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cost to install this job  

post #1 of 9
4/14/01 at 9:41pm
Thread Starter 
What sort of cost should I be looking at to install the following type of setup?

Two channel modulator to distribute two DBS receivers throughout the house over the coax, plus an IR distribution system to control the receivers from those remote rooms.

The guy who's going to do the job for me indicates about $250 for a ChannelVision modulator, plus around $400 for a Xantech IR distribution system.

At www.smarthome.com/7717.html, I see a ChannelPlus system that distributes both the modulated signals plus the IR signal as well. For what I want to do it looks like the total cost would only be around $450. Am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance.

[This message has been edited by golubian (edited 04-15-2001).]

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post #2 of 9
4/15/01 at 11:49am
Are all your coax feeds to the TVs "home run" to ONE location?


Dave


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post #3 of 9
4/15/01 at 2:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by truadoiophile:

Please list how many remote roomes have IR targets.
 </font>

Quote:
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by David Richardson:
Are all your coax feeds to the TVs "home run" to ONE location?


Dave


</font>
Sorry, I should have provide this information originally.

Two Sony SAT T60's will be in the cabinet in my den, which is the central viewing location in the house.

In addition to that location, I need to be able to view on four separate TV's (study, master bedroom, kids' playroom, and guest/workout room. So, I guess I'm looking at four IR targets transmitting to the central location.

As for the "home run" issue, I'm not sure what that means. Is that the setup I describe, where the video sources (the two receivers) are both at one centralized location?
post #4 of 9
4/15/01 at 9:02pm
Please list how many remote roomes have IR targets.
post #5 of 9
4/16/01 at 7:31pm
Dave asks a critical question. There can be extensive labor involved in video modulation if the home was not wired in a "star" or "home-run" configuration. This implies that that the coaxial runs will be run without any splitters in the path from the equipment area to the room where the video will be supplied. This is critical with the channelplus system with the integrated IR engine. Figure about 40 to 50 dollars for each IR target in your rooms. The setup for this is a little more challenging if you have family cable service (with many active channels)as the modulated channel should be mapped where a channel above and below have no active signal from the cable provider.

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Don O
post #6 of 9
4/16/01 at 7:38pm
With the smarthome products you will need one more stick on emitter and 3 more targets for your job. Also, the coax distribution panel will support 2 short runs (&lt;35ft), 3 long runs with RG6 coax.

It is possible that your installer spec'd out a stereo modulation device or that he is providing you with the ability to modulate more channel to more monitors.


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STOP HDCP on DVI
Don O
post #7 of 9
4/17/01 at 7:01am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Don O'Brien:
With the smarthome products you will need one more stick on emitter and 3 more targets for your job. Also, the coax distribution panel will support 2 short runs (&lt;35ft), 3 long runs with RG6 coax.

It is possible that your installer spec'd out a stereo modulation device or that he is providing you with the ability to modulate more channel to more monitors.


</font>

It's just a two channel ChannelVision modulator w/o stereo. The Xantech IR distribution system is the costly part -- he's quoted it at $400 for what I want to do. I asked him about the ChannelPlus integrated equipment, but he told me that his company prefers the CV product (I read that as they don't have ready access to the CP equip, but do for CV). Ultimately, we're just talking about a $200 difference, but I am curious about whether the CP product would suffice, and whether it would be cheaper than the ChannelVision plus Xantech setup he's proposed.
post #8 of 9
4/17/01 at 7:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Don O'Brien:
Dave asks a critical question. There can be extensive labor involved in video modulation if the home was not wired in a "star" or "home-run" configuration. This implies that that the coaxial runs will be run without any splitters in the path from the equipment area to the room where the video will be supplied. This is critical with the channelplus system with the integrated IR engine. Figure about 40 to 50 dollars for each IR target in your rooms. The setup for this is a little more challenging if you have family cable service (with many active channels)as the modulated channel should be mapped where a channel above and below have no active signal from the cable provider.

 </font>
I'm going to cancel cable altogether, so there should be no interference on the coax (I hope).

How would I know whether I have a "star" or "home run" setup?
post #9 of 9
4/17/01 at 8:36am
"Home run" cabling is when there is a seperate cable run from a single point (wiring closet) to each room. At the central wiring point the cable from each room is connected to the output of a splitter and the CATV cable is connected to the input of the splitter. The modulator/video dist. unit will replace this splitter. If you have the proper cabling in place there is no need to hire someone to "install" it. It's really pretty simple.

I am using the Sony MRD-D1 which is an OEM version of the Channel Plus 2 channel modulator w/IR distribution. I am using it with 4 IR targets (even though it says that you can only use 3), 5 TVs and 2 satellite receivers. This Sony unit can often be found on ebay or Ubid for as little as $59 and it even comes with an IR target. I bought a second unit for $59 just to get the IR target (which costs $50 by itself) and now I have a spare unit. I believe these Sony units have been discontinued for a long time, but units keep popping up for sale. I think the difference between the Sony and Channel plus versions is that the CP has a better method (digital) of setting the modulated channel numbers and the Sony comes with 1 IR target (the CP does not include any targets). Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Jay
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