Re: wiring for the future

["Robert L Bass" <no-sales-spam@bassburglaralarms>]

> I'm building a house and would like to
> prewire, or at least provide adequate
> conduit for running cable later with
> regards to routing audio and video to
> most rooms in the house.  HD will be
> a factor at some point in time, but
> wiring for that now wont accomodate
> current equipment...

Actually, you can wire for HDTV but
use the same cables for standard
definition until you're ready to upgrade
your gear.  The sameRG6 that the
cable and satellite companies use to
carry HDTV will do just as well carrying
regular channels.

You should also pull three "RCA" cables
for component video to distribute
media from common sources such as
a DVD player, PC, etc., to various
rooms.  Any one of the component
cables will carry composite video
(standard TV) around the house so that
won't be wasted or redundant.

For audio distribution you need several
types of cables.  CAT5 goes to each
room for remote control station (touch
screens, etc.).  14/2 or 14/4 goes to
a volume control at the same location
as the touchpad and grom there to
the speakers.

Those few cables are pretty much all
you'll need for current and future
technology.  You could get fancy and
run fiberoptic cables but there's no
real nead for tham now or in the
near future.

> So I'm wondering what is recommended
> as far as pre-wiring a house in construction.
>  Do I run one conduit with RG6 for current
> equipment (as far as video), and then have
> an empty conduit for the future, and if
> so, what size?

Empty conduit is handy for runs that you
will be unable to access later.  However, if
the home is wood frame and there's a
basement, you should be able to access
most places for retrofit if needed.  Run
conduit where you know it will be a PITA
running cable later.

At most I would run cables through the
walls and run a single, 2" conduit as well.
If you have an attic or basement do run
at least two 3" conduits between them
and the wiring closet, wherever that will
be.

> I know this doesn't even address audio,
> which I also plan on piping to the rooms.

See comments above but the formula is
simple.  This is what I instruct my DIY
customers to do.  From the entertainment
rack or wherever your gear is, run video,
speaker level audio and CAT5 to a volume
control location in each room.  At the
V/C location make an 18" loop of extra
video cable and continue the wire over
to wherever you might someday want to
put a TV set, projector or whatever.

Do the same thing with the speaker cable.
Make an 18" loop at the V/C and continue
across the ceiling and over to the planned
speaker locations.

Once again with the CAT5, make an 18"
service loop and continue over to one of
the speakers.  It makes no difference if
it's the left or right speaker but be
consistent from room to room.  CAT5
can be used for a remote station to run a
multi-zone system such as Russound,
an A-BUS type system or a simple IR
repeating system such as Xantech.  The
CAT5 at the speaker can be connected
to an IR receiver hidden behind the grill.
This makes it easy to control your gear
with a remote, by touchpad or whatever
your heart desires and budget (or wife)
will permit.

> All of this will be homed to one room
> where I'll also have network equipment
> and at least one server...

Standard LAN cabling, CAT5e or CAT6,
will be fine for PC-based media distribution.
This is in addition to the cables already
described.

> I'll be running network to most rooms
> too, but I'm pretty sure I know how to
> take care of that.  I just want to make
> sure that I cover audio/video needs
> (current and future).

No problem.  If you would like to discuss
this stuff at greater length, feel free to
give me a call.  I'm usually around.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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Bass Home Electronics
941-925-8650
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