[mythtv-users] Looking for the latest word on PCI-Express tuner boards

Jeff Walther trag at io.com
Tue Aug 26 15:51:17 UTC 2008


>> On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 10:59 AM, Bruce H McIntosh <scotsman at afn.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Like a bunch of you, I've built my mythbox (combined frontend/backend)
>>> on one of those spiffy little M2N mobos with onboard GeForce 6150
>>> video.
>>> Catch is, it has only two PCI slots, both of which are occupied with
>>> NTSC cards.  Networking is on the mobo, but there's a 35' long CAT5
>>> cable trailing out the family room, across the dining room and into the
>>> office, which the wife has decreed must go.  I have a wireless adapter
>>> but no PCI slot for it.  So I figured, why not get newfangled PCI
>>> Express analog/digital tuner cards and be ready for the dreaded Feb 19
>>> cutover?  So, my question - anyone have any hands-on with the latest
>>> round of PCIe tuner/capture cards?

Have you considered doing a cable drop in your walls and run the cable
through the attic?   If you have an accessible attic, this is fairly easy
to do.

Get an old work box.  Cut a corresponding hole in the drywall where you
want the cable to terminate.  Drill a small hole in the ceiling directly
above it and near the wall.  Stick a straightened coat hanger or similar
implement up through the hole.   Find the coat hanger in the attic.  Drill
a hole in the center of the wall cap next to the coat hanger.   Drop your
cable through the hole you just drilled.  Go back downstairs and feel
around in the hole in the drywall for the cable you just dropped.  Thread
the cable through one of the holes in the old work box.   Connect the
cable to an RJ45 modular jack.  Insert the old work box into the hole in
the wall and turn the screws that secure it.  Snap the modular jack into a
face plate.  Screw the face plate onto the old work box.  Repeat at the
other end of the cable.   Voila.  Your cable is reduced to two stylish
wall plates indistinguishable from any other utility available on the
wall, such as electrical outlets.

If you have a pier and beam constructed house, the same thing can be done
with the cable running under the house, although the coat hanger trick is
not recommended if you must drill a hole in the floor.  :-)

If you're in a two-story house, this probably isn't very practicle.

To get really fancy, pick a coat closet and dedicate the space above the
shelf to being a wiring closet.  Then route all your cables to the closet
on patch panels.

Jeff Walther



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