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wiring HDTV remote from cable box

post #1 of 3
12/1/08 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 
I have a new HDTV 75 feet from a 'control' room which does not have component wiring currently and will be very difficult to rewire for that or HDMI cables. The home is connected with Lucent Homestar from this control room to multiple terminators in the house (each 'bundle' carries 2 R6 coax and one CAT5). The location of the HDTV has this terminator as well as a 'composite' connection (video plus L/R audio which is unused) and two unused audio cable bundles which are 'quad' (white/red/green/black wires) - the composite and unused audio cables also are wired to the control room. I have another Lucent bundle in the wall from which I can 'steal' a coax and CAT5 connection. The control room componets are controlled remotely with Xantech IR (yes, I am replacing the receiver near the HDTV because of interference!)

I currently use the TV on coax (non-HD channels) and composite for HD channels (I know this is analog, but it is what I have.) When using the composite video connection, the audio is through my surround sound system.

Without running new wires from the control room to the TV, and wanting to use HD, I think I have two options:

#1. Use three coax (R6) for the three component connections.
#2. Use two CAT5 with HDMI 'converter' boxes at each end (control room and termination).

I can find no information which leads me to believe that I can make the currently unused audio bundles work for any of this video.

Is there a preference for solution #1 or #2? Do I have any other options without running new wires for the 75 feet?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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post #2 of 3
12/1/08 at 9:36am

Re: wiring HDTV remote from cable box

Did your new HDTV come with a cable card slot? If so, you can get a cable card from your local cable company and use it instead of your cable box. You will lose the ability to choose on-demand and PPV via the remote because the current generation of cards do not have 2-way communication.

If you currently have cables run, then it should be easy to run new ones. That is the best option. By the time you paid for the HD to CAT-5 converters you could have paid someone to properly run new wires. A quality HDMI cable that long is about $50. Three RG-6 cables for component video would be about $10.

Are the coax cables you mentioned shielded, 75 ohm? Most audio cables are 50 ohm. They may not be able to pass a video signal cleanly. If it is cheap, give it a try.

-Robert
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post #3 of 3
12/1/08 at 12:39pm
Thread Starter 

Re: wiring HDTV remote from cable box

Thanks for the quick reply. I do not have a cable card slot.

The coax is definitely 75 ohm, but I don't know about the audio quad bundle.

I realize that I might need to re-wire, but I'm trying to avoid it since I have a flat roof with no crawl space and the roof was just re-done (with foam insulation). All I need is a couple of holes put through it with the potential for leaks.
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