Fellow AZBoxers:
We added a second HDTV in our house in our finished basement. The primary HDTV with my Premium +/GBox combo is upstairs and I would like to be able to watch FTA broadcasts on either HDTV. I need to figure out how to get the AZBox HD signal from one HDTV to the other one. Before I go through my options and ask for advice, here is the lay of the land:
1. We built and live in a post & beam house, so, standard in-wall cable running is difficult, if not impossible, because of the construction.
2. There is an existing coax running between the two locations that I installed tears ago before we finished the basement. I ran it from the upstairs TV location to the downstairs TV location so I could watch my 4DTV from either location -- worked like a charm. (The RF remote made this easy)
Here are my options as I see them.
1. Use the existing coax. Can I send the AZBox broadcasts through coax to one HDTV and through HDMI to the other one? Can the coax carry digital audio and 1080-resolution video? (I will test this tonight.) I think I have enough coax to go from one HDTV to the other through the house. If I can view the FTA broadcast in HD through the coax, I could either:
2. Run component video and digital audio cables from upstairs to downstairs. This would involve cable-pulling. If I'm lucky, I didn't staple the original coax to any of the finished basement wall studs, so I can use the coax to attach the new cables to pull through to the basement. The run would be about 25'. Is the component video output capable of a 1080 resolution? If I did this, I could run the component video cables and audio cable directly into the back of the amplifier like my other components. On the Premium +, can I run two separate signals out of the box in two different systems (HDMI for one and component video/digital audio for the other)?
3. Buy an HDMI splitter, split the signal upstairs, and run a second HDMI cable from upstairs to downstairs. I know HDMI cables aren't cheap and I know one about 25' long (if they exist) will cost me well in excess of $100. I would have to pull if through using the coax as I described in #2. I've taken a look at some HDMI splitters and they are also expensive. This would be my most expensive option, unless I:
4. Go wireless. I would probably still need a splitter to take the HDMI signal from the AZBox and send it to two locations. This would be the hassle-free option if the wireless was reliable and the broadcast was HD.
I'm hoping I can do Option 1a or 1b (if the converter is cheap and works). If anyone has any experience or advice, I would be grateful. I won't get to this before the weekend of April 21-22 and I will follow up with the results.
Thanks!
We added a second HDTV in our house in our finished basement. The primary HDTV with my Premium +/GBox combo is upstairs and I would like to be able to watch FTA broadcasts on either HDTV. I need to figure out how to get the AZBox HD signal from one HDTV to the other one. Before I go through my options and ask for advice, here is the lay of the land:
1. We built and live in a post & beam house, so, standard in-wall cable running is difficult, if not impossible, because of the construction.
2. There is an existing coax running between the two locations that I installed tears ago before we finished the basement. I ran it from the upstairs TV location to the downstairs TV location so I could watch my 4DTV from either location -- worked like a charm. (The RF remote made this easy)
Here are my options as I see them.
1. Use the existing coax. Can I send the AZBox broadcasts through coax to one HDTV and through HDMI to the other one? Can the coax carry digital audio and 1080-resolution video? (I will test this tonight.) I think I have enough coax to go from one HDTV to the other through the house. If I can view the FTA broadcast in HD through the coax, I could either:
a. Plug the coax directly into the downstairs HDTV and run a digital audio cable to the amplifier.
b. Use, if one exists, a coax-to-HDMI converter box and go directly into one of the amplifier inputs. Does anyone have experience with such a converter?
b. Use, if one exists, a coax-to-HDMI converter box and go directly into one of the amplifier inputs. Does anyone have experience with such a converter?
2. Run component video and digital audio cables from upstairs to downstairs. This would involve cable-pulling. If I'm lucky, I didn't staple the original coax to any of the finished basement wall studs, so I can use the coax to attach the new cables to pull through to the basement. The run would be about 25'. Is the component video output capable of a 1080 resolution? If I did this, I could run the component video cables and audio cable directly into the back of the amplifier like my other components. On the Premium +, can I run two separate signals out of the box in two different systems (HDMI for one and component video/digital audio for the other)?
3. Buy an HDMI splitter, split the signal upstairs, and run a second HDMI cable from upstairs to downstairs. I know HDMI cables aren't cheap and I know one about 25' long (if they exist) will cost me well in excess of $100. I would have to pull if through using the coax as I described in #2. I've taken a look at some HDMI splitters and they are also expensive. This would be my most expensive option, unless I:
4. Go wireless. I would probably still need a splitter to take the HDMI signal from the AZBox and send it to two locations. This would be the hassle-free option if the wireless was reliable and the broadcast was HD.
I'm hoping I can do Option 1a or 1b (if the converter is cheap and works). If anyone has any experience or advice, I would be grateful. I won't get to this before the weekend of April 21-22 and I will follow up with the results.
Thanks!
