New house - suggestions for new install?

[cparker]

Moving to a new house. It's a brick ranch with full basement. It's "L" shaped and not real large. Visualize a 50 ft square and then subtract a 25 foot square from the lower left corner. What remains is roughly the footprint of the house.

My current guess is that the dish(es) will have to be mounted at the upper left of that imaginary drawing, and the TV locations to be serviced will be at the upper right and lower right. I could conceivably be looking at 100 feet of coax between the dish location and the farthest TV. Currently we have just 2 receivers. A VIP622 on our living room TV and a 508PVR in the bedroom. I will also have an outdoor OTA antenna added into the mix somewhere. That is currently only hooked up to the living room TV, but I may want to rethink that to have a single antenna available for living room and bedroom (the bedroom TV now has it's own indoor antenna, but it's on a second floor so it works OK from there).

Should I be thinking about putting in a panel location in the basement somewhere about midpoint of the house?

If so, would I then run 2 RG6 cables from the dish location to the panel and mount switches on the panel? And then run single cables from the panel to the TV locations. Actually I should run 2 RG6 to each TV location ... one for satellite and one for OTA antenna feed.... right?

I'm trying to plan ahead a little. Our mortgage is approved, but we probably won't actually close on the property until mid August.

My wife is asking if I can wall mount our bedroom LCD and hide the satellite receiver. I'm not sure the 508PVR can do RF. I'll have to check. If it can, then there's actually a clothes closet immediately next to where she wants the wall mount so I don't think that would be too difficult. If it can't... then I may have to upgrade that receiver to a 612

I have a good deal of electrical work to do. Upgrade the current 100amp service to 150 (or possibly 200... the house is only 1400 square feet so not sure 200amp is necessary... that will be a purely cost-driven decision once I get estimates)). Change all outlets to grounded outlets. Add some outlets. At that time I'll also ask the electrician about running a proper ground to the end of the house where satellite dishes would mount (opposite ends of the "L"). I'll also be adding cat5 jacks. I have a 24-port patch panel just waiting to be used.

Can you think of anything I'm missing? Or give me advice on the central panel thing? Necessary? Better than not having it central?

 

[webbydude]

With regards to your 508 receiver. Yes, it only does IR. But with that said, why not get an IR/UHF converter. At least then you can put the receiver in a remote location.

 

[boba]

508 out of the box is IR/UHF comes with the silver remote.

 

[steve4810]

It might help if we knew how many birds you are currently picking up and if you are in eastern arc territory and if/what bird your locals are on.

All this will let the really smart folk here figure what model dishes would be best and where and what switches will work for you.

Congratulations on the new casa!

 

[webbydude]

508 out of the box is IR/UHF comes with the silver remote.

Good point

Only reason I didn't mention it was that I figured he must have gotten an IR only remote somewhere along the way (hence his concern about hiding the 508)

 

[steve4810]

One other thing that would help is why you picked the probable location for the dishes. Is it the only place with a clear view of the southern sky? Do you have a spouse (or you) who doesn't want the dishes visible from the street?

I know I have re-thought and repositioned my dishes to three different places though they worked in all spots some worked better for other reasons (wire length, penetration, location of TVs inside, etc).

 

[Skibum]

If I recall correctly, the 508 should come with a Platinum remote which is a UHF only remote. The 508 can definitely do IR as well, but every 501/508/510 I've ever installed came with a Platinum remote.

If you're cabling yourself, cparker, and cost is no issue, then wiring several locations throughout your house with double-runs of RG-6 and double-runs of Cat5 or Cat6 will set you up well for flexibility. Wire them all to a central location. If your basement is not finished, location down there really doesn't matter. I'd put the junction in a location where access would be easy should you finish the basement (if it's not finished...?). Wire at least 3-4 runs to the probable dish location; I ran 6 outside in my house. Could be satellite feeds, satellite internet, cable, antenna... you want flexibility, right? ;D

If cost is an issue, you can get away with just one feed to each location. A satellite signal, OTA signal, and TV2 backfeed can be fed on one cable, though it's very much less than optimal.

 

[cparker]

Ok so the 508 isn't an issue.
I'm currently shooting 110/119 and 61.5.
Locals appear to be on 61.5
Location is near Niagara Falls (or Buffalo), NY.
2 dishes.... 3 birds. I thought I had all this in the first post, but I ramble on so much it's probably not easy to spot.

Why my proposed dish location on the house? To get them as far away from the pines I have to shoot over as possible. There's a row of pines down the south side of the house. I am pretty near certain I can clear them looking southwest for 110/119 from the northeast corner of the building AND they won't be visible from the street. I don't think 61.5 will be a problem at all as the pines stop at the back of the house ... they don't run the full length of the property line. So 61.5 should be a very clear shot.

We only have 2 TVs. If I wall mount the bedroom one, then I don't need flexibility in that room. Wife is set on the location of the TV in the living room. So I'm not sure I want to add cable connections in that room anywhere else. So why bother with a central panel in the basement? I figured it would be easier LATER if I want to add a run to the back patio, or to the kitchen, to have a panel with switches mounted and stuff right in one place and work from there.

Basement is currently unfinished. I'm going to add 2 rooms down there, neither of which will be media rooms, and it will end up being partly finished... and partly basement.

I figured I could decide on a panel location for the satellite stuff and also mount my cat5 patch panel there, locate the DSL modem and switch there, possibly set up multiroom speakers from there.... stuff like that.

 

[whatchel1]

Good reason for a panel

Ok so the 508 isn't an issue.
I'm currently shooting 110/119 and 61.5.
Locals appear to be on 61.5
Location is near Niagara Falls (or Buffalo), NY.
2 dishes.... 3 birds. I thought I had all this in the first post, but I ramble on so much it's probably not easy to spot.

Why my proposed dish location on the house? To get them as far away from the pines I have to shoot over as possible. There's a row of pines down the south side of the house. I am pretty near certain I can clear them looking southwest for 110/119 from the northeast corner of the building AND they won't be visible from the street. I don't think 61.5 will be a problem at all as the pines stop at the back of the house ... they don't run the full length of the property line. So 61.5 should be a very clear shot.

We only have 2 TVs. If I wall mount the bedroom one, then I don't need flexibility in that room. Wife is set on the location of the TV in the living room. So I'm not sure I want to add cable connections in that room anywhere else. So why bother with a central panel in the basement? I figured it would be easier LATER if I want to add a run to the back patio, or to the kitchen, to have a panel with switches mounted and stuff right in one place and work from there.

Basement is currently unfinished. I'm going to add 2 rooms down there, neither of which will be media rooms, and it will end up being partly finished... and partly basement.

I figured I could decide on a panel location for the satellite stuff and also mount my cat5 patch panel there, locate the DSL modem and switch there, possibly set up multiroom speakers from there.... stuff like that.

The above list of electronic devices makes for a good reason to have an A/V panel box. You can mount all the wiring (DSL modem, patch bay, home runs for the Cat 5 and all sat RG 6 cable home runs). The A/V panels from Leviton only cost around $50 and will mount between the studs in a wall. The panel comes with a white metal cover that can be painted to match the surrounding color so you will have a central location that you can connect everything an be able to service easily.

 

[steve4810]

The above list of electronic devices makes for a good reason to have an A/V panel box. You can mount all the wiring (DSL modem, patch bay, home runs for the Cat 5 and all sat RG 6 cable home runs). The A/V panels from Leviton only cost around $50 and will mount between the studs in a wall. The panel comes with a white metal cover that can be painted to match the surrounding color so you will have a central location that you can connect everything an be able to service easily.

Shouldn't this guy also consider HDMI wiring? Or is the future a STB on every TV?

 

[cparker]

Shouldn't this guy also consider HDMI wiring? Or is the future a STB on every TV?

It's a single story house with a basement and an attic. Running lines really isn't all that hard.

My question originally related just to the satellite and antenna. But now I'm thinking that a central location for AV and network and who knows what all else, might not be such a bad idea. I have a pretty good idea of the location I think I'm going to use. It's either in the basement OR in the main floor entry hall closet. I'm sorta leaning towards the basement, personally.

 

[steve4810]

It's a single story house with a basement and an attic. Running lines really isn't all that hard.

My question originally related just to the satellite and antenna. But now I'm thinking that a central location for AV and network and who knows what all else, might not be such a bad idea. I have a pretty good idea of the location I think I'm going to use. It's either in the basement OR in the main floor entry hall closet. I'm sorta leaning towards the basement, personally.

Did you catch my drift on HDMI? I was getting at the idea that a show that is recorded on one DVR should be available to all TVs in the house... in HD. Without HDMI cables or an external hardrive that you move room to room you can't do this now, on counting slingbox technology that some folks say will fill every cutting edge Dish customer's home.

 

[cparker]

Did you catch my drift on HDMI? I was getting at the idea that a show that is recorded on one DVR should be available to all TVs in the house... in HD. Without HDMI cables or an external hardrive that you move room to room you can't do this now, on counting slingbox technology that some folks say will fill every cutting edge Dish customer's home.

I appreciate what you're saying. And if it was a matter of having walls open and putting in whatever I could before they were closed up, I might think differently. But for 3 months... and maybe as many as 6 or 7 months.... I'll be paying 2 mortgages. The new place is getting an electric service entrance upgrade. Probably to 200amp service. That's about $1500 here. Almost all the electrical outlets are 2-prong and I need them all changed over to proper grounded outlets. I am 90% sure there's a bare ground in the boxes, but I won't have an opportunity to open one up until Wednesday evening at the earliest. There's a low voltage lighting control system controlling the overhead fixtures with a master panel at the front entrance and in the main bedroom. It was installed in 1960 and while it's kinda cool, it's also beginning to fail. Replacement parts are not available, and I may have to drop conventional switch legs from every overhead fixture.

See where this is going? The electrical work still has some unknowns that *could* get kinda pricey. And while I *may* be able to run some "future-proofing" wiring once I know the electrical budget needs, my main concern right now is to get what I need for the near term. TV, networking, phone.

A centralized wiring closet appeals to me. I will also (hopefully) help me stay organized.

So I really do appreciate all advice and ideas. I just have to weigh them all in as I get more information on what OTHER surprises I may have coming. heheheh.... I hate moving.

 

[steve4810]

So I really do appreciate all advice and ideas. I just have to weigh them all in as I get more information on what OTHER surprises I may have coming. heheheh.... I hate moving.

Ah well. Life is a series of choices.

Enjoy your new house and let us know how it comes out. Just add a post to this thread and our memory will be refreshed as we scroll down to the update.

 

[Skibum]

Did you catch my drift on HDMI? I was getting at the idea that a show that is recorded on one DVR should be available to all TVs in the house... in HD. Without HDMI cables or an external hardrive that you move room to room you can't do this now, on counting slingbox technology that some folks say will fill every cutting edge Dish customer's home.

You really REALLY don't want to run much HDMI over 50'. You CAN, but then we're getting into signal equalizing and semi-spendy HDMI distribution blocks. For running multiple locations of HD, it's still best to go with quality component video cable as it handles longer distances much better and it can still output 1080p. HDCP is unlikely to be widely enforced (in regards to HD down-rezzing) anytime soon.

My advice on smart panels: Get the largest one you can. You can fit all sorts of fun stuff in 'em. I'll have to post the one I put together sometime.

Oh, and make sure the RG-6 you use is sweep-tested to at least 3 GHz. Protip: If you run multiple runs, use different-colored cable (i.e. one black, one white RG-6, same for Cat-6) for easy ID.

I still think monoprice will have the best prices you'll find:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10216&cs_id=1021604&p_id=2963&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10234&cs_id=1023401&p_id=2261&seq=1&format=2

 

[cparker]

My advice on smart panels: Get the largest one you can. You can fit all sorts of fun stuff in 'em. I'll have to post the one I put together sometime.

Oh, and make sure the RG-6 you use is sweep-tested to at least 3 GHz. Protip: If you run multiple runs, use different-colored cable (i.e. one black, one white RG-6, same for Cat-6) for easy ID.

Yes, please post a pic of your panel. Should I use RG6/u quad shield in the house, or is that not necessary? I was shopping at monoprice. I like them. You think cat6 in the walls? Or would cat5e be fine?

Right now I'm thinking at minimum, I want 2 RG6 and 2 RJ45 at any TV location. I can use RJ45 for R11 but can't go the other way. If I have all of these wired to a patch panel I can make them network or phone pretty easily. If I can stick a third RG6 in there I might do it in case I want to back feed to distribution or something, but I really don't see us doing that. So I won't cry if that don't happen. I think I also want at lease some RCA or binding posts from TV location back to panel so I can wire the rear surrounds... or pipe music to other parts of the house or outside ... haven't worked that out yet.

And I have to get this to a point where I can decide how much I want the electrician to do while he's there and how much I'm willing to do myself. Sometimes I've found it's more cost effective to just have him do it while he's there.