Wireless "extension" for coax (1 Viewer)

[Adriano S.]

Hi, this is my first thread on this forum... hopefully I'll finally find an answer for one question that's been bugging me for ages.
After 2 years of living without TV, I finally caved in and bought a 50" plasma with built-in HDTV tuner. My problem, however, is the fact that the one coax outlet in my living room is on the exact opposite wall from where the TV is. The way the room is laid out, there's no way to just have a cable going over to where the TV is. I rent my apartment, so hacking into the walls to re-route the cable is not really an option. I've been looking at wireless signal senders lately, but the few I've seen wouldn't work with HDTV and/or digital cable. I'm wondering if such a device even exists...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Adriano S.]

Hmm... I'm not quite sure what just happened. There seems to be an unclosed html comment somewhere in the thread code...

 

[Allan Jayne]

Wireless "extending" or "repeating" a single NTSC broadcase 480i video signal of about 7 MHz or even a DVD 480p video signal of about 14 MHz is quite easy. "Extending" a single 37 MHz HDTV signal is possible but not all that inexpensive. I only know of 480i wireless repeaters and they don't go all the way to 7 MHz thus fine horizontal details, although still 720 to the screen width for a DVD program, are not as sharp as they could be.


"Extending" all the channels from your cable jack to your TV via wireless means is not yet available at consumer prices. Here we are dealing with several hundred megahertz worth of total signal representing over a hundred channels to choose from.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Adriano S.]

Thanks...
So, how would you do this if you were in my place? It doesnt have to be a wireless solution, but I can't make any holes in the walls, so I don't know what other options I have.

Here's what the room roughly is set up like:



And this is my TV.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Nice graphic.

My solution, and it may sound awkward, is to run a regular coaxial cable up the wall to the ceiling, and then around the edge of the room where the wall and ceiling meet [where the crown moulding is, if you have crown moulding], and then down the wall to the TV. You can hold the cable in place with heavy-duty staples, or with cuphooks, or with clips, none of which leave holes of any detectable size when removed [unless yanked carelessly out of panelling]. If need be, you can paint the cable to match the wall, or cover it up with tape the way cables are taped to the floor for music gigs and video work, although the "indoor" cables from Radio Shack come in white.

 

[Adriano S.]

We don't have moulding on our walls... plus my wife isn't too thrilled by the thought of having a cable running along the walls and ceiling. It'd sort of ruin the look of the living room. Thanks though.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

Like I say, with a little paint and tape it can be made virtually invisible ; plus, most people don't spend much time looking at the seam between the ceiling and the wall. Actually, if something is above eye level, it's invisible to almost everybody — often including whoever put it there. Just a suggestion, considering that nothing else looks likely to work for you, although I guess you could run a cable out through one door, around the inside of the place, and in through another, depending on how your overall floorplan is.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Hire an electrician to move the coax for you. They'll just remove it from the wall it's on and snake it through the basement/crawlspace and up the wall you want it to be. It'll take him/her about an hour, cost around $100 and will keep the wife at bay.

BTW, you'll have to patch the hole in the wall where it is now yourself.

Whoops, just saw the apartment thing. You may be able to get permission to move it(they may even do it for you). Just ask the landlord, it can't hurt.

 

[Adriano S.]

Thanks, but the first thing I did before posting here was ask the landlord, they said no moving anything... even though I said I'd pay for it myself. And I can't really run the cable around the corners, as the wall closest to the outlet has a window that goes over the corner as well... and the wall where the TV is is an accent wall, anything on it will be noticed.

Here's a (poor and hastily shot) panoramic, so you guys can see what I have to work with:

 

[Allan Jayne]

Can you put up with a threshold going across one of the doorways?

Then you could run the coax along the baseboard, up around the fireplace and mantel, then down and across the doorway along the floor and to the TV. You can get a molding (threshold) that sticks to the floor to cover the coax crossing the doorway. For carpeted floors a throw rug in the doorway, held down by double stick carpet tape, can also be used to cover the coax.

 

[Adriano S.]

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll do something like that. Probably run the cable under the carpet, along the baseboard.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

 

[Marc L]

yep...fish the carpet. it's relativly easy. just cost you the price of a flat metal fish tape. you may "feel" it under the carpet...but it beats the heck out of running exposed wire around your room.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

What’s behind the wall where the TV is? If you’re really lucky, it’s bedroom or something with a cable outlet. If that’s the case, you could easily split it off and install a new jack on the TV wall.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Adriano S.]

Nah, it's a storage closet. The only cable outlets that are active are the one in the den/office (for internet) and the one in the living room, shown in the picture. Also, like I said, I'm not allowed to make any holes in the walls or change routing of cables.