Boosting Long HDMI Cables (1 Viewer)

[VBGlacier]

I just recently remodeled my basement to include a home theater system. Initially we were using my girlfriend's old Panasonic HTiB and her Sony Projector, along with my FiOS set top box and another Panasonic Blu-Ray player. Thinking I was being slick (you probably know where this is going), I ran a 50' HDMI cable (Aurum) through the ceiling before it was drywalled so I could connect to the projector from an HDMI switch that I had the FiOS and Blu-Ray connected to. Naturally, when I got everything hooked up, I didn't get a signal to the projector. I did some research to find that HDMI had a soft-limit of 15 feet, and that I would need to boost or repeat the signal somehow. So I added a Tripp-Lite Signal Booster/Repeater (24Hz) near the input end (I tried to put it near the output, and that had no effect), and voila! I had signal to the projector for both FiOS and the Blu-Ray player. Since the HTiB was a piece of junk, I replaced it with an Onkyo TX-NR509 receiver. I brought the FiOS and Blu-Ray into it, and had the HDMI out to the Projector (with the Tripp-Lite Booster still in place), and again, had no signal. FiOS wouldn't even register - the Blu-Ray player tried to connect, but then I got a 'Frequency Out of Range' message from the receiver. Interestingly enough, I could view the On-Screen menus for the receiver, and when I hooked up my Motorola tablet via HDMI, I got a signal - but no luck with the Blu-Ray or FiOS. I contacted Onkyo customer service, and they pretty quickly narrowed in on the long cable and suggested I test the receiver with a short (5m or less) cable. So I grabbed my little 20" flat screen from the office, hooked it up with a short HDMI cable, and everything worked beautifully. Still needed to get to the projector, so I researched repeaters and boosters, and settled on the Ultralink HDMI Repeater (which was almost $200). Put that in place near the projector, and FiOS works beautifully! Unfortunately, I'm still getting the 'Frequency Out of Range' message on the blu-ray player. Any suggestions? My initial thought is to put a stronger booster in place where the Tripp-Lite is (is there such a thing? Tripp-lite also makes a 60Hz version - would that likely make a difference over the 24Hz version?), or another repeater. I'd really like to avoid ripping through the wall and ceiling if possible. My next step may be to call a home theater professional in - but if I can spend $100 or so on another repeater, booster or something along those lines, I'm willing to try it. As an aside - do I risk damaging either the receiver or the projector by a) using a long cable and b) boosting/repeating the signal? The Onkyo service rep suggested I might be. Thanks for your help - as you can tell, I'm very much a neophyte.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Welcome to Home Theater Forum Dave. HDMI on a long run is trial and error. I have a 50ft Blue Jeans HDMI cable that we have used for some of our events that works fine (granted I haven't tried it with an Onkyo). Since the booster is 24Hz have you verified that the BD player is set for 24Hz? If so, just for kicks try setting it at 60Hz and see what happens. If none of that works, I would be tempted to try HDMI to cat5 converters. An active (powered) unit would work better than a passive one. You would have to run two cat5 cables to your projector and put an adapter on each end.


Edit: Here are some examples: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cat5+hdmi&x=0&y=0

 

[VBGlacier]

Adam - Thanks for the suggestion. Never thought to check to see what the BD player was set to... I'll check that out. Also thanks for the suggestion on the Cat5 - any idea if this would work with Powerline Ethernet adapters? I could more easily run Cat 5 under the baseboard around the room, but even better if I don't have to string cable.