Re: Structured approach to cabling

["Keith Doxey" <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

Sorry I'm a little late coming in on this thread but my email has been down
all day due to the IBM stinkpad dying. All OK now after a rebuild.

Julian asked....
> I am new to HA, but quite sold on the idea.
> Does anybody have any tips for flood wiring?

I think virtually everything has been covered by the rest of the guys.

Definately run multiple runs of CT100 or CT125 Satellite coax for TV,FM,Sat
use.

2.5 mm sq cable for speakers, either 2.5 T&E or 79/0.2 figure 8 but
dont
waste money on the audiophile stuff.

CAT5 everywhere. Windows, lightswitches, sensors and lots of outlets. I
plan
to have a minimum of 2 CAT5 outlets at each double power point.

Mark Harrison said...
>I don't know what the next "big thing" to hit will be,
>but I'm certain that there'll be a good way to do it over CAT-5.

There is already Gigabit ethernet over CAT 5 and since I built my Video and
SVGA over CAT5 boxes there are 4 or 5 companies that I know of that are now
selling similar designs commercially.

I MUST GET MY DESIGNS ON THE WEBSITE !!!

Back to the cabling....

Spend plenty of time working out the cable routes BEFORE you start.
Document it well, there will be lots of cables.
Take photo's/video of cable runs for future reference, especially if
something will be hidden. Wherever possible pull multiple cables at once,
it
saves loads of time. Pull cables slowly and gently. Rapid tugs will stretch
and break the wires as well as causing friction burns to the sheaths of
other cables.

Pull long lengths of cable off the reels/out of the boxes and lay it out in
a long free flowing loop on the ground to reduce the force required for
pulling. If pulling several CAT5 to the same location tape them together at
1 metre intervals to keep things tidy and stop them getting tangled,
twisted
or snagged during pulling. Use a few of your mates to help you. Have one of
them support and guide the cable at the feeding end to avoid kinks, snags
and friction burns to the cables already pulled. Support the cable where it
crosses joists so that the bottom cables arent crushed by the weight of the
whole bunch.

When planning for possible future cabling, dont expect to be able to pull
through conduit that has existing cables. The cables already in the conduit
will cause the new cables to jam as they cross over each other and if you
have a drawstring in the conduit it can cut into the existing cables.
Provide EMPTY conduit with a drawstring. Also if you have a main route
through the housewhere the majority of the cables run, screw the flooboards
in place so they are easy to remove later if required.

Mark McCall mentioned prewiring for a future projector. This isnt as much
of
a dream as it seems. Yesterday I spent the afternoon auditioning some new
LCD projectors as replacements for the ones we currently use at work.

3 years ago they spent a load of money on a Proxima VGA (640x480).

2 years ago slightly less money for some Nview SVGA (800x600).

Last year 6K each for Litepro XGA (1024x768).

The machines I saw yesterday were all XGA, smaller, quieter, brighter and
CHEAPER than the previous years models.

All of the projectors we have are multimedia Video/Data and are still
perfectly functional although the VGA one is hardly ever used as its data
resolution is too low for most PC applications these days.

The Home Cinema market is now being attacked with low cost Video only
projectors and there are also quite a few data only projectors. A
secondhand
data only projector can easily be used for Home Cinema by sticking a WinTV
card in an old PC so then you have movies and games on the big screen. As
commercial users replace outdated projectors they will filter into the
secondhand market at very reasonable prices due to the falling cost and
higher spec of the newer machines. Dont forget that only a few years ago
most peoples big TV set was 22".

To prewire for a projector, plan where you would have the screen and then
run the cables along the centre line across the ceiling from front to back.
That way whatever projector you get can easily be installed by cutting a
small hole in the ceiling and pulling the cable through. Dont forget a
mains
supply for it though and a CAT5 for remote control as many of them can be
controlled by RS232 as well as IR :-))

Hope that gives you food for thought,

Keith

Keith Doxey
http://www.btinternet.com/~krazy.keith
Krazy Keith's World of DIY HomeAutomation


> -----Original Message-----
> From: julian@xxxxxxx [mailto:julian@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 12 May 1999 18:31
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] Structured approach to cabling
>
>

>
> My concern is that whilst I have all the floors up and have the
> chance to install as much cable as I wish, I put the right sort
> in the right place, and enough of it. Once the floor goes down
> that's it - no more cables.
>
> I supose I'm thinking in terms of a masterlist to go through so
> that nothing is forgotten. My immediate thoughts are to use a
> HomeVision controller, lots of X10, speaker cables for through
> house audio, and integrated security system and  and ...... can't
> think of anything else at this stage.
>
> TIA
>
>
>
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