CAT 5E WIRING

[hawkhuntr]

We have a new RV home in a remote location that will only accept satelite TV. I currently have gone under the trailer to start wiring for phone and tv. THe builder wired all the phone and TV connections using CAT5e wiring, Inside the trailer are three COAX Wall jacks, for TV's. When I pulled the Wall jacks off to expose the box, I see coax going behind the wall of the trailer. SInce the sections are already joined, I cannot trace any of the wiring behind the walls, so I have no clue what connections are made to convert the COAX to CAT-5e. Under the trailer there are three cat-5e wires that I have traced to the wall jacks using a tone generator. I called the builder and asked where the coax terminates and he told me all the new houses are wired cat-5 for HI def and latest technology, and the professionals who install the tv will know what to do.

Since I am closing up the underside of the trailer, I want to extend the wiring to the outside. I never heard of wiring any satellite dish using CAT-5E. I know a phone connection is needed for the cable box download and there is another phone jack next to the coax jack so thats not an issue. I always thought cat-5e was used for just networking. I have no problems hooking up the phones as i only need tip and ring, the rest of the wiring is overkill, but ill keep it for spare pairs if needed.

I don't want to set up a network hub, just to be able to watch TV in one or two rooms. don't care about having separate channels either, maybe kids will watch a dvd in one room while others watch a tv movie in other but for most part we will most likely all watch the same thing at same time and only have one tv at all.

can anyone tell me first of all if this builder wired the trailer correctly for TV or should they have used coax for the tv connections and not cat-5e.

can anyone tell me if its possible to hook up a dish to cat-5e. IF so what kind of equipment is needed.

If this is possible, and I only use one satellite dish, can I wire the three cat-5E terminations to one termination block and use a converter to the satellite dish
to split the signal to all three wall plates.

I ahve wired cat-5 netowrks before. I can use krone blocks o punch down the terminations and I can jumper everything to one connector if needed. I just dont know how to convert 5e to coax and if it will work with a satellite dish.

thanks for any advice

 

[Stargazer]

Any connection from the satellite dish to the satellite receiver MUST have RG-6 coax wire. Going from the receivers to televisions can have an adapter/device that could convert it from coax/ A/V cables into ethernet wires.

 

[hawkhuntr]

Thanks for the reply stargazer. - SO if I am understanding you correctly then - (and this is what I thought) this is wired incorrectly and the builder should have used coax for the TV wall plates.? since the dish will be located outside the home and the receiver usually goes inside by the tv?

If I used some kind of balun outside by the dish to convert it to coax to connect to the dish -does that suffice ? IF not IM going back and telling him to rewire for coax.

this would be my final result

inside home - coax wall plate to receiver
converted behind wall to cat-5e
outside home - Cat-5e converted coax to connect to dish

 

[cparker]

You're going to end up doing some expensive converting on both ends of that cable. One to convert RG6 to Cat5 and then at your TV you'll have to go cat5 back to RG6.

The builder screwed up. Have him pull the RG6 he should have used from the beginning.

 

[DishSatUser]

Weird.

You sure that the coax simply doesn't just terminate somewhere else and the Cat-5e is just for the telephone service?

Converters (baluns) are expensive for Cat-5e use. Seems to have been significantly more costly.

 

[hawkhuntr]

yes - im sure - i connected all the phone lines alread and had three extra cat 55's i couldn't figure out where they were - so then i called the builder and he told me the cat-5's were for the TV" when I threw tone on it - sure enough it came out of the coax - i checked the whole underside of the trailer and saw no coax pigtails hanging or even outside - im sure they screwed up- but i cant imaging they wire all their new houses this way like he said and don't have issues

 

[hendrix04]

So what kind of TV do you hook up Cat5 to? lol

 

[Zoreo]

There's no simple cheap way to interconnect RG6 and Cat5. They are totally different formats- one RF, one digital. In your case the logical thing is to stick with RG6. It is customary these days to terminate all cable runs at some central point- like a box on the outside. If you can find such a termination point then you can interconnect the cables as necessary. If you don't have a RG6 going where you need it than I would run the cable myself- I'm not sure how you do that in a RV home but there is (almost) always a way if one is inventive enough.

 

[mikeandmary]

This might not be the right place, but I am a newbie here. I also have a new trailer with one satellite feed on the outside of the trailer. I have 3 TV connections inside the trailer and would like to install a receiver at 2 of them or all 3 if I can. I don't want to put holes in my new trailer. How can I do it? BTW, one of the receivers is a PVR?

 

[Jim5506]

Contact the manufacturer of the trailer and determine exactly what type of "satellite connection" it is on the outside, then we may be able to advise further.

There may be a connector somewhere in a closet or panel where you can place either a switch or a receiver, or disconnect unused cable runs.

You may not get by without drilling holes.

 

[mikeandmary]

Thanks for the reply. I will provide a bit more detail, I have traced the wire for the satellite feed back to the living area it is a "grey" wire. There is also a "cable" feed from outside to the living area and it is "black" and is connected to some type of device on the back of the outlet where 2 "white" cables go out to the 2 bedrooms. Not sure if I might have an option of using this somehow as a secondary feed in from the dish?

 

[navychop]

I've seen some strange stuff in RVs, including my own, but this takes the cake.


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[harshness]

This might not be the right place, but I am a newbie here. I also have a new trailer with one satellite feed on the outside of the trailer. I have 3 TV connections inside the trailer and would like to install a receiver at 2 of them or all 3 if I can. I don't want to put holes in my new trailer. How can I do it? BTW, one of the receivers is a PVR?

You need to be more specific about what the dish and receivers are and what type of TVs (SD vs HD) they will serve.

Depending on the dish, you may be able to use a dual receiver to serve two TVs off of a single coax. Anything more would require additional coax in from the dish and at that point, it doesn't really matter how many.

 

[mikeandmary]

Thanks for the reply. I have 2 HD TV's currently. One being served by a SD receiver, the other being served by an HD receiver. At this point since it is basically just our weekend retreat, I don't really care about HD so much. We have a Shaw direct 4 port dish and LNBF.If I were going to run 2 tv's from one receiver how would I go about it?

 

[harshness]

Thanks for the reply. I have 2 HD TV's currently. One being served by a SD receiver, the other being served by an HD receiver. At this point since it is basically just our weekend retreat, I don't really care about HD so much. We have a Shaw direct 4 port dish and LNBF.If I were going to run 2 tv's from one receiver how would I go about it?

I had assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that you were a DISH subscriber since you hijacked a thread in the DISH forum. If I assumed correctly, then you could use something like the DISH ViP722 that serves two TVs with independent programming and runs off a single coax.

If you subscribe to Shaw, I'm pretty sure you're out of luck. The PVR (DSR530 or DSR630) requires two cables and will deliver only one TV worth of viewing.

 

[mikeandmary]

This is what I thought. I was thinking I might be able to use a multi switch to solve the problem but not too sure. Apparently there are only a few brands that will actually work with Shaw. If I could find one it would be good as I would be able to connect my PVR unit.

 

[boba]

Thanks for the reply. I will provide a bit more detail, I have traced the wire for the satellite feed back to the living area it is a "grey" wire. There is also a "cable" feed from outside to the living area and it is "black" and is connected to some type of device on the back of the outlet where 2 "white" cables go out to the 2 bedrooms. Not sure if I might have an option of using this somehow as a secondary feed in from the dish?

Satellite Guys has a Canadian Services Forum if you are a Shaw customer that may answer your questions. Maybe a moderator will move this to correct forum.

 

[harshness]

This is what I thought. I was thinking I might be able to use a multi switch to solve the problem but not too sure.

If you have four or less tuners, a multiswitch won't improve your situation. If you have more, running four cables in and installing the multiswitch gives you 8 tuner capability.

The only single cable option for Shaw is a single receiver.