Hints & Tips
How do I watch my DVD/Sky/VCR in another room?
This is an increasingly common problem that can be solved in a
variety of ways.
Option 1 - For watching Sky Digital (only) on other televisions
All Sky digiboxes have an extra aerial output, designed specifically to connect
to another TV in a remote location. All that's required is to connect this aerial
output to the aerial input on the other TV and you're in business! Once connected
you'd normally want to be able to control the digibox from the remote location and
this is also easily catered for by adding a Skylink, a tiny "magic eye"
that feeds the IR signal back to the skybox. You can also buy duplicate remotes to
leave in the other rooms and special distribution amplifiers to allow viewing &
control on up to seven other TV's!
Shopping list
| Description | On-line catalogue section | Price | Order Code |
| Coaxial aerial cable | Leads & cable | £0.30/meter | KBL7 |
| TV Cable clips | Adaptors & connectors | £2.99/box 100 | CC7 |
| Aerial cable Plug | Adaptors & connectors | £0.99 | KLC7 |
| Aerial cable socket | Adaptors & connectors | £0.99 | KLC8 |
| Skylink | Remote control | £12.99 | SKYLINK |
| Sky remote control | Remote control | £12.99 | SKYREM |
| Skypack (Skylink plus remote) | Remote control | £22.99 | SKYPACK |
Option Two - For watching Sky/OnDigital, DVDs or VCRs in other rooms
Distribution by aerial cable. In this option, all items of equipment have their aerial
connection "daisy-chained" together, (that is, out of the aerial wall socket
into the first VCR, out of that into the next device and so on). The end of this
chain is then connected to an RF aerial distribution amplifier and the outputs connected
to each television. You can get amplifiers with two, four or seven outputs. The amplifier
itself can be located in the loft or wherever you find it convenient (it does need
mains power). This solution is general the cheapest, the only downside is that picture
quality from RF is never quite as good as say a scart connection and the audio will
always be mono. That said, if your remote TV's are typically 14" portables in
bedrooms and kitchens, the audio and picture quality are more than adequate. You
may also need an RF modulator to convert the AV output from devices like the DVD
player into an RF signal.
Shopping list
| Description | On-line catalogue section | Price | Order Code |
| Coaxial aerial cable | Leads & cable | £0.30/meter | KBL7 |
| TV Cable clips | Adaptors & connectors | £2.99/box 100 | CC7 |
| Aerial cable Plug | Adaptors & connectors | £0.99 | KLC7 |
| Aerial cable socket | Adaptors & connectors | £0.99 | KLC8 |
| Four way RF distribution amplifier | Distribution & duplication | £24.99 | A140 |
| Eight way RF distribution amplifier | Distribution & duplication | £39.99 | A281 |
| Wideband through modulator | Conversion | £39.99 | KRFTW |
| RGB to S convertor | Conversion | £59.99 | RGB2S |
Cabling tips
Aerial cable is weatherproof and can be run externally without problems. Its often
easiest to drill out through an external wall then run the cable externally around
and into the room containing the remote TV
Option Three - For watching Sky/OnDigital, DVDs or VCRs in other rooms
Distribution by AV cables. In this solution the signal fed to each remote TV
is separate audio and video. This requires an AV distribution amp and custom made
cables at the appropriate length. Since the distribution amplifier will have only
the one AV input, its usually best to connect this to the output of an AV amplifier,
which can then be used to select which AV source is to be distributed. Failing this,
a good quality AV switcher (say the BT945) would suffice.
Shopping list
| Description | On-line catalogue section | Price | Order Code |
| 4 way AV distribution amplifier | Distribution & duplication | £69.99 | KDA |
| 5 way scart distribution amplifier | Distribution & duplication | £89.99 | SDA |
| 10 way Kramer distribution amplifier | Distribution & duplication | £479.99 | VM10YCMXL |
| Four input auto AV switcher | £69.00 | BT945 | |
| Six input remote AV switcher | £49.99 | AVHUB | |
| Custom length cables | Leads & cables | £various | LTGxxx |
| Scart to phono/s-video adaptor | Adaptors & connectors | £8.99 | KA127SG |
Cabling tips
AV cable is not designed to be weatherproof so these cables should ideally be run
internally (avoiding runs adjacent to mains cables wherever possible) and if they
do have to be run externally they should be housed in protective conduit.
Option Four - For watching Sky/OnDigital, DVDs or VCRs in other rooms
Wireless AV distribution. This option uses a matched transmitter/receiver pair.
The transmitter is fed with the AV signal to be distributed (as in option 3 above)
and this is transmitted as a radio signal. The receiver (by your other TV) turns
this radio signal back into audio and video again. This is a quick and easy solution
as there's no cables to be run, although it does require one receiver for each remotely
located TV.
Shopping list
| Description | On-line catalogue section | Price | Order Code |
| Wireless video sender | Distribution & duplication | £59.00 | GV70 |
| Additional wireless receiver | Distribution & duplication | £44.99 | GV70R |
| Four input auto AV switcher | Adaptors & connectors - switchboxes | £69.00 | BT945 |
| Six input remote AV switcher | Adaptors & connectors - switchboxes | £49.99 | AVHUB |
| Scart to phono/s-video adaptor | Adaptors & connectors | £8.99 | KA127SG |
| RF modulator (in case your remote TV has only an aerial input and not AV) | Conversion | £39.99 | KRFTW |
Great - how do I control all this stuff from my bedroom?
There's a number of solutions, depending upon which distribution route you opted
for;
Option 1 - Just add the Skylink and you've got easy remote control from a remote
location.
Option 2 & 3 - Adding a Powermid (on-line catalogue Remotes) lets you take your
remote with you and use it in the other location, although you'll need an additional
transmitter for each remote TV. You could also opt for a Powermid Plus (Om-line catalogue
Remotes) which gives you a multi device pre-programmed & learning remote that
is radio based and will work from any of your remote locations.
Option 4 - the Wavecom Senior has built in IR feedback, (similar to the Powermid)
so there's nothing else needed.
Note that for all of these options you may find an IR distribution amplifier useful
- full details on-line catalogue Conversion.

