How to

[TheRainIsHere]

It would be great if someone could help me.

No matter what your experience level is, I would still appreciate any help. So, if you have an idea, please feel free to tell me!

What I'd like to know is how to set up a home distribution system.

This is how I want it set up:
*I will refer to TVs, Monitors, and Speakers (or anything else that takes inputs) as "Enders."
*I will refer to Computers, MP3 Players, Sound Systems, DVD Players, DVRs, VCRs, and Video Game Systems (or anything else that outputs) as "Starters."

So basically I want to be able to turn on any "Starter" and be able to listen to it or view it from any other "ender" in the house.

For example:

Room 1:
DVD Player
TV
---------
Room 2:
Computer
Monitor
---------
Room 3:
MP3 Player
Speakers

I would like to turn on the DVD player in room 1 and watch it in room 2. Or turn on the mp3 player in room 3, and listen to it in rooms 1, 2, and 3.

The only pre-existing wiring in the house are some coaxial RF cables going to every room, phone lines, and power lines.

The coaxial cables are strange; they do not have the F-type enders like the normal TV cables do. They are just cut off at the end. So I believe that in order to use them I might have to do some soldering, but I am willing to do anything to get this working.
Another thing that I noticed is that they all lead to a box on the outside of the house. Inside that box there are many ends of the cables, I have no idea what to do there.

I have thought about buying an RF modulator for every "starter," and just setting each one to a different channel. And then getting an RF demodulator, if they exist, for every "ender." Obviously this can get a little expensive, especially since the RF modulators that allow you to choose what channel you want are always overpriced.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Possibly finding some way to put A/V over powerlines or network?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks, Michael.

[Anthony]

Well first, welcome to the Shack!

Second, I know things exist to help make all that happen, but I'm stumped as to what it might be. Usually for multi-room, I like to run direct from source to multiple locations, or use the AV receiver as the hub and run extra outputs on the Zone 2/3 circuits (some have video switching on those as well).

A slingbox might work for a DVD player -- I don't see why it wouldn't, although control might be an issue.

Hopefully more people will chime in here, but like I said, I usually run actual signal wiring everywhere (i.e. no network, powerline, or RF for video transmission). Obviously that won't work over long runs without noise and signal loss, but for the most part, I only do it between two rooms or one floor.

Good luck.

[riley804]

The coaxial cables are strange; they do not have the F-type enders like the normal TV cables do. They are just cut off at the end. So I believe that in order to use them I might have to do some soldering, but I am willing to do anything to get this working.
Another thing that I noticed is that they all lead to a box on the outside of the house. Inside that box there are many ends of the cables, I have no idea what to do there.

Those lines that you see on the outside are your prewires , and each one of them will go to a different room. Lets just pretend that you have 2 prewires.....most of the time when a builder builds a new home, they will wire the Living room and Master Bedroom. Now lets say you have 4 or more....again Living room and Master Bedroom and other bedrooms are now wired for cable or dish.

In order to find which wire goes where, you need to tone the line out and there are cable toners that make the job easier :

http://www.twstore.com/t-tonerset.html

they do not have the F-type enders like the normal TV cables do. They are just cut off at the end. So I believe that in order to use them I might have to do some soldering,

These must be a new house and that is why the wires have no F-Connector to them ? F-Connectors are not usually put on by the builder as many times that dont have F-Connectors or the Crimper to do this. The connectors are usually put on either by the cable company or dish service...which ever
service the homeowner decides to go with.

The only thing that I see that might be hard to do is the DVD player