would this degrade reception?

[mdb]

We are currently in the midst of home remodeling and my husband wants to run cable with a network of splitters from the main tv receiver (HR20) to tvs in three rooms that don't have receivers in order to be able to watch what ever is on the main tv in other rooms. Would this cause a degradation of reception on the main tv HR20 from which these cables are run?

[LameLefty]

If you mean he wants to take the output of the HR20 and split that, it shouldn't cause any problems at all for the HR20, I don't think.

[rrrick8]

We are currently in the midst of home remodeling and my husband wants to run cable with a network of splitters from the main tv receiver (HR20) to tvs in three rooms that don't have receivers in order to be able to watch what ever is on the main tv in other rooms. Would this cause a degradation of reception on the main tv HR20 from which these cables are run?

Not if you hook up the main tv thru HDMI or component, while using regular rg6 or rg59 on the other sets.

[mdb]

If you mean he wants to take the output of the HR20 and split that, it shouldn't cause any problems at all for the HR20, I don't think.

Correct - split the output.

[paulman182]

The HR20 has no RF output. That's usually what we mean when we use "splitters" on our TVs. If that is what he wants to do, he would have to use a modulator.

[LameLefty]

The HR20 has no RF output. That's usually what we mean when we use "splitters" on our TVs. If that is what he wants to do, he would have to use a modulator.

However, the HDMI, component and S-video outputs are all active simultaneously so there's another angle.

[GirkMonster]

I recently ran RG6 to the HR20 to backfeed it into my distribution network where my two Tivos are...could have saved myself a few minutes' work if I had looked at the back of the HR20 first...Take an old VCR and run S-Video and audio into it and then split the RF out. You will lose signal for every splitter and foot of cable, but I would try it and see. You may need an amplifier.

I believe that there are component video splitters on the market which provide another angle...I wouldn't do that unless my main tv was HDMI, though.

I am running HDMI out (6') and component out (65') from my HR20 with no noticable loss of picture quality and plan to add the s-video solution mentioned above once I build a shelf for the VCR to sit on...behind the wall

[houskamp]

as far as modulators and hookup, see diagram of my setup in sig below..

[K4SMX]

I recently ran RG6 to the HR20 to backfeed it into my distribution network where my two Tivos are...could have saved myself a few minutes' work if I had looked at the back of the HR20 first...Take an old VCR and run S-Video and audio into it and then split the RF out. You will lose signal for every splitter and foot of cable, but I would try it and see. You may need an amplifier.

I believe that there are component video splitters on the market which provide another angle...I wouldn't do that unless my main tv was HDMI, though.

I am running HDMI out (6') and component out (65') from my HR20 with no noticable loss of picture quality and plan to add the s-video solution mentioned above once I build a shelf for the VCR to sit on...behind the wall
Old VCR's actually work pretty well for this purpose. Every one I ever used this way put out a heck of an RF signal into the system from their built-in RF modulator. You can run a whole house full of TV's this way.

[notnufbw]

I recently ran RG6 to the HR20 to backfeed it into my distribution network where my two Tivos are...could have saved myself a few minutes' work if I had looked at the back of the HR20 first...Take an old VCR and run S-Video and audio into it and then split the RF out. You will lose signal for every splitter and foot of cable, but I would try it and see. You may need an amplifier.

I believe that there are component video splitters on the market which provide another angle...I wouldn't do that unless my main tv was HDMI, though.

I am running HDMI out (6') and component out (65') from my HR20 with no noticable loss of picture quality and plan to add the s-video solution mentioned above once I build a shelf for the VCR to sit on...behind the wall

You may have solved a problem that I had all but given up on. Had an old Philips HD box in the master bedroom with "RF out" that sent signal to a wall mounted TV in the master bath. Lost that ability when it conked out and was replaced with an H20 that has no RF out. The H20 is sitting on top of an old Panasonic combo VCR/DVD player that we never use......but now I'm going to try your idea about using it's RF out....hope it's got one.

Thanks.

VR

Update: Took me a few hours to sort it all out but I got it working thanks to Girkmonster's original idea! I gave up twice but finally a light bulb came on regarding the need to press the VCR/TV button plus a happy accident where I discovered the VCR's menu was displaying on the bathroom TV instead of the bedroom TV where I was looking for it. Finally I was able to change some important settings in the VCR like output via channel 3 or 4, etc. I had to use composite audio and video from the H20 to the VCR because it doesn't have "S-video in" but it works great. It's even better now than the original setup because that required an extra step of changing the output resolution on the old Philips box so the signal could be seen on the bathroom TV. Now it's just a matter of turning on the bedroom TV and H20 and no matter what resolution it's putting out the VCR's "TV out" apparently is just sending 480i signals because that's all the old TV in the bathroom can handle via it's coaxial input. Girkmonster....thanks again for this idea!

VR

[LameLefty]

Old VCR's actually work pretty well for this purpose. Every one I ever used this way put out a heck of an RF signal into the system from their built-in RF modulator. You can run a whole house full of TV's this way.

We actually used to do this in college . . . "Campus Cable" at the time had like 7 channels but it was free with the on-campus apartments student housing and you couldn't get crap OTA back then with all the structural steel in the building and what not. So my roommate decided to feed the RF signal out of his Curtis-Mathis VCR (a top-loader - remember those? :) ) back into the feed on Ch. 3 (which wasn't being used by the campus system - how convenient!) and he'd routinely show movies or whatever. Well a month or so later someone else nearby caught onto the same trick and started showing much more . . . interesting . . . movies so my roommated stopped bothering. :p

There are much more elegant solutions now, I'm sure.

[deepthinker]

We are currently in the midst of home remodeling and my husband wants to run cable with a network of splitters from the main tv receiver (HR20) to tvs in three rooms that don't have receivers in order to be able to watch what ever is on the main tv in other rooms. Would this cause a degradation of reception on the main tv HR20 from which these cables are run?

This is exactly what I'm doing with what we call our "main" HR20 of the two we have. The main HR20's S-Video and RCA Audio are connected to a RF-Modulator that has a coax run through the attic to the bedroom, so we can watch everything on the main box. We're also using a "Universal Remote Control RF20 Remote with an RF base station" for the remote sending to the living room. But, that just controls the one box.

[techrep]

:dance07: Old VCR's actually work pretty well for this purpose. Every one I ever used this way put out a heck of an RF signal into the system from their built-in RF modulator. You can run a whole house full of TV's this way.

:dance07: Wow! What a simple solution for a situation I have been pondering. :bowdown:

[deepthinker]

:dance07:

:dance07: Wow! What a simple solution for a situation I have been pondering. :bowdown:

No kidding, great and simple idea, I have a not super old VCR in a closet. Wish I had thought of that before buying the RF modulator.:lol:

[carl6]

You can also buy channel 3/4 rf modulators at places like radio shack for relatively low cost. The next step up is UHF modulators where you can select any channel from 65 to 125. I currently have channels 65, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 101, 103, 105, 107 and 109 on my "personal cable system". All of my DirecTV receivers (SD and HD) have a modulated output, as well as a number of security cameras. I feed this signal back to all of my TV's, so I can see any receiver/DVR, or any camera, from any/every TV. Of course it's standard def only.

Carl

[K4SMX]

No kidding, great and simple idea, I have a not super old VCR in a closet. Wish I had thought of that before buying the RF modulator.:lol:
Well RF modulators are less than 30 bucks at CC/BB and don't take up any room. But if you don't mind having another box around, VCR's are perfect. Besides, you might actually want to record something with that old VCR! The Rf modulators, because they are so small and light, don't really want to sit anywhere either. They're always falling off of wherever you stick 'em and end up dangling by the cables.

[deepthinker]

Well RF modulators are less than 30 bucks at CC/BB and don't take up any room. But if you don't mind having another box around, it's perfect. Besides, you might actually want to record something with that old VCR!

Ahhh, crap, speaking of another box and giving kudos for using an old VCR suggestion. I have a dang Panasonic DVD recorder on my rack as my main DVD player and could have used it's coax in/out.:lol:

[Stuart Sweet]

Well RF modulators are less than 30 bucks at CC/BB and don't take up any room. But if you don't mind having another box around, VCR's are perfect. Besides, you might actually want to record something with that old VCR! The Rf modulators, because they are so small and light, don't really want to sit anywhere either. They're always falling off of wherever you stick 'em and end up dangling by the cables.

Completely up to you but VCRs are usually about 6 bucks at the local Salvation Army or free if you've got one sitting in your closet.

[bwaldron]

Ahhh, crap, speaking of another box and giving kudos for using an old VCR suggestion. I have a dang Panasonic DVD recorder on my rack as my main DVD player and could have used it's coax in/out.:lol:

That might not work. Many more recent DVD recorders just pass through an antenna/cable signal on their coax output; i.e., they don't modulate the other A/V inputs and pass that signal through. So an external modulator would still be required.

(I have one older Panny DVD recorder that does modulate its output over its RF out, and a newer model that only passes through its RF in. )

[deepthinker]

That might not work. Many more recent DVD recorders just pass through an antenna/cable signal on their coax output; i.e., they don't modulate the other A/V inputs and pass that signal through. So an external modulator would still be required.

(I have one older Panny DVD recorder that does modulate its output over its RF out, and a newer model that only passes through its RF in. )

Ahh, well thanks for the info, so it was probably best I bought the modulator anyway.:) Besides, it was pretty cheap and does the job.

[bwaldron]

Completely up to you but VCRs are usually about 6 bucks at the local Salvation Army or free if you've got one sitting in your closet.

And they often do a better job than some of the cheaper modulators being sold.

[LameLefty]

And they often do a better job than some of the cheaper modulators being sold.

Much like the very early first generation Sony PlayStation models (like the one I gave to a friend YEARS ago) are now coveted by some oddball audiophiles for use as CD players. :lol:

[techrep]

Much like the very early first generation Sony PlayStation models (like the one I gave to a friend YEARS ago) are now coveted by some oddball audiophiles for use as CD players. :lol:

Another one! Now I don't have to by my daughter a cd player; I got one setting in the closet. :D