Route Map to the perfect system

[MartinH Scotland]

Hi
I am just coming to the end of my selfbuild house and am now thinking about the installation of
Sky HD
Freesat
Computer network
Telephones
200 disc DVD changer
PS3
Blueray
Infrared control
Etc

I have had the house wired (star configuration)terminating at Legrand Mosaic units in 10 locations, each unit has 3x CAT6 and 3x digital Coax (plus one 25mm empty conduit, future proofing).

Ideally I would like to be able to watch and control the Sky HD and Freesat and as many of the other bits of kit from each of the 10 locations (one being potentially a home cinema) and like a hotel, allow different channels and kit to be view simultaneously, with the minimum number of remote controls.

The mosaic units have blanks which can be adapted to incorporate different types of plugs, sockets, infrared eyes etc.

While I doubt I would have the time, or could afford to install everything at once I would like to have some sort of route map to achieving a simple system.

I would be interested in hearing any recommendations you may have for this route and what kit you would recommend I should base my system on.

The kit I currently own is
5x Computers
8x Wireless Telephones
A 200 disc DVD changer
A PS3
A Wii
52" Lcd
and a couple of smaller Lcd TVs


Thanking you in advance
Martin

 

[Topper]

Welcome to the forum MartinH Scotland

Well that is not going to be cheap for starters. No seriously Martin this is a hobbyists forum and you are asking for professional guidance which may or may not be forthcoming as you have already had the house wired, so presumably somebody must have already advised you about the wiring part and if so surely they would have had to take account of your requirements in order to do that wouldn't they?

When I was a mill planner a few decades ago I could not do a layout drawing until I knew what equipment was being installed and what the requirements of each piece of equipment were

 

[MartinH Scotland]

Thanks for your comments Topper

It was I who specified the cabling of the house after a fair bit of internet browsing, any professionals I spoke to all seemed to go a bit overboard with things i.e. I spoke to one company asking for an integrated door entry system that would control the front gate via the door entry and they came back with not only the door entry system spec but a £35k whole house design including electric curtains. There seems to be an army of salesmen out there whose only interest is the sale with little or no interest in truly giving the end user what they want. I have found that forums like this one are used by enthusiastic people, who like myself enjoy technology, people who offer fresh ideas and simple solutions without any expectation of the 'sale'. As you suggest this particular forum is for hobbyists and may not offer much by way of direct answers for me, but I will continue to 'lurk' and follow the treads that interest me. I would rather walk in the hope of getting it right, as opposed to running and making an ass of it.
Martin

 

[PaulR]

The PDF you posted was interesting to me as I have used Legrand's system in France. It looks to me that they are offering the same modules as in France together with some UK specific modules that are the same size.

Are these available freely in the UK now?

 

[pgh13]

There are a couple of different directions here that may be worth exploring....(please note these are random thoughts and may stimulate further discussion)
The idea of being able to watch different programs in multiple locations goes beyond the concept of a loft box where a number of sources at a common point are combined and then distributed via co-ax to the other viewing points. However, you are limited by the the choice of viewing at the central point and by the functionality of the receiving equipment - S-y box limitations.

For satellite viewing check out SMATV systems but these are designed for commercial use and hence are expensive

Freeview, if available where you are gives a fair selection of channels so need to get a good Terrestrial signal to each location.

Not knowing the capbilities of the DVD jukebox - is it designed to be able to view remotely?

Take a look at home theatre PC/ media centre equipment/software. They will allow independent access to content transmitted through Cat5 to thin client devices. Look at things like Popcorn Hour - generic term network media tank and for Media centre take a look at GBPVR - I've used this for a few years since replacing TiVo.

 

[MartinH Scotland]

Hi PaulR

The entire Legrand range is available through the Electric Centre in the UK part of Wolsley Group.

Even some of the more obscure US bits of kit can be sourced through them.

Martin

 

[Vipersan]

Hi ..
I cannot really comment on your specific requirements ...but for me the answer to all my modest distribution requirements is a decent wired network hub system

For example ...I don't like the idea of having Discs Tapes or any physical representation of my media collection ..
I buy a CD or DVD ...and my first job is to rip it and store it on my homebuilt 4 terrabyte server/media tank ..
which has provision to upgrade to 8 terrabyte without physical modification..
Having got all my media centrally stored...its then a simply a question of what device to stream to ..
In my case I have 6 computers on the system ...one of which is a high end HTPC ..with blu-ray capability..
I also have 3 modified X box (origionals) sporting XBMC ...(I even have one in the roof space in my bathroom)...
These wont do Hi def of course ..but will play any stored audio ...and the majority of stored video media...
I fully intend to retire these in favour of the new Asus media player ..

_http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2009/08/07/Asus-O-Play-HDP-R1-HD-Media-Player/p1

which will eventually accommodate blu-ray iso images ..
..so these discs can also be ripped and stored in a more convenient form ..

As to sat reception ...you also have options by going down the network route ..
firstly most HD linux based boxes have the option to be controlled remotely via a web server ...emulating the remote control functions of the satellite box ..
also the video and audio can be streamed to a remote device ...or simply stored in the media'tank' for common access ...

This for me is the way forward ...and when I rewired my modest little terrraced house ...I hard wired with CAT cable to accommodate and future proof..
All done by me ...and not so easy when you get in your 50's ...but I didn't want to have to re-do later..
It'll probably see me out ;)

If you love your Tech ..Network is the 'Only' real solution ..imo
rgds
VS

ps ..forgot to add ...
Slingbox or other variants can also accomodate remote viewing and channel selection..
..and guess what ...
..also by network..
;)

 

[MartinH Scotland]

Hi Vipersan

I agree that a networked computer based system is a must and it is something I will include for music, my current network is based around 9tb of buffalo terastations in a Raid1 configuration and contains (amongst other things) excess of 130k mp3s and 70k zip karaoke tracks. But I would prefer to see this running in parallel with a stable HDTV and blueray based system.

(While I'm happy to tinker with the system, my wife would want to be able to sit down and watch TV/movies when she wants and not when I've managed to reconfigure the system for the third time that week)

I have looked at SkyTV and Freesat and figure to achieve the minimum flexibility I would need to have two SkyHD boxes and two Freesat boxes on an SMATV system, it’s not the kit cost that bothers me it’s the fact that (including broadband, telephone and the movie channels) a two box SkyHD multiroom setup is running at about £95 per month (£95x12), call me a tight fisted Scotsman but I would rather spend most of the £1140 a year to buy kit that would keep Mr Murdoch's hand out my wallet.

Ultimately I would like to control everything through one remote control in each room (Phillips Proto or the likes)

Ps The 200 disc DVD multi-changer is an old Sony bit of kit and has its own EPG

Martin

 

[Vipersan]

"(While I'm happy to tinker with the system, my wife would want to be able to sit down and watch TV/movies when she wants and not when I've managed to reconfigure the system for the third time that week)"

Hi Martin..
I totally understand why you would require this ...
My Ex wife wasn't prepared to 'play around' with anything too technical ...she just wanted to sit down ..press a button and watch TV or a movie..
I suppose my system has improved somewhat since then ...and is relatively easy to use and runs trouble free ...or at least has until now..
Have I just tempted providence ???

My homebrew media tank has just been upgraded and rebuilt using a free application called Freenas (Now capable of supporting up to 12TB when using single drives support- less if raided obviously)...it runs 24/7 and supplies all my media ...audio and video ...plus all my installs and applications ...plus provides backup for all my pc's..
The new Asus device I mentioned is fully capable of playing _any_ video format including Blu-Ray iso ...and even HiDef DTS or DD etc..

Thus anything ripped and stored is immediately accessible ..
I don't have an Asus unit yet ...but borrowed one for testing ...
I was simply amazed at the picture quality in 1080P and streamed over a 100mb network ..and at around £85 a unit ...is very affordable.
With faster network support I suspect you could easily stream to multiroom in HD from the same media Tank..

rgds
VS