Soldato
I want to live there 
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Good thread, kudos for doing it and especially taking photos all the way through. I Just bought a 1930s semi which Im doing some work on, so its good to see ideas 
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There are some things I do find strange, especially the multiple three pin sockets in the comms cab? I would rather fit a surge protection strip, then you have an easy option of fitting a beefy UPS in the future if needed.
Also I dont think I would have run Cat6 (and do you really need so many?), to my mind cat5e would suit most situations?
I will be running some cat5e soon around my place and im genuinely interested in what you intend to use all your cat6 cables for.
. There are some things I do find strange, especially the multiple three pin sockets in the comms cab? I would rather fit a surge protection strip, then you have an easy option of fitting a beefy UPS in the future if needed.
Also I dont think I would have run Cat6 (and do you really need so many?), to my mind cat5e would suit most situations?
I will be running some cat5e soon around my place and im genuinely interested in what you intend to use all your cat6 cables for.
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so you haven't told me, whats going in the rack? Are you going to put your DroboPro in there, you can mount these in racks which would be awesome if connected to a server to go with a switch/hub for all those darn CAT6 cables
Everything. See post 276.
Yes, the DroboPro is the NAS which will be connected to the Mac Mini, acting as my server. As for switch, I've picked up a HP Procurve 1810-24.
Good thread, kudos for doing it and especially taking photos all the way through. I Just bought a 1930s semi which Im doing some work on, so its good to see ideas
There are some things I do find strange, especially the multiple three pin sockets in the comms cab? I would rather fit a surge protection strip, then you have an easy option of fitting a beefy UPS in the future if needed.
Also I dont think I would have run Cat6 (and do you really need so many?), to my mind cat5e would suit most situations?
I will be running some cat5e soon around my place and im genuinely interested in what you intend to use all your cat6 cables for.
In hindsight, yes, I probably should have gone for a commando socket with a surge protector in the rack. I suppose it's not too late to remove the sockets and put that in. I'll have to see how I get on wiring the rack before I go yanking them off
As for all the CAT 6. In essence, I wanted to spread out the sockets and have uniform coverage, so instead of putting x number where I want a TV, PC etc now, I just mirrored them around the rooms to allow for future expansion. The kitchen and living room pretty much have 4 at the top, 2 in the middle, 2 at the bottom end, then the same opposite.
The bedrooms all have 10 network ports (+1 in the ceilings for IR), 4 where a TV is going, and 4 one side of the bed, and 2 on the other side of the bed. Don't forget, 2 of the network ports are going to be used to carry HD video, 1 for a computer which leaves 7 for various other things. I'll be doing a lot of USB over CAT6 too, so I can plug my phone in next to the bed and have it sync/charge without the need for a PC.
Plus, the cable is cheap and I'll only get to do it once. Oh, and you can claim the VAT back on it!!
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Fair comments, what are the cost implications of the usb over cat6 baluns? would they function the same over cat5e? I dont know a lot about them, do they support full speed? usb3.0? attenuation limit? other protocols supported (i know of HDMI but know its fairly expensive)
I havent looked at pricing but did you go for cat6 or cat6a?
I like the idea of sending hdtv to every room from one source, have you thought about things like IR lag and multi-room usage? - could be an interesting system.
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Yes, the baluns work over a pair of network cables, doesn't really matter if it's Cat5 or Cat6 (as that's just a standard anyway).
You can get USB 2.0 baluns and USB 1.1 baluns. Depends how much you want to spend. I've seen 1.1 baluns go for £15 and 2.0 ones go for £300. I'm still shopping around for those (link). The twisted pairs carries the USB signal, and although a lot of adaptors are rated at 50m, I've had practical experience sending that signal over 50m in commercial environments.
The HDMI matrix switcher I want is a Kramer VS-66H (link). Plug in 6 sources, connect HDMI to CAT6 baluns, route to room and plug in a CAT6 to HDMI balun on the other end. Instant multiroom video. The difficulty comes if you have displays of varying resolution (720p vs. 1080p).
I haven't heard of people experiencing IR lag with the system I've put in, but as always.. I reserve judgement until I have tested it myself
That's why it's in the hallway, and not a spare bedroom
. I do still have acoustic insulation if worst comes to worst.The plan is to enclose it within a hidden under-stairs cupboard with push to open doors, but that's a future project.
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Thanks for the response
Hmm for me it would have to be usb 2.0 but also for me £300pu is prohibitive, 50m is reasonable and im thinking should suit most homes.
That sure is an expensive piece of kit (hdmi switch), does it do anything cleverer than just split the signal? im guessing it does, please divulge
With the 720p/1080p issue surely the 720p kit will just dither to 1080i?
Im intrigued to know what this matrix switch is capable of.
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Thanks for the response
Hmm for me it would have to be usb 2.0 but also for me £300pu is prohibitive, 50m is reasonable and im thinking should suit most homes.
That sure is an expensive piece of kit (hdmi switch), does it do anything cleverer than just split the signal? im guessing it does, please divulge
With the 720p/1080p issue surely the 720p kit will just dither to 1080i?
Im intrigued to know what this matrix switch is capable of.
A HDMI distribution amp displays 1 source at every screen (the kind cinemas have to display show times). To change the source in 1 room means turning it over in every other room.. a BIG problem if you have children, I'm sure you'll see! A HDMI matrix amp sends multiple sources to multiple screens, so every room can access every source independent of each other.
As far as the 720/1080 thing goes.. if you have a 720p display, then it can cause problems on the 1080p displays because of the way HDMI works. Essentially, the HDMI matrix will see the 720p display and because all the sources need to communicate with all the screens, at all times, and share encryption keys, it'll downscale the signal to the lowest common denominator.
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Soldato
Only really decided to read this thread recently. Never really noticed it before.
Absolutely amazing stuff, I would love to do something like this with enough time and money one day. I'd have to muster up the inhuman amount of effort required first too
Well done to EVH, epic job and looks like it is doing really nicely!
It's like OcUK's own grand designs
Absolutely amazing stuff, I would love to do something like this with enough time and money one day. I'd have to muster up the inhuman amount of effort required first too
Well done to EVH, epic job and looks like it is doing really nicely!
It's like OcUK's own grand designs
Soldato
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EVH, if you could get away with a 4X4 matrix these work out much cheaper, I picked one up that outputs over cat5e/cat6 including baluns for £300.
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If I ever see Kevin McLoud snooping around here I'll chin him!Only really decided to read this thread recently. Never really noticed it before.
Absolutely amazing stuff, I would love to do something like this with enough time and money one day. I'd have to muster up the inhuman amount of effort required first too
Well done to EVH, epic job and looks like it is doing really nicely!
It's like OcUK's own grand designs
Out of interest, where'd you get your matrix? I need 6 inputs, 8 if I want expansion, but I haven't found many places that sell them outside of the usual couple of etailers and even then they are imported from the US which I don't fancy.
Soldato
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Ebay, from Hong Kong.
Works great for me, however I can't see me ever using the 4 inputs, are you sure you'd need 6? For me it's ideal for hooking up the PVR and media centre but for things like DVD and Blu Ray players I think I'll just buy one for each room that it's needed in, it's much more convenient and cheap enough.
Works great for me, however I can't see me ever using the 4 inputs, are you sure you'd need 6? For me it's ideal for hooking up the PVR and media centre but for things like DVD and Blu Ray players I think I'll just buy one for each room that it's needed in, it's much more convenient and cheap enough.
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2001: A Space Odyssey.. anyone? It'll take over the house!!
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heh, Build looks awesome. Wife and I are seriously considering doing a timber-frame house. I'm looking for the catch!
The catch is that building (or rather, planning) is a very slow process, which will tie funds up for a very long time. It is also comparably hard to fund, a LOT of work, financially risky in terms of unexpected setbacks, and often will be no cheaper than buying an existing renovation project.
I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but certainly in this area (south oxfordshire) the financials do not stack up favourably
Very interesting thread, I've always wondered just how crazy you could go with wiring up a house with internet, sound etc in every room. It seems that 1.2km of CAT 6 cables is about that much crazy
If I ever build my own house I'm hiring you to do the wiring!
EDIT: btw, my first ever thread subscription, you should be proud
If I ever build my own house I'm hiring you to do the wiring!
EDIT: btw, my first ever thread subscription, you should be proud
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