Max length of component cabling? (1 Viewer)

[Christian Behrens]

I asked this in the HT Construction area already, but might be more suited for here: what is the typical length you can go with component cabling without seeing too much signal loss? And is there a way to bridge a distance of, say, 60 ft.?

Thanks for any input.

-Christian

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Well shorter is better, but the coax companies typically roll out 100 feet of coax and then brag about the performance. You wont need an amplifier/repeater for anything less than 100 ft.

The only amps for component signals I remember reading about suggest their use for 150+ ft. So 60 ft should be no problem.

 

[Mike Matheson]

Christian,

Are you having RG6/RG59 installed in the walls, looking to purchase pre-made cables, or looking to make your own component cables?

Just wondering. . .

Regards,

Mike

 

[Christian Behrens]

Mike,

Actually, it's a colleague of mine who is putting a HT into his new home, but this is a problem that he hasn't quite figured out how to solve.

The distance comes from the fact that his A/V equipment will be in a corner, away from the TV. Basically, the TV will be pretty much standing on it's own.

Unfortunately, the quickest route in terms of cabling is no longer possible (in the ceiling, but that's already finished), so he will have to go some distance out and about the room, thus the distance of about 60 ft.

He has CAT 5 installed and could possibly have more installed, or the component cable (without the plugs, for installation reasons.

Are you having RG6/RG59 installed in the walls

I am not familiar with these terms, can you elaborate?

One place I found that sells appropriately long component cables is S-video.com. The specs for their cable is here.

I ordered from them before (though no component cabling) and they seem to be a good company. But where to get cabling without the plugs so you can put the cable in place and then attach the plugs? Or just cut them off and put on new ones?

Thanks so far.

-Christian

 

[Mike Matheson]

Hi Christian,

RG6/RG59 are kinds of cable often used for video cable runs.

Try digging up some of the threads here at HTF related to building your own component cables--they'll have all kinds of info related to where to get the bare cable (and what kind), where to source the ends, what tools are needed and how to obtain them, etc. Try using search keywords "canare belden component cable" and see what you find. (use the Search options to select "Slowest Search (All possible results)")

A site with some info: http://www.bus.ucf.edu/cwhite/theater/diycable.htm

There are a number of recent threads at AVS also discussing this topic.

 

[Iver]

It depends on the frequency of the signal. Presumably this will be for an HDTV connection or the output from a progressive-scan DVD player?

RG59 might be a bit thin for an HDTV connection (meaning a bandwidth in the neighborhood of 30 Mhz) at the length of 60 feet.

You'd probably want to play it safe and go with a thicker coax cable, such as RG6.

Any coax for video must be 75 Ohms in order to match the impedance of the equipment at each end of the line.

As far as cutting it, you can do that yourself with a wire cutter/stripper (handy tool for doing any wiring jobs). If you buy a custom-cut length by the inch or foot off a spool, the cutting will be done for you.

Then you pull the coax throught the wall and attach RCA plugs at each end. As suggested above, you can probably find tips here on doing the actual job of connecting an RCA plug to coaxial cable.

 

[Christian Behrens]

Mike,

Thanks for that link, that's excellent information.

Cheers,

-Christian