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PLEASE HELP ME! HDTV distribution to 7 TV's

post #1 of 6
7/6/10 at 5:21pm
Thread Starter 
Here is a quick synopsis: I am a low voltage contractor. My client has a pretty large house, he wanted ALL the cable boxes, DVD, HTPC located in the basement utility. I ran 6 CAT6 cables (unshielded) to EACH TV location. The furthest TV location is on the 3rd floor, about 150ft away. The 3rd nearest TV, I would say is about 75ft.

I have bought a few things from PIMFG in the past, and they have video baluns SO I bought 6 of them and ran component video from my blu-ray to my TV thru about 300ft of CAT6 (ran thru the reel I had) and the pic looked great.

The pic looks pretty good @ the TV 75ft away BUT the cable box looks like crap. Tons of rolling purple and green. I tried composite only and still same prb. Tried different cables...etc...here is the link to the baluns I am using:

pimfg.com and the balun is NVA-700-WH-WH

anyway, I am afraid its a case of u get what u pay for BUT I don't understand why it worked so well way back then?

anyway, on top of the suggestions: I NEED TO REMEDY THIS ASAP no matter what the cost. I have charged a pretty good amount so I have a decent cushion to eat some but man, just totally frustrated.

OH YEA, my first try was with HDMI extenders from monoprice, but they worked sporadically.

BOTTOM LINE: if u had the amount of unshielded cat6 ran to 7 locations (from 50ft to 150ft) what would u do? Are there HDMI extenders out there that REALLY DO WORK? OR component video ones that really work a long distance? I need good personal experiences as money is no object @ this point (client is about ready to move in). I deal with Petra, PAM distributing and DBL if that helps.

PLEASE help me! Anybody!

thx!

Scott
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post #2 of 6
7/6/10 at 7:33pm
How many sources? How many cat5/6 cables to each location? Is there a matrix switch already in the picture? Otherwise I'd suggest the Aton HDR44 or the AA AVAtrix. I know first-hand both of those work.

Jeff
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post #3 of 6
7/7/10 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 
NO Matrix @ all, was trying to avoid THAT big of an investment atleast @ first. But 3 sources wanted @ 7 TV locations. I have 6 cat6 cables homeran from the basement to each TV location -PLENTY of cable in my opinion to do whatever I want. Am I right?

thx for the initial response

Scott
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post #4 of 6
7/7/10 at 8:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by theruckman View Post

NO Matrix @ all, was trying to avoid THAT big of an investment atleast @ first. But 3 sources wanted @ 7 TV locations. I have 6 cat6 cables homeran from the basement to each TV location -PLENTY of cable in my opinion to do whatever I want. Am I right?

thx for the initial response

Scott

I am not sure how you are planning to do this without a matrix switch. Are you planning on having 7 cable boxes, 7 DVD players and 7 HTPC's all dedicated to individual TV's with 3 sets of baluns for each TV? What happens when he wants to add a 4th source?

Sounds like a matrix switcher would be much cheaper than 21 devices and 21 sets of baluns. Am I missing something?
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post #5 of 6
7/7/10 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by theruckman View Post

Here is a quick synopsis: I am a low voltage contractor. My client has a pretty large house, he wanted ALL the cable boxes, DVD, HTPC located in the basement utility. I ran 6 CAT6 cables (unshielded) to EACH TV location. The furthest TV location is on the 3rd floor, about 150ft away. The 3rd nearest TV, I would say is about 75ft.

I have bought a few things from PIMFG in the past, and they have video baluns SO I bought 6 of them and ran component video from my blu-ray to my TV thru about 300ft of CAT6 (ran thru the reel I had) and the pic looked great.

The pic looks pretty good @ the TV 75ft away BUT the cable box looks like crap. Tons of rolling purple and green. I tried composite only and still same prb. Tried different cables...etc...here is the link to the baluns I am using:

pimfg.com and the balun is NVA-700-WH-WH

anyway, I am afraid its a case of u get what u pay for BUT I don't understand why it worked so well way back then?

anyway, on top of the suggestions: I NEED TO REMEDY THIS ASAP no matter what the cost. I have charged a pretty good amount so I have a decent cushion to eat some but man, just totally frustrated.

OH YEA, my first try was with HDMI extenders from monoprice, but they worked sporadically.

BOTTOM LINE: if u had the amount of unshielded cat6 ran to 7 locations (from 50ft to 150ft) what would u do? Are there HDMI extenders out there that REALLY DO WORK? OR component video ones that really work a long distance? I need good personal experiences as money is no object @ this point (client is about ready to move in). I deal with Petra, PAM distributing and DBL if that helps.

PLEASE help me! Anybody!

thx!

Scott

Rolling bands on the only the cable box input sounds like a ground-loop issue.

Easiest fix, if you have RG6 at each TV location, hook them up as if you were providing basic cable to each location, including splitters/etc at the demarc/distribution location.

Check that the cable installer grounded the demarcation point properly. It is a code requirement on their end, but I've seen it missed before.

If the TV's use a 3 prong power cord try putting a ground-lift in line.

Talk to the electrician, confirm that power for the cable boxes is on the same phase as power for the TV's.

Those are the first things I would try. If the DVD/BluRay player looks good it is unlikely to be a problem with the baluns.
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post #6 of 6
7/7/10 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
IT WAS THE GROUND LOOP! I was tipped off to it earlier in the day but another tech an just read your post! THANKS for the response, some of the other ground suggestions u had are good too, I will check on them BUT here's the deal - the MAIN incoming cable line (RG11) went into a big amp. They replaced that AMP and forgot to move the ground over to it. I moved it over and PRESTO -ALL was GREAT!

I was totally on cloud nine. Just a heads up to MurrayW - here's what I did:

- 5 Keystone Baluns @ each TV location to triple gang decora's
- 35 Keyston baluns homeran to media room (I got the baluns for $4ea and they work pretty well) and a rack to hold all baluns
- 7 monoprice 4 cpmt switchers with remote
- mini-surface IR receivers @ each TV to media area (around $40ea)
- 7 cable boxes going straight to each TV
- 1 blu-ray going into a CE Labs 9 output cmpt amp to all TV's
- SO from any TV he can switch between the 2 sources but has room for 2 more in the future (source 3 will be an HTPC I am going to build for him). Will just add cmpt amps as I need to.

A matrix DOES sound much easier and less confusing but I basically spent around $1000 and was able to charge around $5000. SO I am pretty pleased, but hoping CAT6 matrix go down in price over the next few yrs which I can't imagine they wont.

I am by no means claiming to be Mr HT here, but I know a few things. I gotta say that I am looking forward to posting questions on here every once in a while, thx to all for your support!

Here is a link to my online photo album and some of my work, I need to add a bunch more pics -including this huge house I am working on.

flickr.com/photos/22630698@N07/sets/72157623084032385/show/

(add www)

thx again!
Scott
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