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HTPC FALL
2008 UPDATE
Accessories
The server's main
purpose is just to store files and record programs.
But there may be instances when it might be used to
playback a movie or recording in the office.
In that case, the VGA output of the 8200M
motherboard needs to interface with the 53HX71 in
the office. In order to accomplish that, we
need a VGA to Component converter box, with a VGA
pass-through for local LCD monitor control:
Now to get video
throughout the house, using the built-in RG6 coax
cable was the simplest way. However, lesser RF
modulators wreak havoc with the incoming cable feed,
and video quality is poor. The best
frequency-agile modulator we've tried is the Linear
SVM-24 4-input S-Video Stereo modulator. It
conveniently has pass-through connectors for
connections to AV equipment. Although it can
repeat IR signals, we did not need that function.
Four sets of inputs and
pass-through outputs come in handy. Includes
jacks for IR repeaters too.
Input 1 = DVR STB, Input 2 = HTPC using VGA to
S-Video adapter, Inputs 3 and 4 = security cameras
Now we have modulated
signals, we need to send it to many different TVs
through at least 50 feet of RG6 cable. We
looked at several solutions, and the best seems to
be from Cables To Go and Linear:
These powered distribution blocks can drive
signals up to 1GHz to eight coax cables with
long runs. Its input is 3x coax
connectors, all of which are mixed together.
One is designated the cable baseband, while the
other two inputs can be from locally modulated
signals. In our testing, performance was
relatively equal, but the mounting scheme of the
CTG unit is strange and unusual.
One more critical item from Linear is a low-pass
filter necessary to isolate the clean cable
signal from noise so as not to interfere with
the modulated signal. Our cable feed tops
out at around 600MHz (channel 78), and the
modulated signals are set to channel 110, 115,
120 and 125. The selected filter passes
everything below 600MHz on the cable feed,
thereby attenuating noise above that frequency.
Without the filter, the modulated channels are
noisy and nearly unwatchable:
And finally, just
like before, our best friend in entering new
DVD/BD-ROMs into our video collection is
Adesso's NuScan 1000 barcode reader:
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