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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:29 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:12 am
Posts: 8
Just wanted to post my results using Cat5e to run Video, audio and infrared receiver from my TV to my KM Box. In my set up I keep the KM box in a server closet and have run Cat5e and RG6 from the closet to the back of the entertainment unit. The end goal is to run Component video and audio or digital audio over the RG6 but for now I put in a few runs of Cat5e to run my S-video and audio (and the Infrared dongle) - The run is about 70 feet long and I have great video audio quality and great response from my remote control as well.

I ran S-video over 1 cat5 cable - 2 pairs for signal - and I used the other 2 pairs (all twisted together) for the shielding - (I don’t know if the shielding was necessary I can test it if any one wants me to). To do so I cut an svideo and a network cable in half and soldered one to the other so that gave me two cables each with an svideo on one end and an rj45 on the other.
I then cut a mini jack to rca cable and an other Ethernet cable in half and did the same using 2 pairs for the audio and then cut my infrared receiver cable in half and soldered it onto the remaining 2 pairs (it had 2 wires and shielding) I soldered two of its wires to one pair then twisted the other pair together and soldered it to the shielding (again no idea if this was necessary).

I then plugged the four patch cables (two at each end) into the two cat5e jacks that run the 70' between my entertainment unit and my wiring closet. And after all is said and done on my 27" CRT I can see no ghosting or discernible interference when I watch sdtv (I sit about 10' from the tube) the audio has reasonable volume if slightly quieter and the remote control works exactly as it did before. I'm very happy with my set up and look forward to reporting on HDTV performance over my (RG6 based) component cables when I have the TV to test it with.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 12:38 pm 
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Joined: Fri May 21, 2004 11:55 pm
Posts: 1206
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
That's a very innovative solution. A traditional KM approach would be to place a frontend box at your TV location and make the server in the closet a backend. This has a small advantage in that you might want to add another TV in the future and you can have another FE box for it, allowing you to watch different programs at each set.

P.S. They make "baluns" for your approach -- they match the impedance of the S-video or component video cables to the twisted pairs in a CAT-5 cable. They let you use CAT-5 over pretty long distances and retain very high signal quality.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:51 pm 
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Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:12 am
Posts: 8
Quite right baluns are great and the "proper" way to do what I did - however I have lots of Cat5 and a bunch of S-video and audio cross connects so for me this way was "free" - and so if you ever need a really long (lets say up to 75') and inexpensive S-video cable - consider my Franken-cable alternative...


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 Post subject: Rapid Run cables
PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 12:05 am 
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Joined: Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:21 pm
Posts: 70
Location: West Fargo, ND
I've been considering implementing something similar to this with Rapid Run cables. (More details available here.)
Using the Yellow runner for VGA or DVI and then Blue for Audio and IR.


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