Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 Feb 16, 2009 3:55 pm Hi all,
I'm building with PD and thought that I might as well consider doing my HT system as well as the networking part of it. The house is a 4 bedroom house plus 1 study room and 1 rumpus. TV Issue: I tend to have 3 TVs, one in the family room, one in the rumpus, and one in the master bedroom. What's the best way of having all the Foxtel, Statellite Dish Receiver, and DVD players in one room, and then having access to them from all other rooms ? I'd like to keep all the mess in the Rumpus and keep the family and master bedrooms neat. Network Issue: Could be easier to resolve. I'd like to have 4 network points in the rumpus, 2 at the study, 1 at the kitchen, and 1 at all other rooms. I'd like to have a single central point for the whole network. I heard of StarServe and Lexcom but I still don't get which piece of these systems I need. Thanks Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 2Feb 16, 2009 6:14 pm OK, the network issue is easy. You don't need anything other than a standard router/switch/hub to service multiple network connections - just locate it in a central location and the rest is simply cabling.
For the other solution, there are a few ways to do it, StarServe is just one (and probably the lowest quality solution). If it was my place, and I have actually done installs for other users here this way, I'd run the types of video and audio cabling I want from a central location (where the DVD player, etc. will be) to each of the TV locations, including cable for and IR repeating system, and then get the needed AV distribution amplifiers to also go in that central location (they are not that expensive, from less than a hundred bucks for lesser video standards to maybe a few hundred for a HDMI amplified splitter), and the IR hub. It's not too difficult. Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 3Feb 16, 2009 7:32 pm networking ... find a nice not very dusty but gets plenty of air flow location and get the data cabler to cable to there esp the first TO and a spakry to wire up one 10amp power curciut...
Get Cat5e cable installed or Cat6 if you slightly want to future proof the install up to you cost isn't that much now as compared to later next get the data guy to wire up pretty much every room where you think you might want a computer also factor in kitchen devices.... regaurdless of current useage.... also factor in resale value of a cabled home, isn't that much more, but IMO more then enough to warrent it tho... after all the cable is done he will return once the walls are covered up next he will install a small wall cabinet 4 - 6RU will be more then enough over the cables and install a 24port or more patch panel coverong over the TO in said location. then he will terminate all sockets and lable the patch panel... you will want a switch that does your "current" needs but a 24port 1Gige switch say a Linksys SR2024 would be more then enough heck even a Dlink DGS-1024D woud be good enough for home applications. get a modem or a modem router to suit.. something like the Billion BiPAC 7404VNPX would be a very good choice of unit it is a Modem router all in one with VOIP and N class Wireless with 3G sopport so you could have a 3G wireless dongle plugged into it and have a "back up isp" I'll post more later once you have digested that... enjoy Kodiak Data Cabling onFaceBook Consult*, Design and Installation Data, TV, Home Theatre/ AV Cabling, Multi Room Audio, IP CCTV and Door Intercoms Ask for a Quote. *DIY DATA Cabling Is Ilegal Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 4Feb 17, 2009 6:21 am Quote: For the other solution, there are a few ways to do it, StarServe is just one (and probably the lowest quality solution). If it was my place, and I have actually done installs for other users here this way, I'd run the types of video and audio cabling I want from a central location (where the DVD player, etc. will be) to each of the TV locations Hi Rod, I don't think I'd want the DVD player and all other output devices to be located in the 'Study Room' (Study Room is where I'm planning to install the 'Patch Panel?!"). How about I run 2 AV (called RG6 ?!) cables to the living room. One directs the signal from all the output devices into the central point, and the other one becomes the receiving end ?!! But I'm concerned about the interface !! What if my Xbox360 with its HDMI output is in the living room (and say I have enough reception for the controllers in the rumpus) and I want to play on the TV in the Rumpus ?! How do I go about doing that ? Is there a RG6-HDMI adapter that can do that ? Will there be any signal lag ? Quote: including cable for and IR repeating system What's the IR repeating system ? Quote: and then get the needed AV distribution amplifiers to also go in that central location (they are not that expensive, from less than a hundred bucks for lesser video standards to maybe a few hundred for a HDMI amplified splitter), and the IR hub. It's not too difficult. I know what an amplifier is. I know that a two-way amplifier reduces the power signal by 3dB, but is there a 3-Input-to-3-Output amplifiers ? The three inputs will go for the Satellite Dish, Foxtel, and Xbox360.. And the output will go to the living room, master bedroom, and the rumpus. I may sound ignorant but up to this stage, I have no idea what to use. I apologise for this chain of questions Thank you all for your help. Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 5Feb 17, 2009 6:24 am I wouldn't go for a cabinet. not in residential.
the cost is out of the question versus benefits. All you need is a outlets mounted on the wall. If you have a 4 bedroom house +study and you bring the incoming telephone cable to the study, then cable two cables per room (not including the study) and a few extras for TV's and fridges etc you may have 12 outlets. Two 6 gang plates with Krone outlets is far less of the cost of a cabinet and patch panel. easy to hide as well. Most people wouldn't even have that many outlets in the house. for me, I'd go for a Starserve style system and bring all the cables (AV, network, phone back to a point (I like the garage because its not seen). I'd keep the Home theatre as a my only HD room. Do the kids really need HD quality in their rooms. With media sharing via network cabling or wireless now being so easy, the Kids will probaly have HD PC and use the network more than coax anyway. I think the days of multi room media are limited given the way technology as evolved and prices are dropping. Licenced Sparky and Data Cabler If "The Data Guys" is too long to type, TDG will do. Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 6Feb 17, 2009 6:24 am Pugs,
Thank you so much for your help mate. Now that I got the networking part figured out, I need to get the TV part sorted as well. I might need to use one of the Gigabit 12-port switches, but then they're too big to fit in the StarServe box. How do I go to have a neat setup ? I need a box that could fit the ADSL modem, the router, the switch (if the router doesn't have enough ports), and all other AV adapters/amplifiers/splitters .. Thanks Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 7Feb 17, 2009 6:53 am There are modulators where you plug up to four devices via coax into the modulator and then the output of the modulator feeds the rest of the house.
This isn't really good quality as it uses the RF output of the devices which is the lowest quality out of the lot. Sound like you really want a cabinet for the network stuff. here's a link to a 6RU cabinet http://www.racktechnologies.com.au/defa ... =1,9,16,41 A 6RU cabinet is about the size of a microwave and is about $200.00+gst It needs to be mounted properly and not just screwed to the gyprock. A floor mount cabinet will cost a fortune. $850.00+gst trade for the smallest floor mount. Starserve incorporates all of the network and AV connections. If you decide to split them up and have a cabinet and separate network and AV system, Starserve isn't an option for you. I won't comment on the HD AV stuff as Rod is more qualified than me. Licenced Sparky and Data Cabler If "The Data Guys" is too long to type, TDG will do. Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 8Feb 17, 2009 9:21 am I'd stick to cat5 unless the price point is not much of a difference.. Future proofing isnt really worth it. You can stream HD movies over 100mb and you can get a gigabit out of cat5e. I really can't see a need for anything faster than a gigabit for streaming for a looong time. By that time wireless speeds may be comparable.
For HD what you could do is buy a media center pc and put extenders in each room or even buy a TV which has in built extender. They are around and I think they are hitting the markets now.. This will obviously allow you to watch and record HD tv in any room and play back movies, but foxtel maybe an issue. With foxtel digital you would need to add a PCI card into the media center which could accept the CAM card which is in your foxtel box.. I havent heard if anyone has successfully done this with foxtel digital as yet...There are forums around discussing it and maybe someone has success.. worth looking into. Satellite should work fine with the appropriate card in the media center. At this stage multiple foxtel points might be the only way. In the next few years I am sure that paytv will be running over the net, IPTV, so most of these issues will be overcome. The media Center will really be the centerpiece in unlocking the solution.. So I guess in terms of future proofing is the system you are talking about worth spending the money on when you can unlock most of these features today with much better results? Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 9Feb 17, 2009 9:22 am If you don't care about the quality of the picture or sound then using a system like StarServe (and it's RF modulators) to down-convert everything to RF and distribute it via RG6 is the most common (and seems to be the most popular, although that's probably because most sparkies and data cablers tend to ONLY think about distributing AV over RG6/Coax in RF).
However, if you want any chance of achieving better quality than analogue FTA TV at any of the points where you want to watch this stuff (to be honest, it's not even that important for FTA TV or SD Foxtel, but for DVD it certainly should be) you need to stop thinking about RG6 and start thinking about better methods that use proper, normal AV cabling (even Composite Video + Stereo Audio is better quality than RF via RG6). Considering the costs of systems like StarServe is significant you just might find that doing it properly doesn't cost that much more, and the extra thought and planning (as there are more cables involved) might be worth the quality improvement. Regarding the IR repeating system: Even StarServe gives you the option of allowing IR signals in the 'endpoints' (where the TVs are) to get back to the central location where (typically) the gear is - using the same RG6 to send the IR signal back down the line. It still requires the use of IR receivers or 'targets' at the endpoints to receive the IR signal from your remote and then send it down the wire to the StarServe which passes the signal through another wire to an IR emitter which flashes the IR siganl at the equipment - just like pointing the remote directly at it. There are many affordable stand-alone IR repeating systems that work exactly the same way. You still need IR receivers or targets, some form of central IR hub and emitters to flash the signal at the AV equipment. You simply need to run something like telephone wire (something with at least 4 cores or wires in it) from the AV receivers to where the IR hub is. Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 10Feb 17, 2009 2:59 pm iTalk Pugs, Thank you so much for your help mate. Now that I got the networking part figured out, I need to get the TV part sorted as well. I might need to use one of the Gigabit 12-port switches, but then they're too big to fit in the StarServe box. How do I go to have a neat setup ? I need a box that could fit the ADSL modem, the router, the switch (if the router doesn't have enough ports), and all other AV adapters/amplifiers/splitters .. Thanks they make 5, 8, 16 and 24+ port GigE switches ..I'd go a 16port even a sexy 4Ru (from RT) with a patch panel and shelf for the other items would be a very good look. a good furture proffing thing would be to have the holes drilled and pull wires/ and or ducting witha pull string run to any where you dn't need data "now" but might need it later Kodiak Data Cabling onFaceBook Consult*, Design and Installation Data, TV, Home Theatre/ AV Cabling, Multi Room Audio, IP CCTV and Door Intercoms Ask for a Quote. *DIY DATA Cabling Is Ilegal Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 11Feb 17, 2009 4:42 pm Rod,
I'd like to thank you for all the help you've been providing to all members of the forum. I really really appreciate it mate Rodda If you don't care about the quality of the picture or sound then using a system like StarServe (and it's RF modulators) to down-convert everything to RF and distribute it via RG6 is the most common (and seems to be the most popular, although that's probably because most sparkies and data cablers tend to ONLY think about distributing AV over RG6/Coax in RF). I do care about the picture and sound quality, however I never thought that RG6 is not good enough to transmit HD (High Definition) TV signals !! I thought Foxtel provided by Optus use the normal coaxial cables used to deliver internet services to homes... Isn't RG6 better than the previous one provded by Optus/Telstra ? I'd love to run a HDMI cable from the family room to the Master bedroom which provides the best picture and sound quality, but will HDMI be efficient to run over 30 metres ?!! What are other cables that can provide me with 5.1 surround system and HD signal if RG6 is not good enough ? Is there such a thing ? Quote: Considering the costs of systems like StarServe is significant you just might find that doing it properly doesn't cost that much more, and the extra thought and planning (as there are more cables involved) might be worth the quality improvement. The only thing that attracted me about Starserve is the neatness of how cables are laid out. I need to keep my modem/switch and all of my networking and AV equipment and cables in one hidden place. I'm also thinking of future proofing. If you have other alternatives, then that would be great. Laying cabled and making RJ46 connectors isn't a rocket science, it's the AV networking I'm concerned about. Well, and installing the StarServe cabinet as well .. Quote: Regarding the IR repeating system: Even StarServe gives you the option of allowing IR signals in the 'endpoints' (where the TVs are) to get back to the central location where (typically) the gear is - using the same RG6 to send the IR signal back down the line. It still requires the use of IR receivers or 'targets' at the endpoints to receive the IR signal from your remote and then send it down the wire to the StarServe which passes the signal through another wire to an IR emitter which flashes the IR siganl at the equipment - just like pointing the remote directly at it. So what the IR receiver and transmitter are just amplifiers that transmit the signal over a piece of wire rather than the short-length infrared ? Thank you all for your informative replies. Pugs, andrew78m, and The Data Guys you have all been wonderful as I almost have an idea of what I want Re: Best setup or idea for my soon to be built house ? 12Feb 17, 2009 7:09 pm The Foxtel signal (HD or otherwise) is delivered to the Foxtel box via Coax/RG6, just like FTA (which includes HD digital FTA). It is then decoded by the Foxtel box and if your box (this goes for Foxtel as well as FTA Set-Top-Boxes) is a HD one and you want to view HD then it must be sent to your display device (TV, projector) via cables that can carry a HD signal.
Coax/RG6 carries RF (Radio Frequency) signals, and actually needs to be decoded by some sort of tuner (analogue or digital) at the endpoint (TV). Composite Video and S-Video cables cannot carry HD video signals. Component Video, DVI and HDMI can carry HD video signals (HDMI can also carry audio, all the way up to the new HD audio formats). HDMI is only guaranteed (by the actual 'big name' cable brands) to carry 1080P Full HD signals up to 7m (initial spec for HDMI was for a max length of 5m), however you can get 15m and some 20m HDMI cables, and I can tell you that I know it at least works OK over a 15m cable. You can also get HDMI repeater kits that transmit Full HD 1080P up to more than 35m via 2 runs of Cat6, successfully proven beyond even that sort of distance. P.S. You're welcome for all of the info I've provided too, especially since I seem to be the only one that actually mentioned you can't distribute HD over RG6... https://form.jotform.com/240284569218058 Please spare a moment to fill out this survey form for a project. You stand a chance to win a digital gift voucher. Legitimate… 0 2828 You must be new to the internet. You're also the only person anyone here has ever heard of washing their garage wall. I hate to break it to you, there are insects and… 6 4862 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair We purchased a 1960s property that is on timber stumps mostly, and a newer section is on concrete stumps. We had a building inspection initially and they reported some… 0 12749 |