sky over cat6 cable question/advice needed

[london-electric]

Hi all,

Advice needed on this one,

6 bed house , tv position in each room - each tv location wired with 1xct100 coax , 2x cat6 , 1 x cat5e

all cables wired back to central hub location

Coax already used for aerial to each tv

Cat5e already used for Internet to each tv

Sky have wired a sky+ hd box into the hub location -

Guy from the house has requested to watch the same sky box in 3 different locations (kitchen/master/living rm)

He's not worried about channel changing in each room - is it possible to run this over cat6 cabling as you would a normal rf2 out through a coax , also keep the hd signal to each of the 3 tv ' s ( as rf2 pic is usually terrible) , plus change channel in each location ??

If so , how can this be done and what materials would be involved?

All responses much appreciated

 

[Welchyboy1]

You will need to use a hdmi powered distribution kit, which has a cat5/6 balun at each tv plus the distribution point, they are quite pricey for a decent one, i havent used one to date but am currently pricing for a job that needs it

for switching channels, i would wire sky through rf2 out to tv booster and use magic eyes on each tv through ct100, but use the hdmi channels to actually watch on, this works well and is cheapest option

 

[Tidy Max]

What Welchy said.

Rather than the HDMI distribution kit (which are rather pricey). You could buy a HDMI splitter (1 in 4 out etc), then buy 3 seperate HDMI over cat 6 kits.

I have used some from CPC before, i think they were £65 for a single kit. Worth it though and you still maintain HD quality.

The main thing when buying any kit that goes into a HDMI signal path is to make sure that it is HDMI compliant and also check how the 'handshaking' works. Some splitters throw a hissy fit if you connect up panel of a different type e.g. a 1080 screen and a 720 screen.

This can usually be resolved by setting the source output to whatever the lowest resolution panel can handle.

 

[london-electric]

Thanks welchy & max for you response

Can I ask is it possible to send the ir signal from rf2 through the cat6 also , as we only have 1 ct 100 going to each tv which is already wired to standard aerial connection and the cat5 is used for ethernet ?

also I have read and heard in the past that the cat6 signal doesn't like being sent through wall modules behind the tv ....is this true as the guy from the house is very keen to 'neaten' things up behind there and use fly leads ...is case the tv ' s come off the wall at any stage or in the scenario he sells the house.

Once again thanks for your input

 

[Tidy Max]

Can you not loop the aerial connection through the sky box? So take your standard aerial into the box, then back out to your distribution amp. Providing the amp has DC pass then you could just put you IR extender on the end of the existing coax to the tv, tune the freeview in as normal (as the aerial signal is still there) but still have the advantage of using the same ct100 to send the IR back down?

IF NOT, then you can get ir over cat 5/6 modules i am sure. A particular one isn't springing to mind but i have seen similar kits where you just have an IR receiver and then an IR 'blaster' that obviously has to be in range of the front of the sky box?

i'll have a google for you now matey.

Welchy may know more than me as this isn'y my area of expertise

 

[Tidy Max]

HDMI OVER CAT5 WITH IR EXTENDER - AV18497

Looks abit **** but they obviously do them

 

[Tidy Max]

Pre-Amps, Distribution, Converters, Switches & Splitters | CPC | Results

CYP is good gear, but obviously pricey!

 

[Tidy Max]

Depending on how giddy the customer is and whether money is an issue or not... this seems to be your answer...
PU-513L-KIT - CYP - HDMI CAT5/6/7 HDBASET LITE EXTEND | CPC
But there are cheaper alternatives that seem to be almost quarter of the price. I usually give the customer the expensive option and say this is what i would use. These are the cheaper alternatives but i have no idea on the quality.

 

[Welchyboy1]

Can you not loop the aerial connection through the sky box? So take your standard aerial into the box, then back out to your distribution amp. Providing the amp has DC pass then you could just put you IR extender on the end of the existing coax to the tv, tune the freeview in as normal (as the aerial signal is still there) but still have the advantage of using the same ct100 to send the IR back down?

IF NOT, then you can get ir over cat 5/6 modules i am sure. A particular one isn't springing to mind but i have seen similar kits where you just have an IR receiver and then an IR 'blaster' that obviously has to be in range of the front of the sky box?

i'll have a google for you now matey.

Welchy may know more than me as this isn'y my area of expertise

Yes, can you not take aerial through sky then out rf2 to booster

i use magic eye through coax rather than cat5/6 as its a relatively cheaper option and one less thing to cause any effect on the hdmi transmission as it can be problematic sometimes

 

[Simlec]

New Sky boxes don't have RF or RF2, so no magic eyes any more.

 

[Tidy Max]

They use an I/O box now that works just the same its just another piece of equipment you need to buy!

 

[Tidy Max]

IO-Link Module installation Instructions

I use those. Satcure seem to be a really good company.

I got extremely arsey with them a couple of months ago but ended up apologising as i had entered the wrong post code into the delivery address.. oops!

 

[Simlec]

This is the preferred method for basic installs.
http://hdanywhere.co.uk/creative-assets/connection-diagrams/mhub-connection-diagram.pdf

yes I have seen the little converters.

 

[london-electric]

Great feedback guys , thanks

That's probably the best solution we do have an aerial amp in place (put in by the cowboy aerial man who cut all the markings off the cable), so run the main aerial feed through the sky box first then back out into the amp.

One question we have about 10 tv ' s possibly running g off this amp , this is not a problem is it ?

Although the guy is a wealthy man , I think he is looking for the cheapest option here , as he only wants one sky box , prob gonna go for the 1 in 4 out hdmi extender with the baluns on the cat6's, sure this will work a treat

thanks

 

[tomspark93]

I'm not sure on the layout but one other thing to consider is if for example these are wall mounted t.vs with only a single socket behind the t.v then you might need another to power your receiver at the t.v end. You can get some extenders/recievers which use PoE which would overcome this issue, obviously they may cost a bit more.