[jacksonpt]

According to UPS, my trainer is sitting on my doorstep waiting for me to get home, so...

The trainer will be going in my basement. I've got a pretty nice home theater setup down there, but instead of a TV, I use a projector. We don't have cable at our house, directv instead. The projector is used for HT only, no regular TV watching, so I don't have a satelite receiver hooked up to it.

I'd like to be able to put Sportcenter on in the mornings and get in 30 minutes or so on the trainer before work, so I need to find a way to get "cable" to the basement. I know I can piggyback off one of my other sat receivers to get a feed down to the basement. The problem is that my projector can only take S-video or better, and my amp can't take a coax feed. So how can I get audio fed to my amp and video fed to my projector from a sat receiver that is 2 floors away?

 

[binary visions]

Well, conversion boxes can be had for very little money from your local Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc. and can convert coax to S-Video or RCA, or vice-versa.

 

[jacksonpt]

I've seen converters to take coax to s-video, but I need a converter to go from coax to S-video/RCA audio - are there converters that can do both the audio and video conversion?

 

[binary visions]

I've seen converters to take coax to s-video, but I need a converter to go from coax to S-video/RCA audio - are there converters that can do both the audio and video conversion?

Yep. It has to, otherwise how'd you extract the audio from the coax signal? I bought one for the cheap TV I was using that only had one input, and it was coax - it's got 4 S-Video & RCA inputs (RCA audio, and you can either do RCA video or S-video), 1 coax input, 1 coax output, and 1 RCA + S-video output.

 

[jacksonpt]

cool - thanks. I haven't seen ones that do both.

 

[Dartman]

Look into wireless video/audio sending units. You can beam a signal into your basement. Some have remote extenders so you can change channels as well.

Mike

 

[jacksonpt]

Called Radio Shack - they said I needed an RF modulator (idiots).

Anyone know if I can use a DirecTV receiver to do this? I tried it, but it didn't work, though I might not have had the cables run correctly... seems like the conversion that happens inside the receiver should be the same that happens inside a VCR, no? I called DirecTV to ask, but the woman (in the tech support tree) was all but clueless. Thank again DirecTV... you continue to impress me

I don't feel like paying to activate the extra receiver.

 

[Ridemonkey]

I'd convert it to RCA to go into your receiver, then attach the projector to the receiver from the s-video out. Of course this depends on your receiver...

The quality wouldn't be that great with all the converting, but if you just want Sportscenter in the morning it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[jacksonpt]

I'd convert it to RCA to go into your receiver, then attach the projector to the receiver from the s-video out. Of course this depends on your receiver...

The quality wouldn't be that great with all the converting, but if you just want Sportscenter in the morning it shouldn't be a big deal.

yes, that's more or less what I'm trying to do... I don't know how to convert the coax feed to RCA - that's my problem.

 

[binary visions]

yes, that's more or less what I'm trying to do... I don't know how to convert the coax feed to RCA - that's my problem.

Same box we discussed. At Wal-Mart.

Take the output line from your DirecTV box (coax), plug it into the Wal-Mart box. Use the outputs from the box (RCA or S-Video, whatever you want) to plug into whatever machine you need to.

 

[jacksonpt]

Same box we discussed. At Wal-Mart.

yea... I was just wondering if I could use a spare directv box rather than having to buy the wall-mart box. Oh well...

 

[DRB]

BV doesn't know what he is talking about. Just go to Radio Shack and ask for a flux capacitor. Should look like this....

Just hook that up and you'll be good to go.

 

[caboverpete]

Most any of the convertors you find at Wal Mart, radioshack, best buy or wherever are going to be RF modulators which wont work for you, what you are looking for is an RF demodulator which are fairly expensive and hard to find. What direct tv reciever are you using and which video outputs are you currently using on it? Both receivers Ive had before (Hughes Digital and Samsung Direct TV) have had 1 s-video, 1 composite and a coax output. Alot is going to rely on how you have things configured in the main room, are you using a A/V reciever there also?

 

[caboverpete]

Hmmm... if this is what your guys are talking about at wal mart I would be interested to see how it works

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2181628

It says it has a built in RF modulator but not whether it has a demodulator too, in other words I wonder if it can switch an RF input to an s-video + stereo output.

 

[binary visions]

That's what I've got. That's exactly what I have, actually. And yes, it has S-Video/stereo outs.

It works great. Automatically senses which component input is active, too, so you don't have to switch anything.

 

[caboverpete]

That's what I've got. That's exactly what I have, actually. And yes, it has S-Video/stereo outs.

It works great. Automatically senses which component input is active, too, so you don't have to switch anything.

So you've tried just running an RF input into it and having it output the s-video/stereo? It would be cool if it did because when I was working alot in video editing a couple years ago something like that was very hard to find and would set you back a 100 bucks easy.

 

[binary visions]

So you've tried just running an RF input into it and having it output the s-video/stereo? It would be cool if it did because when I was working alot in video editing a couple years ago something like that was very hard to find and would set you back a 100 bucks easy.

Yep. Works fine.

Honestly, I don't know the electronic details or how/why it's so cheap. I just found it, needed a multiple input source for an old TV I had, and it worked. Then, when I got my new TV, I tried the other outputs (RCA and S-Video + stereo).

 

[jacksonpt]

Most any of the convertors you find at Wal Mart, radioshack, best buy or wherever are going to be RF modulators which wont work for you, what you are looking for is an RF demodulator which are fairly expensive and hard to find. What direct tv reciever are you using and which video outputs are you currently using on it? Both receivers Ive had before (Hughes Digital and Samsung Direct TV) have had 1 s-video, 1 composite and a coax output. Alot is going to rely on how you have things configured in the main room, are you using a A/V reciever there also?

yes, I know the modulator is NOT what I need (it converts "the wrong way"). Here's my setup... coax from the LNB on the dish to an RCA DirecTV receiver in my family room. From there, an S-Video and RCA audio cables go to my receiver. All is good there. I also have a coax line running from the RCA DirecTV receiver (from the "out to tv" jack) into my basement. This is where the problem is.

I need to take that coax feed from the directv receiver in my family room and convert to at least RCAs (if not s-video, component video, or dvi and digital audio) so I can feed the video into my projector and the audio to my receiver as neither have an input for coax.

 

[binary visions]

I need to take that coax feed from the directv receiver in my family room and convert to at least RCAs (if not s-video, component video, or dvi and digital audio) so I can feed the video into my projector and the audio to my receiver as neither have an input for coax.

You just need a box from Wa-- wait, this sounds familliar, have we been through this already?

I promise that I used that box in the link above to do exactly what you are describing. Pinky swear. I'll even spit-shake on it.

From the link above:

• 4 composite video inputs (RCA-type connections)
• 4 S-video inputs
• RF input
• 4 pairs of stereo inputs (RCA-type connections)
• Composite video output
• S-video output
• RF output
• 1 pair of stereo outputs

 

[jacksonpt]

You just need a box from Wa-- wait, this sounds familliar, have we been through this already?

I promise that I used that box in the link above to do exactly what you are describing. Pinky swear. I'll even spit-shake on it.

yes, I know... I'm not questioning your advice on the box... I was trying to see if I could use my spare directv receiver to do the same thing. Pete asked about the specifics of my setup, so I told him. I'll likely be buying the box today.

 

[binary visions]

yes, I know... I'm not questioning your advice on the box...

I was just giving you a hard time

I'll likely be buying the box today.

Hm. If you're interested in waiting a few days I think I've still got mine hanging out in a box in the closet somewhere and you can have it - I certainly have no use for it.

I'll have to look to verify I have it but it'd save you $20.

 

[jacksonpt]

I was just giving you a hard time

I'd expect nothing less...

Hm. If you're interested in waiting a few days I think I've still got mine hanging out in a box in the closet somewhere and you can have it - I certainly have no use for it.

I'll have to look to verify I have it but it'd save you $20.

that would be very cool... $10 should cover shipping, would that make it worth yoru time?

 

[binary visions]

that would be very cool... $10 should cover shipping, would that make it worth yoru time?

Let me make sure I have it first, but that sounds great to me

 

[binary visions]

Bump so I can eat some crow...

I found the box and wanted to test it before sending it out, so I hooked it all up and... black screen. No signal. WTF?

Then, I promptly remembered that the tuner in my last TV was broken, so I had actually run the RF into my VCR, and the VCR RCA plugs out into the TV. I had run it that way for so long that I forgot that I was running off the tuner in the VCR. No idea brand/model of the VCR, it was my roommate's.

Sorry jackson. I tried! :

 

[jacksonpt]

No problem.

So, just to clerify... did you ever have the box setup like this:

Source Coax in (from cable/satelite/whatever)
S-video (or composite video)/RCA audio out

 

[binary visions]

Source Coax in (from cable/satelite/whatever)
S-video (or composite video)/RCA audio out

That's what I tried last night and it gave me a black screen.

I had it:

Source coax -> VCR
VCR RCA -> Wal-Mart box
Wal-Mart box RCA -> TV

 

[caboverpete]

Thats what I was afraid of with those boxes, the RF input can probably only be passed through to the RF output. There are demodulators out there but like I said they usually run atleast a hundred bucks, a cheap VCR may be a solution but quality may be an issue.

 

[binary visions]

Thats what I was afraid of with those boxes, the RF input can probably only be passed through to the RF output.

That'll teach me to think I know what I'm talking about

 

[jacksonpt]

Thats what I was afraid of with those boxes, the RF input can probably only be passed through to the RF output. There are demodulators out there but like I said they usually run atleast a hundred bucks, a cheap VCR may be a solution but quality may be an issue.

Yep - I think I'm going to do the VCR thing. My buddy at the local A/V shop has a used one that he had repaired then got stuck with from a bad customer... I'll probably take that off his hands for a few bucks. Quality isn't a huge issue... I'd hook-up the extra DirecTV receiver if it was.

Thanks for nothing BV

 

[binary visions]

Thanks for nothing BV

Hey Jackson... Would you just give the knife one more twist, please? I don't think it's in there deep enough...

 

[jacksonpt]

So wait... you're saying that the box WON'T convert the coax input to an Svideo out?