Clipsal Starserve And Other Types Of Tv Distribution

[JK200SX]

1. Firstly a bit of background before my Question:

Sa you want to distribute TV Video, digital STB, VCR, sat around the house to a number of points. The simplest and nastiest way would be to do what I've done at my folks house - that is run normal antenna input into first component (eg digital STB), run modulated channel through RF out and this goes into second component (eg sat receiver), modulate sat signal and take RF out to VCR (at this point you could run rca's out of DVD player intoback of VCR) and run rf cable out with this additional modulated chanel.......etc, etc. You could then run this through a splitter and then distribute to all of your TV's around the house and you would have all your standard analogue channels, digital stb channel (eg set on ABC2) through rf out, the satellite receiver on another channel allocation, DVD etc running to all your TV's - naturally you would need to tune in all of these channels and you would not have IR remote control in the other rooms (for the purpose of this discussion we will not discuss further).

the 2nd way of doing this is using something like the clipsal starserve equipment (eg 4 input modulator and distribution splitters etc) and achieve a similar result.

2. The question that I'm leading to is that more and more plasma's/lcd's these days only have a digital tuner in them (ie no analogue tuner), therefore you should still be able to pick up the digital TV channels transmitted in your area, but you would be out of luck with all the other ana;logue RF modulated channels that you are distributing through the house? How would you overcome this problem? or would you just need to ensure that every TV has an analogue tuner built in?

[mtv]

Converting digital signals to analogue defeats their purpose (eg: Sat reception, pay TV etc).

If you wanted to receive analogue signals for a screen with no analogue tuner, a simple method would be to use the analogue tuner in a vcr.

[bellotv]

JK200SX

I agree with you that RF distibution may become an issue in a few years when everything has Digital only tuner. VCR's with analog tuners as suggested by MTV is a possible work around but these are getting harder to find already.

The big question is how long will these products be available ? By the same token ,how long will devises like STB's ,Satellite decoders etc that still have RF modulators in them be available if there is less and less analog tuners to pick them up .

Heaven help large motel complexes that have just converted to Digital to analog transmodulators to enable their existing fleet of analog TV's to be compatable only to find that they can no longer replace their aging Analog TV's when required.

Issues arise in domestic cases where stand alone TV's have RF input only EG the TV on a wall mount in the bedroom ETC .This poses a problem because a VCR or similar tuner has to be physically mounted right next to or there is an AV lead connection issue.

AV connection from Wall mounted Plasmas to entertainment center seems to be an overlooked problem for most punters as they purchase their pride and joy with images of the perfect wall mounted picture only to realize that to connect DVD,STB ,Sat etc requires major cable job to hid the Eye-sore as RF connection alone just won't cut it on a HD display.

Twenty years ago an RF lead between TV and entertainment center (VCR possably with audio into a stereo amp) was all that was required.

Ten years ago SVHS connection was a big step but rare to find.

since then ,Component then DVI ,now HDMI.

Will HDMI be the ultimate AV connection to connect Plasma's ,LCD's to periferal equipment or will a new AV lead need to be run next time you update ?

I see a strong need for cable ducts between wall mount positions and entertainment centres that will allow EASY pull through of new AV cables as technology progresses.

Sorry to diverge .BTW.

On the RF side ,it is obviously essential that Good quality Coax is run to all TV positions and entertainment centres to cater for DTV and Sat IF distribution .

May analog RIP

[wahroonga farm]

Interesting problem.

Wonder if it will ever create sufficient 'pressure' to mass produce consumer DVB-T modulators.

It's still a nice way to reticulate lots of channels. Works for Optus and Telstra just fine:)

[alanh]

All,

An Australian Standard AS1367 for MATV systems is in preparation.

The proposal in the draft is to make the channel amplifiers amplify the frequencies allocated to terrestrial DTV channels and to add downconverted digital satellite signals (0.95 - 2.150 GHz) travel on the cable as well. This will mean that a digital satellite receiver will still be required, to select & decode the signal to enforce payment. After all it is pay TV! The only place that DTV-t modulators will be required is for the playing of DVD inhouse movies and information channels. Hopefully these modulators will have HDMI inputs.

DAB+ 174 - 230 MHz + L band (1.452104 - 1.49148 GHz) may also have to be added in highly populated areas for digital radio.

I will predict that the only changes will be to make the master antenna match the new channels, the channel amps matched to those channels and decent coax to the receivers. HDMI will be used for all baseband signals from satellite decoders and DVD players, if they are not internal.

AlanH

[beeblebrox]

Interesting problem.

Wonder if it will ever create sufficient 'pressure' to mass produce consumer DVB-T modulators.

It's still a nice way to reticulate lots of channels. Works for Optus and Telstra just fine:)

Not in the short term, there are commercial size solutions available in the thousands of $$ that weill probably come down a bit for the hotels and larger MATV systems but will we se $25 DVB-T modulators on ebay... not anytime soon...

As a consumer you have a choice... many of the current crop of TV's have dual tuners in them this is likely to be the case for some time yet.

Hey I have a 7" portable LCD Tv that has both Analogue and Digital tuners in it... it's not like it's expensive or difficult to build in.

[cofdmstuff]

Not in the short term, there are commercial size solutions available in the thousands of $$ that weill probably come down a bit for the hotels and larger MATV systems but will we se $25 DVB-T modulators on ebay... not anytime soon...

As a consumer you have a choice... many of the current crop of TV's have dual tuners in them this is likely to be the case for some time yet.

Hey I have a 7" portable LCD Tv that has both Analogue and Digital tuners in it... it's not like it's expensive or difficult to build in.

Agreed, also note that the input of any modulator is a TS (Transport Stream), not an A/V.

If you want to input A/V you will then need an encoder (more $$) and if you want to include all the services of one digital channel, you will need as many encoders as A/V's are present......and finally a multiplexer, the output of which can then be connected to the modulator.

All in all it's lots and lots of $$$$ but I am sure there will be a need for it in the short term.

[andrewlace]

At the moment the most cost effective solution is the esx200 to get dvbt cofdm out.

I think WES components sell an analogue tuner.

That said the ESX is one cool thing - six video streams on one mux

Otherwise use an old VCR

Edited February 28, 2009 by andrewlace

[Timmy Downawell]

That said the ESX is one cool thing - six video streams on one mux

hmmm, what are they worth?

[sulrich]

BUMP!

Has there been any new products in the last 6-12 months which handle video/audio & IR distribution well? Online Shops that people could recommend?

Surely with the surge in HDMI equipped devices there are other means now other than RF distribution? The Clipsal stuff seems outdated, and grossly overpriced for what it does.

Thanks & Cheers

Steve

[RF Burns]

BUMP!

Has there been any new products in the last 6-12 months which handle video/audio & IR distribution well? Online Shops that people could recommend?

Surely with the surge in HDMI equipped devices there are other means now other than RF distribution? The Clipsal stuff seems outdated, and grossly overpriced for what it does.

Thanks & Cheers

Steve

I'm not going looking for them today to list them, try google (not being nasty, I just don't have the time).

There are products stating to emerge now, but still very expensive, that distributes AV (Digital & Analogue) & IR via Cat5e,Cat 6, Cat 7, etc. LAN data networks. You plug a converter into each end & feed it through the LAN data network or plug a converter into the TV end, & use a computer to serve video & audio out to the TV's &/or save video from an STB to a central point without needing a PVR at every TV. Doing it this way you also don't need to have DVD players, STB's (Foxtel/DTV), etc at every TV, you can have them all out of the way (under stairs,.etc) at one spot as they can be controlled remotely via IR through the LAN. All you need out in the room is a DATA outlet, a TV & a small converter box plugged into the TV via AV leads or HDMI cable. Distribution like this is much better as you don't need coax running everywhere & don't have to worry about distribution signal losses/amplification, & you can have data outlets literally everywhere & TV's, computers & phones can be easily moved or put anywhere & distribution can be changed by just patching the outlet to a different source in the patch panel cabinet by unplugging one end of one lead & plugging it back in somewhere else.

I've just recently wired my brothers new house to accommodate it when it becomes cheaper, his house has been dual wired, coax for current RF distribution & a Cat 6, data network (3 data outlets at every TV point for TV/computer/phone?), + extra phone/computer points in all rooms, which all go back to a patch panel, in the communications cabinet/room under the stairs.

[sulrich]

There are products stating to emerge now, but still very expensive, that distributes AV (Digital & Analogue) & IR via Cat5e,Cat 6, Cat 7, etc. LAN data networks. You plug a converter into each end & feed it through the LAN data network or plug a converter into the TV end, & use a computer to serve video & audio out to the TV's &/or save video from an STB to a central point without needing a PVR at every TV. Doing it this way you also don't need to have DVD players, STB's (Foxtel/DTV), etc at every TV, you can have them all out of the way (under stairs,.etc) at one spot as they can be controlled remotely via IR through the LAN. All you need out in the room is a DATA outlet, a TV & a small converter box plugged into the TV via AV leads or HDMI cable. Distribution like this is much better as you don't need coax running everywhere & don't have to worry about distribution signal losses/amplification, & you can have data outlets literally everywhere & TV's, computers & phones can be easily moved or put anywhere & distribution can be changed by just patching the outlet to a different source in the patch panel cabinet by unplugging one end of one lead & plugging it back in somewhere else.

I've just recently wired my brothers new house to accommodate it when it becomes cheaper, his house has been dual wired, coax for current RF distribution & a Cat 6, data network (3 data outlets at every TV point for TV/computer/phone?), + extra phone/computer points in all rooms, which all go back to a patch panel, in the communications cabinet/room under the stairs.

Thanks for this Glenn - so you can shove Cat5e at various points, use a patch panel to control and separate the video/ir feed with the data network - and run things that way? Sounds the go to me.

I have RG6 throughout the house, Im tweaking a bit (ie. checking my work) to try and reduce signal loss (foxtel is fed through the antenna loop). I am not confident that my run (which is about 12 metres from the fox box to the main splitter - and there is another part of the loop that has to come back that way so that like 24 metres of RG6, and you have a splitter in the mix as well) with an amp at the fox box input end is working as well as it could - so I was looking at alternatives.

Certainly IR distribution is something I want to move to, as the wireless IR solution isnt work that well for us.

Thank & Cheers

Steve