Mailing List Archive

>I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable up
my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the impending
arrival >of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?

Cable is cheaper than plaster and paint.
I would run a pair of RG6 cables, two cat 5, plenty of good speaker cables
and an audio signal cable to each socket just in case.
Run it all back to a patch bay in the roof or something, I put a patch bay
in my kitchen with a glass window so I can stare at all the blinkin lights
while I'm having my breakfast :)

While your at it I would recommend running some signal cables to all your
light switch sockets as well to future proof for any home automation
projects, a pair of cat 5 cables to each socket should cover most bases as
you can use some of the pairs for low voltage signal or most of the digital
lighting control systems on the market.

The opportunity to run cables through walls doesn't come along very often so
I would highly recommend going towards the overkill end of the spectrum.

Cheers
Toby
www.np.co.nz





-----Original Message-----
From: mythtvnz-admin@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
[mailto:mythtvnz-admin@lists.linuxnut.co.nz] On Behalf Of Andrew Ruthven
Sent: Tuesday, 1 August 2006 3:05 p.m.
To: mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
Subject: [mythtvnz] Cabling my house


Hey guys,

I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable up
my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the impending
arrival of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?

Normally I would have run one RG6 cable to each faceplate for an antenna
feed. However, if digital TV comes along and we still have analog TV, I
might be better to have two RG6 cables at each faceplate. Otherwise I'll
need a splitter where ever I want to have both. (Which should be nowhere,
since we mostly use MythTV.)

What do you guys think?

Cheers!

--
Andrew Ruthven, Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

Personally I don't think I'd bother with the RG6 at all. As long as you can
put a mythbackend somewhere with the antenna connections, then you can just
run a front end off the network anywhere you need to.

In any case, digital terrestial will be UHF, so will work fine off of the
same antenna feed as analog, assuming you connect both VHF and UHF to the
same cable?

Nick

228 Upper Harbour Drive, Greenhithe, Auckland 1311
nick.read@engineer.com
(+64 9) 413 6449
Skype - nicholasread
-------Original Message-------

From: Andrew Ruthven
Date: 08/01/06 20:13:47
To: mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
Subject: [mythtvnz] Cabling my house

Hey guys,

I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable
up my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the
impending arrival of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?

Normally I would have run one RG6 cable to each faceplate for an antenna
feed. However, if digital TV comes along and we still have analog TV, I
might be better to have two RG6 cables at each faceplate. Otherwise
I'll need a splitter where ever I want to have both. (Which should be
nowhere, since we mostly use MythTV.)

What do you guys think?

Cheers!

--
Andrew Ruthven, Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/


--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.5/403 - Release Date: 28/07/2006

Andrew Ruthven wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable
> up my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the
> impending arrival of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?
>
> Normally I would have run one RG6 cable to each faceplate for an antenna
> feed. However, if digital TV comes along and we still have analog TV, I
> might be better to have two RG6 cables at each faceplate. Otherwise
> I'll need a splitter where ever I want to have both. (Which should be
> nowhere, since we mostly use MythTV.)
>
What are you pushing along the RG6 cable at present?

If you have a standard analogue aerial and are in a major city then you
should get digital over the aerial.

Steve

--
Technical Support - OpenMedia Limited
email - support@openmedia.co.nz
sales - sales@openmedia.co.nz
website - http://www.openmedia.co.nz


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

Andrew Ruthven wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable
> up my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the
> impending arrival of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?
>
> Normally I would have run one RG6 cable to each faceplate for an antenna
> feed. However, if digital TV comes along and we still have analog TV, I
> might be better to have two RG6 cables at each faceplate. Otherwise
> I'll need a splitter where ever I want to have both. (Which should be
> nowhere, since we mostly use MythTV.)
>
> What do you guys think?
>
> Cheers!
>
>
I tend to camp with the purists. One fast digital multi-use cable
should handle all your data needs, and other cables can handle power.
CAT-5e, CAT-6, or fibre, would do well. The practical side of me
insists on a CATV RG6 Coaxial too, for un-tuned analog. I wonder about
HDMi which has no fixed cable length specification and seems to handle
up to 15 meters in practice with copper wire.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 20:29 +1200, Nick & Ann Read wrote:
> Personally I don't think I'd bother with the RG6 at all. As long as
> you can put a mythbackend somewhere with the antenna connections,
> then you can just run a front end off the network anywhere you need
> to.

Except for when I "upgrade" MythTV and it all breaks. Then we need to
have something to fall back on. Also, if I come to rent out this house
(or sell it) then only have network connections will be an issue.

> In any case, digital terrestial will be UHF, so will work fine off of
> the same antenna feed as analog, assuming you connect both VHF and
> UHF to the same cable?

Are we even going to have DVB-T? I thought it was just DVB-S...
Anyhow, UHF and VHF can be combined on one cable. Pretty much everyone
with two aerials on their roof has a combiner up there...

Cheers!

--
Andrew Ruthven
Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 20:26 +1200, Toby Mills wrote:
> >I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable up
> my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the impending
> arrival >of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?
>
> Cable is cheaper than plaster and paint.
> I would run a pair of RG6 cables, two cat 5, plenty of good speaker cables
> and an audio signal cable to each socket just in case.
> Run it all back to a patch bay in the roof or something, I put a patch bay
> in my kitchen with a glass window so I can stare at all the blinkin lights
> while I'm having my breakfast :)

Heh. My current plan is 3 runs of Cat 5e to every panel, only 2 will be
terminated on RJ45's. The other will be left unterminated (in case I
want phone or something else). Some speaker cables will be run to
suitable locations (left, right and center in the lounge, B set to the
family room). I thought thought about the audio signal cable... I am
thinking about running balanced audio from the server to a few locations
for the jukebox feed.

My thoughts had been more towards two RG6 runs to each location...

The patch panel will be in the study wardrobe in my case. The roof is a
pain to get into...

> While your at it I would recommend running some signal cables to all your
> light switch sockets as well to future proof for any home automation
> projects, a pair of cat 5 cables to each socket should cover most bases as
> you can use some of the pairs for low voltage signal or most of the digital
> lighting control systems on the market.
>
> The opportunity to run cables through walls doesn't come along very often so
> I would highly recommend going towards the overkill end of the spectrum.

My plan is only to drill up from under the floor into the wall cavity.
I won't be removing (too much) gib. So while it is a good idea to run
signal cables (and if I have the oppurtunity to do so in the future I
will), I won't run it this time.

Thanks!

--
Andrew Ruthven
Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 21:02 +1200, Mike Dilger wrote:
> I tend to camp with the purists. One fast digital multi-use cable
> should handle all your data needs, and other cables can handle power.
> CAT-5e, CAT-6, or fibre, would do well. The practical side of me
> insists on a CATV RG6 Coaxial too, for un-tuned analog. I wonder about
> HDMi which has no fixed cable length specification and seems to handle
> up to 15 meters in practice with copper wire.

Yup, structured cabling all the way.

At this stage I won't worry about HDMI as part of my cabling scheme.
Hopefully when it becomes a realistic option for me, I'll be building a
new house, and be in the position to arrange the cabling (and A/V gear)
in suitable locations.

Cheers!

--
Andrew Ruthven
Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 21:41:10 +1200
Andrew Ruthven <andrew@etc.gen.nz> wrote:

> > In any case, digital terrestial will be UHF, so will work fine off of
> > the same antenna feed as analog, assuming you connect both VHF and
> > UHF to the same cable?
>
> Are we even going to have DVB-T? I thought it was just DVB-S...
> Anyhow, UHF and VHF can be combined on one cable. Pretty much everyone
> with two aerials on their roof has a combiner up there...

I understand DVB-T AND DVB-S, all the country will get DVB-S and people in the main centres will get DVB-S (and not need a sat dish).

Been to any country towns with traditionally poor TV reception in the last 5 years? They all have a sky dish, every little shit box shack on the West Coast has one.

_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

> On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 20:26 +1200, Toby Mills wrote:
[snip]
>
> Heh. My current plan is 3 runs of Cat 5e to every panel, only 2 will be
> terminated on RJ45's. The other will be left unterminated (in case I
> want phone or something else). Some speaker cables will be run to
> suitable locations (left, right and center in the lounge, B set to the
> family room). I thought thought about the audio signal cable... I am
> thinking about running balanced audio from the server to a few locations
> for the jukebox feed.
>

Don't forget that with standard sructured wiring you can run ethernet and
phone and still have a pair left on a single cable.

My place was built by Stonewood and they managed to put CAT5E to every
room for the phone and kroned all the cables into a box in the garage and
used the correct pairs!! Made my conversion job easy as I only had to put
a 100meg switch into the wall box and krone the flying cables from it into
the termination block and I was totally wired :-) Getting ethernet in any
room now just required an RJ45 splitter from Dick Smith to break out the
phone from the ethernet (unfortunately many ethernet cards short out the
unused pairs - not very friendly!)

Another good touch was 3 RG6 cables to the lounge so I have TV (combined
VHF and UHF), satellite and a return to a distribution amp in the garage
that then goes out round the house. That allows a VCR or sat box in the
lounge to be repeated round the whole house.

--
Robin Gilks




_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

At 11:46 p.m. 1/08/2006, you wrote:
>Another good touch was 3 RG6 cables to the lounge so I have TV (combined
>VHF and UHF), satellite and a return to a distribution amp in the garage
>that then goes out round the house. That allows a VCR or sat box in the
>lounge to be repeated round the whole house.

While we're talking about RG-6 cabling, I recently picked up some RG-6,
some plugs, and a 4-way satellite signal splitter. It cost me about ten
bucks, BEFORE trade discount (which I got -- Dad is an electrician). The
plugs were very interesting to put together, I'll say that for them.

Tricky Dicky wanted $19 for a 2-way splitter. And they needed to order it
first.

Check out Ideal Electrical, or one of the trade places before going to Dick
Smith for stuff like cable, sockets, splitters and so on.

>--
>Robin Gilks

--
Alan Podjursky ICQ 24423014
"Yay, evil evil! Happy torture!" -- Gwyneth
"When in doubt, use brute force." -- Ken Thompson
http://www.fanfiction.net/~mercva


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tuesday 01 August 2006 3:05 pm, Andrew Ruthven wrote:

> What do you guys think?
>
If you have a single story house with a roof space then put in what you need
or foresee for now and as well as that put in "draw-strings" or "draw-wires"
so that you can add other wires later if needed.

I did that with all of the houses we have built and took digital photos of the
frames, wires and draw-wires before the lining went on.

Rob

_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 22:59 +1200, Nick Rout wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 21:41:10 +1200
> Andrew Ruthven <andrew@etc.gen.nz> wrote:
>
> > > In any case, digital terrestial will be UHF, so will work fine off of
> > > the same antenna feed as analog, assuming you connect both VHF and
> > > UHF to the same cable?
> >
> > Are we even going to have DVB-T? I thought it was just DVB-S...
> > Anyhow, UHF and VHF can be combined on one cable. Pretty much everyone
> > with two aerials on their roof has a combiner up there...
>
> I understand DVB-T AND DVB-S, all the country will get DVB-S and people in the main centres will get DVB-S (and not need a sat dish).

I'm assuming you mean DVB-T there for the main centres? Excellent, good
news. Although it does mean needing to buy yet another tuner
card... :)

> Been to any country towns with traditionally poor TV reception in the last 5 years? They all have a sky dish, every little shit box shack on the West Coast has one.

Aye, it is always abit surprising to see. Although I can completely
understand why.

--
Andrew Ruthven, Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 23:46 +1200, Robin Gilks wrote:
> > On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 20:26 +1200, Toby Mills wrote:
> [snip]
> >
> > Heh. My current plan is 3 runs of Cat 5e to every panel, only 2 will be
> > terminated on RJ45's. The other will be left unterminated (in case I
> > want phone or something else). Some speaker cables will be run to
> > suitable locations (left, right and center in the lounge, B set to the
> > family room). I thought thought about the audio signal cable... I am
> > thinking about running balanced audio from the server to a few locations
> > for the jukebox feed.
> >
>
> Don't forget that with standard sructured wiring you can run ethernet and
> phone and still have a pair left on a single cable.

True, but since I'm going to be installing the box, I might as well just
pull 3 cables. I want to be able to run gigabit to some locations, so
I'll need all the pairs.

> My place was built by Stonewood and they managed to put CAT5E to every
> room for the phone and kroned all the cables into a box in the garage and
> used the correct pairs!! Made my conversion job easy as I only had to put
> a 100meg switch into the wall box and krone the flying cables from it into
> the termination block and I was totally wired :-) Getting ethernet in any
> room now just required an RJ45 splitter from Dick Smith to break out the
> phone from the ethernet (unfortunately many ethernet cards short out the
> unused pairs - not very friendly!)

That makes life much easier!

> Another good touch was 3 RG6 cables to the lounge so I have TV (combined
> VHF and UHF), satellite and a return to a distribution amp in the garage
> that then goes out round the house. That allows a VCR or sat box in the
> lounge to be repeated round the whole house.

Hmmmm... Maybe I should do that. A flat I lived in a few years ago had
a similar setup. While I didn't make use of the extra RG6, I imagine it
would make life much easier if you wanted to do that.

Cheers!

--
Andrew Ruthven, Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Wed, 2006-08-02 at 06:46 +1200, Robert Fisher wrote:
> On Tuesday 01 August 2006 3:05 pm, Andrew Ruthven wrote:
>
> > What do you guys think?
> >
> If you have a single story house with a roof space then put in what you need
> or foresee for now and as well as that put in "draw-strings" or "draw-wires"
> so that you can add other wires later if needed.
>
> I did that with all of the houses we have built and took digital photos of the
> frames, wires and draw-wires before the lining went on.

This house is single story, but does have a crawl space under the house,
so it is reasonably accessible. So I'm not so fussed about having
draw-wires. For folks on concrete slab, this is certainly a must have.

Although I will definitely be putting in a draw wire for the conduit
running out to the garage. I suspect I'll be using the existing phone
wire as a pull wire to pull through some cat5 and RG6... If that
conduit is big enough...

--
Andrew Ruthven, Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Wed, 02 Aug 2006 08:46:54 +1200
Andrew Ruthven wrote:

> > I understand DVB-T AND DVB-S, all the country will get DVB-S and people in the main centres will get DVB-S (and not need a sat dish).
>
> I'm assuming you mean DVB-T there for the main centres? Excellent, good
> news. Although it does mean needing to buy yet another tuner
> card... :)


yes thats what I meant sorry.

--
Nick Rout <nick@rout.co.nz>


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/

On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 15:05 +1200, Andrew Ruthven wrote:
> I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable
> up my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the
> impending arrival of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?
>
> Normally I would have run one RG6 cable to each faceplate for an antenna
> feed. However, if digital TV comes along and we still have analog TV, I
> might be better to have two RG6 cables at each faceplate. Otherwise
> I'll need a splitter where ever I want to have both. (Which should be
> nowhere, since we mostly use MythTV.)

A multiswitch will give you combined UHF+Sat coverage in a single
outlet, but multiswitches are not that cheap.

I ran multiple RG6 outlets for the lounge, to both cover possible
quick-hack UHF support, and for multiple devices. But everywhere else
got a single run.

If it really matters, I'll get a multiswitch. :)

--
David Zanetti <david.zanetti@catalyst.net.nz>
Team Leader, Systems Administration
Catalyst IT Limited
+64-4-8032233 +64-21-402260

On Wed, 2006-08-02 at 13:40 +1200, David Zanetti wrote:
> On Tue, 2006-08-01 at 15:05 +1200, Andrew Ruthven wrote:
> > I just want to try and guages peoples opinions here. I'm going to cable
> > up my house soon (both network and RG6 for video), and with the
> > impending arrival of digital TV, should I run additional RG6 cable?
> >
> > Normally I would have run one RG6 cable to each faceplate for an antenna
> > feed. However, if digital TV comes along and we still have analog TV, I
> > might be better to have two RG6 cables at each faceplate. Otherwise
> > I'll need a splitter where ever I want to have both. (Which should be
> > nowhere, since we mostly use MythTV.)
>
> A multiswitch will give you combined UHF+Sat coverage in a single
> outlet, but multiswitches are not that cheap.

True. In my previous place I used a combiner to stick the bunny airs
+Sat down one cable, then a splitter at the other end to get it out.
The splitter had power pass through for one connector.

But I'd rather not do that (more connections = more signal loss)...

> I ran multiple RG6 outlets for the lounge, to both cover possible
> quick-hack UHF support, and for multiple devices. But everywhere else
> got a single run.
>
> If it really matters, I'll get a multiswitch. :)

Heh, yup. :)

--
Andrew Ruthven
Wellington, New Zealand
At home: andrew@etc.gen.nz | This space intentionally
| left blank.


_______________________________________________
mythtvnz mailing list
mythtvnz@lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/mythtvnz
Archives http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/mythtvnz/