket in
each room? It would be unlikely that I would use more than one socket
in a particular room but thought if I had 2 or 3 sockets per room it
would deal with future layout changes?

Do you mean run 1 cable to each room then run it aorund several
sockets, all connected in parallel? If so, I'd advise against it. Each
socket\outlet ideally wants to be wired back to the central point
individulaly.
--
Regards,
Stuart.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm not sure whether it would be parallel or serial but essentially
yes. Only one socket per room would ever be used at once it is merely
to cope with future room designs.

On 22 May 2007 08:18:37 -0700, mused:


Also, if I work on running one set of wires (cat x, sat etc)
to each room from the central hub, can I chain more than one socket in
each room? It would be unlikely that I would use more than one socket
in a particular room but thought if I had 2 or 3 sockets per room it
would deal with future layout changes?

Do you mean run 1 cable to each room then run it aorund several
sockets, all connected in parallel? If so, I'd advise against it. Each
socket\outlet ideally wants to be wired back to the central point
individulaly.
--
Regards,
Stuart.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm not sure whether it would be parallel or serial but essentially
yes. Only one socket per room would ever be used at once it is merely
to cope with future room designs.

It will work, possibly not fantstically, and defnitely a bodge, and
isn't recommended.
--
Regards,
Stuart.