Am i in the right place ??

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  • BigDutch
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Aug 2004
    • 5

    Am i in the right place ??

    Hi,

    just registered but not 100% sure im in the right place, i`m a network administrator at a small audio/video distributor in North London.

    Anyway a member of my family has purchased a house in the Mediterranean (lovely weather!!), its being built "from plan" and as such i have suggested that we make the house ready to allow a LAN and share video/audio sources around the hosue. So i ensured that there are 2-3 conduit runs sunk into the concrete and going between each room and the understairs "cupboard" - a "star" shape.

    Now assuming that the builders haven't squeezed the conduit what we want to be able to do is :

    1) Run a LAN from a shared internet connection (eg dsl)

    2) Supply telephone to each room (only one line though)

    3) Home Cinema system will be in the lounge, but want to be able to watch DVD's/Satellite in the bedroom(s), and use the remotes !

    4) Share the normal terrestial aerial to each room, then have screens with tuners.

    5) Music, be able to have pre/power amps and speakers in rooms, then use the audio feed from another room.

    Only the conduit and wall "boxes" are in place at the moment, so i need to run suitable cables and terminate them into a wall plate, as well as some sort of patching box.

    I`m know that CAT5e solid will be fine for all LAN/Telephone, but also assume it will be fine for AV signals as long as they are "low-level" not amplified. Do i need to go for "solid" Cat5e UTP ?

    I know about the equipment required for the LAN/Internet side of things. I have a nice 3COM switch and router up and running at home ready to take over, however i'm not sure what i will need for points (2) thru (5).

    Any ideas ? or Links to specific sites would be greatly appreciated !

    Cheers

    Geoff

    PS. I`ll also start reading up on this X-10 stuff which sounds very interesting !
  • Stubbs
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Jan 2004
    • 47

    #2
    Re: Am i in the right place ??

    Originally posted by BigDutch
    video/audio sources around the hosue. So i ensured that there are 2-3 conduit runs sunk into the concrete and going between each room and the understairs "cupboard" - a "star" shape.
    Yep, the cupboard is usually called "node 0"

    Originally posted by BigDutch
    Now assuming that the builders haven't squeezed the conduit what we want to be able to do is :

    1) Run a LAN from a shared internet connection (eg dsl)

    2) Supply telephone to each room (only one line though)

    3) Home Cinema system will be in the lounge, but want to be able to watch DVD's/Satellite in the bedroom(s), and use the remotes !

    4) Share the normal terrestial aerial to each room, then have screens with tuners.

    5) Music, be able to have pre/power amps and speakers in rooms, then use the audio feed from another room.
    All that is possible over cat5, except the terrestrial aerial, you'll need coax for that.

    Originally posted by BigDutch
    Only the conduit and wall "boxes" are in place at the moment, so i need to run suitable cables and terminate them into a wall plate, as well as some sort of patching box.

    I`m know that CAT5e solid will be fine for all LAN/Telephone, but also assume it will be fine for AV signals as long as they are "low-level" not amplified. Do i need to go for "solid" Cat5e UTP ?
    Personally I would say yes, stranded cat5 is what I usually use for fly leads.

    As for sending low-level unamplified signals over cat5, you will obviously amplify and interference that gets on the line ... Have a look at www.kat5.tv for devices that send balanced audio AND video over cat5.

    Originally posted by BigDutch
    I know about the equipment required for the LAN/Internet side of things. I have a nice 3COM switch and router up and running at home ready to take over, however i'm not sure what i will need for points (2) thru (5).

    Any ideas ? or Links to specific sites would be greatly appreciated !

    Cheers

    Geoff

    PS. I`ll also start reading up on this X-10 stuff which sounds very interesting !
    Don't limit yourself to X10, also look at C-Bus, Dynalite and others.

    You might also want to sign up for the mailing list ...

    -S
    -S

    Comment

    • BigDutch
      Automated Home Lurker
      • Aug 2004
      • 5

      #3
      Re: Am i in the right place ??

      Hi,

      Thanks for your reply.

      regarding point (2) Is there an inexpensive box of tricks that will allow me to have "extensions" in the house, then press "9" (example) to dial out on the normal telephone line ?

      regarding point (4) Do you know of a splitter/booster that will be able to distribute these signals ? For normal aerial and for "satellite" ?

      Regarding www.KAT5.tv, this looks like a great set of products, i was actually just looking at the breakout of a SCART lead and saw that just using 8 pins should be enough for audio and video - KAT5 gives a nice finished solution. Are there many users of this ?

      Also re KAT5, the multiple distribution looks pretty complicated !

      Regarding the termination of the CAT5e into wall plates/patch box - do i need any special tools ? How does the wire get connected into the actual sockets ?

      Cheers

      Comment

      • Stubbs
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Jan 2004
        • 47

        #4
        Re: Am i in the right place ??

        Originally posted by BigDutch
        Hi,

        Thanks for your reply.

        regarding point (2) Is there an inexpensive box of tricks that will allow me to have "extensions" in the house, then press "9" (example) to dial out on the normal telephone line ?
        It depends on your definition of "inexpensive". There is www.asterisk.org which compared to "proper" pbx's is cheap. It works with IP Phones so you just plug them into a cat5 socket and away you go.

        Setup can be a bit involved, but fellow UKHA Andy Powell has made a liveCD that youu can boot and have a play on any PC without having to install it. The CD can be found at asterisk.stropharia.com along with a link to Andy's setup guide.

        You'll also need from extra hardware should you decide to set up a proper server, and you can snaffle that frm www.digium.com

        Originally posted by BigDutch
        regarding point (4) Do you know of a splitter/booster that will be able to distribute these signals ? For normal aerial and for "satellite" ?
        Yep :-) Several people on the ukha_d mailing list use these: http://www.tvlink.co.uk/loftbox.htm

        Originally posted by BigDutch
        Regarding www.KAT5.tv, this looks like a great set of products, i was actually just looking at the breakout of a SCART lead and saw that just using 8 pins should be enough for audio and video - KAT5 gives a nice finished solution. Are there many users of this ?
        There are loads :-)

        Originally posted by BigDutch
        Also re KAT5, the multiple distribution looks pretty complicated !
        Keith knows his stuff, and will be able to answer any questions you might have.

        Originally posted by BigDutch
        Regarding the termination of the CAT5e into wall plates/patch box - do i need any special tools ? How does the wire get connected into the actual sockets ?

        Cheers
        They're called Krone Punc down tools, and they're fairly common tools, and you should be able to pick them up anywhere.

        -S
        -S

        Comment

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