Operation 'Do we need all this stuff'

[mookydudz]

The title is what the mrs is calling my new project, and as we all know the simple answer is "Of course we do!"

I have 3 panels, 2 15" monitors, 2 Sky+ HD boxes, 2 laptops, Onkyo 606, PS3, 500gb Lacie NAS, JVC DVD surround sound & a desktop i don't know what to do with.

I have got my living room setup with one sky hd box & ps3 plugged through the onkyo with 5.0 with some crappy JVC speakers. I'll be buying some Alumni's very soon without SWMBO finding out how much!

I have a cheap polaroid tv (19" i think??) i picked up for £50 on the wall in the kitchen displaying nowt as yet.

Our bedroom has an LG 32" mounted in a kind of floating wall effect with Ikea LED's around the edges of the board. It's 90% finished but the Mrs wants me to paper the board but i want everything done wiring wise before i fix it permanently. I've got a pair of hdmi baluns from the 2nd Sky hd box in the garage and ir via a sky eye.

What i want to achieve eventually is have everything located in the garage on a rack leaving a minimal tv setup in 3 rooms. I have built the rack from scratch to a 19" rack spec & mounted it on the wall. Currently i only have 1 sky hd box on it (balancing!!) on a spare bit of mdf & a 16 port patch panel. There is 2 coax (for sky rf2 ir control), 2 runs of sky+ coax running from the dish into the rack. I need to run a phone line extension to it and re locate the NAS & router. I'm in need of a switch so if anyone knows of one 'much cheapness' i'd be ordering it asap.

Overall we want multi-room HD video & audio in various rooms. We are getting sonos so that will be intergrated eventually. I would like to use zone 2 on the Onkyo to power some outdoor speakers. I have only run 2 cat5e to the master bedroom at the moment. They are on the outside of our 3 storey house which is neat & tidy & cant be seen from the street or garden. I wish i had a blank canvas to start running cables easier than trying for a week to route them around the back of dot & dab walls. The house has been decorated so i'm reluctant to start channelling out walls, maybe next time.

Any way here are some pics of what i've done so far.....
Bedroom & 19" home made rack
               

[elootos]

(03-13-2010 03:58 PM)mookydudz Wrote:  I wish i had a blank canvas to start running cables easier than trying for a week to route them around the back of dot & dab walls. The house has been decorated so i'm reluctant to start channelling out walls, maybe next time.

Wow, you've certainly got a good plan with lots to get done, great project(s)! Nice having everything located in the garage as well.


As for wiring around the home, don't forget that you can always utilise Homeplugs, which although not the greatest way to send data around the home, get you out of having to run/chase cabling through walls.

Keep us updated

[mookydudz]

I've tried to use homeplugs purchased from pc world (Belkin Gigabit) and they were pump!! We live in a new build & i was trying to connect the dowstairs ring main to the top floor ring main without much success. I only managed to connect twice & then it was running at 1.8k!! I gave up & thought hardline is the way to go.

Does anyone know how to control 2 sky+ hd boxes via ir without it changing both boxes over at the same time. Having seen Keene's IR Commander Here i cannot find a complete solution. If i could control one as sky+ hd & the other as a standard box maybe that would work. I'll draw out my plans later but i've got to take my mother & mrs out for dinner so i can get the brownie points in!!

Elootos i don't know if this post is in the correct forum (Gallery), what do you think?

[phillj]

(03-14-2010 12:13 PM)mookydudz Wrote:  I've tried to use homeplugs purchased from pc world (Belkin Gigabit) and they were pump!! We live in a new build & i was trying to connect the dowstairs ring main to the top floor ring main without much success. I only managed to connect twice & then it was running at 1.8k!! I gave up & thought hardline is the way to go.

Does anyone know how to control 2 sky+ hd boxes via ir without it changing both boxes over at the same time. Having seen Keene's IR Commander Here i cannot find a complete solution. If i could control one as sky+ hd & the other as a standard box maybe that would work. I'll draw out my plans later but i've got to take my mother & mrs out for dinner so i can get the brownie points in!!

Elootos i don't know if this post is in the correct forum (Gallery), what do you think?

For the sky stuff, it depends if money is an object or not, but you can get a HDMI matrix switch with built in IR:

http://ukhdmi.com/octava-hdmx44cat-uk-4x...h_QQ101776

It will cost you though

[mookydudz]

(07-30-2010 08:27 AM)phillj Wrote:  

(03-14-2010 12:13 PM)mookydudz Wrote:  I've tried to use homeplugs purchased from pc world (Belkin Gigabit) and they were pump!! We live in a new build & i was trying to connect the dowstairs ring main to the top floor ring main without much success. I only managed to connect twice & then it was running at 1.8k!! I gave up & thought hardline is the way to go.

Does anyone know how to control 2 sky+ hd boxes via ir without it changing both boxes over at the same time. Having seen Keene's IR Commander Here i cannot find a complete solution. If i could control one as sky+ hd & the other as a standard box maybe that would work. I'll draw out my plans later but i've got to take my mother & mrs out for dinner so i can get the brownie points in!!

Elootos i don't know if this post is in the correct forum (Gallery), what do you think?

For the sky stuff, it depends if money is an object or not, but you can get a HDMI matrix switch with built in IR:

http://ukhdmi.com/octava-hdmx44cat-uk-4x...h_QQ101776

It will cost you though

Thanks Phill i had considered this model but have gone for a simple HDMI matrix & balun combination. There is only 3 of us in the house & it has been very rare for us to try & watch/change channels on sky at the same time. It tends to be the Mrs wanting to watch Hollyoaks while i'm faffing around with a film.

My original plan has now completely changed!!

I now have an Onkyo 606 with Mordaunt Short Alumnis, 1 Sky+ HD, WDTV Live, Ps3, Nas & 2tb of storage.

I am using the PS3 as a blu ray player & streaming films to the WDTV as it has more compatability with various file formats, notibly MKV. The PS3 is pretty limited now they've removed the other OS option & the uber cool thing that WDTV does that the PS3 doesn't is ......MOVIE SHEETS!!


Sorry the 2nd one is foreign but i'm at work and the image search is sh*t! Hope you see what i'm getting at..