Best cabling idea for this job?

[Pecker]

I have a Sky HD box on my top floor (3 floor house).

I have a HD TV in the kitchen (bottom floor).

I want to connect the box to the TV and get the best sound and vision possible + obviously full remote control usage.

I'd like to get stereo sound, as I'd like to use the Sky Box's radio stations (we like to listen to the radio when cooking, etc).

Steve W

[forrestgump]

mate
whilst viewing your thread, what appears at the top of the page, a link to MARK GRANT CABLES, suggest you use the sponsors of this forum like Mr Wright has requested? Good Idea?

[Neil Davidson]

Getting the best picture possible really depends on what your expectations are for cost and performance.

If utmost performance is what you are after then add a splitter to the HDMI output of the HD box and run an optical HDMI cable down to your second TV along with a good old coax for remote control purposes.

http://www2.dvigear.com/diam.html (HDMI not yet on site)

http://www2.dvigear.com/hdfiopca.html

Depending on distance you may be able to get away with copper cable, 15m should be OK.

http://www2.dvigear.com/hdlowcoca.html

Neil

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by ceenhad

Getting the best picture possible really depends on what your expectations are for cost and performance.

If utmost performance is what you are after then add a splitter to the HDMI output of the HD box and run an optical HDMI cable down to your second TV along with a good old coax for remote control purposes.

http://www2.dvigear.com/diam.html (HDMI not yet on site)

http://www2.dvigear.com/hdfiopca.html

Depending on distance you may be able to get away with copper cable, 15m should be OK.

http://www2.dvigear.com/hdlowcoca.html

Neil

The run is too long for HDMI.

I've considered CAT5, but the links I've found all suggest the HDMI to CAT5 boxes will only carry video, and not sound - useless for listening to the radio through Sky.

The distance is probably c. 20-25 meters.

Steve W

[Neil Davidson]

Hi Steve,

25m is no problem with Optical HDMI, in fact 100m would be no problem!

This cable comes in at just a smidge over £500+VAT hence my comment that this the utmost performance solution.

Neil

[Pecker]

As it happens, I'm going to be converting the HDMI out from my Sky HD Boxto CAT5 for it to be sent to another room.

That other room is my living room, video currently fed by component.

The optical out from my Sky HD box goes straight to an optical-coax converter, then on to my Amp in the cinema room.

So, it wouldn't take too much more to take a 2nd out from the new CAT5 convertor box, with one pair of CAT5 cables going to the living room (they're in place already), and another to my kitchen.

However, I understand this system doesn't carry audio, so is there any, cost effective way of getting audio to my kitchen?

Steve W

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Pecker

Its always tuff working out a plan when you don't have all the info in front of you

Kitchen TV - have you tried this on a short cable direct to the SKY HD box? For most folk kitchen viewing is 'non critical' so I guess you have to judge if you really need the HD capable feed down to the kitchen or would RF suffice.

Digital Distribution - how many simultaneous HDMI feeds do you need to distribute around the house? Typically you'd install a 1x2, 1x4, 1x8 HDMI Splitter (see http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3355) and then add the required cables or extenders (Over CAT5) on the required outputs.

HDMI cables - no matter of its Copper, Silver Plated Copper, Fibre, 'Over CAT5' or 'Over Fibre' you can have Digital Video + Digital Stereo Audio on all of these options; there are also Wireless options on the way.

HDMI will carry Digital Video + Digital Multi channel Audio but lots of Source and Display kit only works with Digital Stereo over HDMI.

You can run Digital Multi channel audio over a separate CAT5 cable if required - see http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2615

You will also require an RF or Wireless IR system to enable remote control of your source from any room in the house - I've not see HDMI Over CAT5 with built in IR control as yet.

Best regards

Joe

[Pecker]

Womem, eh?

Just when you think they know as much about A/V as Bernard Manning knows about race relations, they come up with a better idea than you.

Actually, I think it's maybe because they're 'not involved'.

We have a Sky Multiroom box elsewhere in the house, but a lot closer to the HD box. So, we're going to move the Sky Multiroom box to the kitchen, then run HDMI to the 'freed up' TV.

Now why didn't I think of that?

Steve W

[spinky140573]

I've got Sky HD in my lounge and up until today have been watching it upstairs in the bedroom through an aerial, despite having a HD ready TV up there too. I didn't want to spend hundreds and to keep it neat I had to pass any new cable alongside the existing aerial cable 5 metres up a conduit directly into my loft, so I could take it across the loft and back down into the bedroom behind the wall-mounted TV.

To pass through the conduit I had to use bare cable and solder on the connectors myself, and it couldn't be too thick as the conduit is quite small and already had two co-ax cables in it.

In the end after much searching for suitable affordable cable I found 20m of "OFC professional 5-way mini coax" from www.rapidonline.com, and with ten cheap phono connectors and delivery it came to under £45.

I also bought 10m of fibreglass rods from Screwfix which screw together and are used to thread cables through walls, without which it would have been impossible to get the cable up from the lounge.

Picture quality is fantastic, light years better than the aerial cable, and the sound is stereo now too.

Or, as I've just read, you could use your other box!

[elmbeck]

not wanting to hi-jack a thread - but could you post a link to the Screwfix rods, please. They sound like what i need....

[chez]

Originally Posted by spinky140573

In the end after much searching for suitable affordable cable I found 20m of "OFC professional 5-way mini coax" from www.rapidonline.com, and with ten cheap phono connectors and delivery it came to under £45.

You, my friend, are a lifesaver...

I currently have an RF feed from my lounge to the kitchen, but have just bought a 26" Sony LCD for the kitchen and have been looking for ways to get both a stereo audio and component video feed without spending £££s on baluns or having to run more than one additional cable.

Many, many thanks

[Joe Fernand]

Hello Chez

You may be better off running the VanDamme AVI series - these have Video, Audio and Comms cores; whereas the Red Series is a 'Video' only cable (though as spinky140573 has proven you can run audio over the 75 ohm video Multicore).

The AVI series is available as a Mini Multicore with 5 Video + 4 Audio in an 13.8mm outer jacket for around 9.98 GBP/m.

You can order it pre terminated at one end to save on the amount of work you have to do on-site

Do keep in mind that there is an outside chance that some programmes on SKY HD could at some future date be 'Token' restricted and only appear on the HDMI output of the SKY HD box!

Joe

[chez]

Thanks Joe

My only concern is cost. I need around 20m and do not want to spend more than £200 on cabling.

Also, I am not too concerned regarding the quality of the cable for audio, as I will be using the built-in speakers on the LCD TV which are, at best, merely OK.

Would either of these cables be suitable for running around the outside of the house?

[Joe Fernand]

Hello chez

For a 20m run if you have the space the Red Series 5 core (18.7mm) may be a better bet than the Mini Red Series 5 core (9.6mm) - though as your not going for too large an image the Mini Red ought to be fine.

The Red Series and AVI cables have PVC jackets and though designed for indoor use will last (assuming the jacket doesn't get compromised/damaged) up to 10 years on an external installation - if you want belts and braces you could go with a VanDamme Camera Multicore designed for outdoor life; though your looking at around 14.00 GBP/m.

Joe

[chez]

The cable linked ot above is not Van Damme, although for the extra cost (about double), the Van Damme Red Series seems like it may be a good compromise.

To be honest, 18.7mm will be a bit much as a little bit will be visible on the front of the house.