The popularity of center wall mounted plasma televisions with remote located VCR, DVD, & stereo equipment means more work for electricians.

I'm currently in the rough-in stage of a residential addition. The owner wants a plasma TV mounted up high in the center of a wall. The stereo, VCR, and DVD equipment will be several feet to the left, and down low. I suggested permenantly installing cabling in the wall between the DVD/VCR location and the plasma TV location. All the owner needs to do is install the patch cords between the equipment and the wall jacks.

Can anybody recommend a manufacturer for these connectors/adapters? What type of coax will I need for the composite video (VCR - yellow connector) and the component video (DVD - red, green, and blue connectors) cabling? What type of coax for the audio (white & red connectors) cabling?

[This message has been edited by royta (edited 06-16-2005).]

royta:

Funny you should ask, I'm doing such an install right now...

Belden makes great cabling, as does Canare and Liberty wire

https://secure.libertycable.com/index.php

(Don't worry, you don't need to log in to browse cable specs, etc. Use the links on the left)

Generally speaking, you would use the following:

Composite vid: RG-59
Component vid: RG-59 (or RG-6, a lot thicker, only really necessary if the run is much over 60')

Very important: For the RGB (component) run, the cables must be carefully cut to within 1" of the same length!!! Any error beyond that can cause color shift and video distortion. I usually measure the run with my fish, then lay out and cut all three lines (marking them as I cut each) then bundle them together.

Fot the audio, don't use coax! you'll need either two runs of Belden 8451 (2 conductors with foil shield) or one run of Belden 8723 (electrically the same as 8451, but with two pairs, each foil shielded.) With the 8723, I split the pairs and use heat shrink, leaving the foil in place. Makes for a nice connection. (I'll try to get a pic to post here with the moderator's approval.)

And for the audio, no matter what cable you use, connect the foil shield/drain wire at one end only!! (The source device end, not the tv end.) All coax/video shields connect at both ends.

Most of the consumer-grade stuff uses RCA plugs/jacks. Use gold-plated plugs and jacks, especially on the video connections. If you have a local electronic supply house (NOT "Rat Shack") they should have RCA plugs made specifically for RG-59/6 coax. My local house has them in both solder-on and twist-on styles.

You may email me for more tips and/or questions.

(edited to fix link)

[This message has been edited by mxslick (edited 06-16-2005).]

Since the TV and components are so close I think it would be a waste of time to run wiring for this. Just run some large "smurf" tube between a couple of 2 gang plaster rings behind each location. Let the customer or his AV guy pull whatever they want, any time they want.

I wouldn't even get involved with providing wiring for this, once the wall is closed you are screwed if you did the wrong thing.

-Hal

I too keep finding myself doing this too...

mxslick has some good advice there. I use RG-6Q for the simple reason its all I stock the truck with these days. Then a coulpe of connectors.
These: http://www.levitonvoicedata.com/catalog/BuildPage.aspx?BuildPageID=19

Then these: http://www.levitonvoicedata.com/catalog/BuildPage.aspx?BuildPageID=12

There are purists out there who consider every connection a severe loss of Db. And see every connection as >10' of cable. ( at a couple of feet I don't see it as a problem.) For them, Hals method would be better.

I prefer Belden 9452 over 8451 if I'm going to terminate it as tails that may be moved regularly.

West Penn also makes some nice wire for installation work.

Canare and Belden also make multi-coax cables with 3, 4, or 5 coaxes under one sheath that are commonly used for wiring projectors and displays.

I just did a test.

I was only able to cause a very slight picture colorshift by using component cables of differing lengths. One is 3 feet longer than the other two.

If I wasn't looking for it I wouldn't have noticed it. The effect was very subtle--like someone adjusting the tint control very slightly every few seconds.

Did not see any distortion at all.

Test conducted with the following equipment:

CyberHome DVD-500 DVD player with component output connected to Magnavox MRV 660 DVD recorder with component input using 2 cables of the same length and 1 cable 3 feet longer, connected to an RCA TV with S-video input. The Magnavox MRV 660 is converting the component input to S-Video output.

If you aren't familiar with the cabling I would run smurf tube....Make sure you know what cable is needed for the components and TV...Also make sure you run true Component video cable if you decide to put cable in yourself.

What size smurf tube would you recommend? These are 2x4 walls with a 2x4 top plate. Plumbers install 2" DWV (2 9/16" hole) in 2x4 walls, so I guess I should be able to do the same with smurf tube.

I use this brand of connectors and there made a brand we all know
http://www.tvcinc.com/Product%20PDFs/Connectors/T&B/Snap-n-seal.pdf