Simple House Wiring

Forums › Home Theatre (incl HTPC) › Simple House Wiring

americanbeauty

30 posts

Geek

Topic # 30580 13-Feb-2009 16:11

Hi there,

One more thread!

My folks house is reasonably old, and they have ordinary SKY Digital + VHF/UHF aerials.

Now, they have three rooms, all with LCD, 2 HD READY, one just an ordinary LCD 21" TV. The Lounge has a cheapish 5.1 Home Theatre w/ DVD.

They want to split the Sky signal to the other 2 rooms (bedrooms) where the small LCD and a 32" LCD HD Ready are. In terms of splitting the signal, is coaxial cable the best way to do it, with a simple signal splitter? Would it be best to just run scart to component into the lounge tv where the decoder is and then split the coaxial twice into each of the other rooms?

Would it require any kind of booster etc? Is the Signal likely to degrade at all? What is the best way to do it? Thanks.

JAMMAN2110

871 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Reply # 195720 13-Feb-2009 17:25

Are you talking about splitting it to multiple decoders or splitting the output from the Sky box to the other rooms?

Dingbatt

3409 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 590

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 195723 13-Feb-2009 17:57

americanbeauty: Hi there,

One more thread!

My folks house is reasonably old, and they have ordinary SKY Digital + VHF/UHF aerials.

Now, they have three rooms, all with LCD, 2 HD READY, one just an ordinary LCD 21" TV. The Lounge has a cheapish 5.1 Home Theatre w/ DVD.

They want to split the Sky signal to the other 2 rooms (bedrooms) where the small LCD and a 32" LCD HD Ready are. In terms of splitting the signal, is coaxial cable the best way to do it, with a simple signal splitter? Would it be best to just run scart to component into the lounge tv where the decoder is and then split the coaxial twice into each of the other rooms?

Would it require any kind of booster etc? Is the Signal likely to degrade at all? What is the best way to do it? Thanks.

Coax RF cable is the simplest way to achieve what you are after. I ran a whole network of coax cable round my house. The RF modulator in the Sky box is way powerful and will easily split to the two other TVs. Just be aware that the RF signal is the lowest quality, and when I moved in to flat panel TVs it didn't cut the mustard.

Although I haven't used one there is the option of a wireless video sender.

Areas of Geek interest: Home Theatre, HTPC, Android Tablets & Phones, iProducts.

americanbeauty

30 posts

Geek

Reply # 195764 13-Feb-2009 21:51

Hi there,

Yes, I was talking of splitting it from one decoder to three TVs. One through Scart to Component...How should I split it into the other two rooms?

Are there any other options that Coax to split from decoder to LCD Tvs in other rooms?

Thanks

stevenz

2782 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 120

Reply # 195788 14-Feb-2009 07:55

You could get one of those wireless TV senders, but they tend to be very hit & miss as to quality, it'd pay to test one first if you're able.

Since most of Sky's gear is fairly old UK-oriented equipment, not all of it supports YUV over SCART, some of them are only RGB, so make sure that the unit you have either outputs YUV over SCART, or that the receiving TV(s) can handle RGB over component (some do, most don't, the Samsung I used needed a RGB/YUV convertor box as I wasn't willing to accept a coax input into a 46" 1080p TV from a satellite decoder). Most of the decoders should've received a firmware update for YUV output a fair while back, but it would still pay to check in the settings menu.

Other than that, a simple coax splitter would be by far the easiest, plus it's cheap.

llamma

26 posts

Geek

Reply # 195818 14-Feb-2009 13:35

its not simply a case of giving the decoders a firmware update to say output in component, its the fact that the hardware does not support it,

most of the decoders in circulation are 15-20(+) years old, and at that time component video was either unheard of or very very rare (think HDMI 5yrs ago)

Dingbatt

3409 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 590

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 195826 14-Feb-2009 15:18

americanbeauty: Hi there,

Yes, I was talking of splitting it from one decoder to three TVs. One through Scart to Component...How should I split it into the other two rooms?

Are there any other options ~~that~~ (than) Coax to split from decoder to LCD Tvs in other rooms?

Thanks

Your decoder may have scart ports on the back of it for TV and VCR and also a set of RCA connectors (yellow, red and white). You can if you wish run composite connections to your other two TVs by 1. utilising the VCR scart, and 2. the RCA connectors.

1. involves buying a scart-composite adapter and then running three RCA leads to your other TV (video + L/R audio). The VCR connection on your decoder is not affected by the decoder volume controls, so if someone in the primary room mutes the sound using the sky remote it doesn't turn it off in the second room.

2. is a step simpler. Just connect the RCA connectors on the back of your decoder to the third TV (once again video and L/R audio) using ordinary composite (RCA) leads. Any sound alterations in the primary room will affect the third TV.

The downside is the number of cables you will need to run. 3 to each TV.

I successfully used the above system with my Sky decoder with cable runs of 10m, but had the luxury of relatively easy access to wall cavaties to pull the cables through.

Areas of Geek interest: Home Theatre, HTPC, Android Tablets & Phones, iProducts.

americanbeauty

30 posts

Geek

Reply # 195832 14-Feb-2009 16:04

Dingbatt,

Thank you for the advice, and for correcting my syntax. I will try what you suggested, otherwise I'll simply use Coaxial cable.

Dingbatt

3409 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 590

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 195840 14-Feb-2009 18:31

americanbeauty: Dingbatt,

Thank you for the advice, and for correcting my syntax. I will try what you suggested, otherwise I'll simply use Coaxial cable.

Just wanted to make sure I understood the question you were asking.

I actually used RG6 coaxial cable and made my own cables for video/left/right. Just put some f-connectors on each end and add an RCA plug. The coax cable is easier to pull through the wall than a cable with the plug attached. Might pay to try each TV with the decoder to see what you are happy with a particular connection type before turning your walls into swiss cheese.

Areas of Geek interest: Home Theatre, HTPC, Android Tablets & Phones, iProducts.

sbiddle

26953 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6399

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

Reply # 195841 14-Feb-2009 18:57

The easiest and simplest way to distribute video is via cat5e cable. You can then run a single cable and get far superior picture quality to the modulated RF signal via coax.

The only downside to this is the cost. For a balun capable of doing composite and stereo audio you're looking at around $100, a bit more if you want component.

richms

21392 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4336

Trusted

Subscriber

Reply # 195860 14-Feb-2009 23:47

No, the coax out is the worst way to do it, far from the best.

Ideally you want to get component out of the box, put that into a multi way distribution amp and drag 5 pieces of coax to each location - audio works fine over 75 ohm cable because its not got any impedance match to start with, so its just a fancy shielded cable over the short distances in a house.

If you want a cheap way to split component video, get a 1 to 4 VGA splitter and some VGA to component cables - wont help with the audio, but will deal to the video for peanuts - deal extreme have both the VGA splitters and component to VGA cables (dont expect to use a VGA monitor with those cables - they are made for projectors origionally) - you can use the other scart and the RCA's for audio since you have only 3 tv's, otherwise RCA Y adapters will do at a pinch.

Best to get is the solid copper CCTV grade RG6 or RG59 (doesnt matter which really) - as mentioned, crimp on some F connectors and _carefully_ attach the F to RCA adapters since the solid copper core is soft and easy to bend rather then go into the F. I then heatshrink over the F and adapter with coloured heatshrink so I know what it is for. The 2 red plugs is a bit of a pain so I grouped them into a bundle of 3 and 2 where they came out of the wall. R/G/B and R/W

Get 5 short rolls of the stuff from a CCTV place and you should be able to pull them all at once.

Richard rich.ms