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| Entertainment System
Introduction
The entertainment system consists of three parts:
- The Video System
- The main audio system
- The distributed audio system
| Channel |
Number |
| BBC1 |
1 |
| BBC2 |
2 |
| ITV |
3 |
| CH4 |
4 |
| Video |
5 |
| Sat TV |
6 |
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The Video System
We subscribe to Sky Satellite TV. The satellite and
terrestrial aerials go into the "digibox" in the lounge.
The "digibox", VCR and TV are joined by both SCART and
co-ax cables and a separate co-ax output is taken up to the attic.
In the attic, an RF amplifier increases the signal strength and
sends the signal back down into all the other rooms. The table
on the left shows the available channels. An X-10
PowerMid is used to remotely change the satellite channels from the
study. Also in the study the TV signal is split to the TV and the
Hauppauge TV tuner inside the my PC described on the home
PC network page. The Hauppauge tuner can record video and TV
from any source.
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Main Audio System
In the lounge we have a Sony STRDB925 AV receiver that is
capable of delivering 100 watts per channel into each of the left,
right, centre and two rear loudspeakers. The Sony has an
excellent DSP which can create superb surround sound effects however
the Dolby 5 channel signals from DVDs sound much better. The
main loudspeakers are a pair of Cambridge Audio R50's standing 1.5m
high. The Sony is fed from an mp3 server via the lounge
PC, DVD player. a CD player, a cassette recorder, and the audio from the video
and TV channels |
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Distributed Audio System
In each room of the bungalow, loudspeakers are hung in the
corners of the rooms controlled by a three position toggle switch by
the door. Inside the study, a radio tuner is left
switched on 24 hours a day. The tuner is connected to a power
amplifier (that I built 20 years ago) controlled by a black box.
Four core telephone cable runs from each room of the house to the
black box. If all switches are in the off position, the mains to the
power amplifier is off. If one switch is in the middle position, the
power amplifier is switched on. When any switch is down, the sound
is switched through to the loudspeakers in that room. So, how do you
switch both 230 volts and stereo audio signals off and on via low
voltage telephone cable?.....e-mail me if you would like to know. |
The mp3 Server
All our music CDs have now been migrated onto our mp3 server
which has a 80GB disk drive within one of our networked computers.
We now use the lounge computer to select any CD or any artist and
the music is instantly available. I have also created specific
play lists of music tracks I like.
I had intended buying a 200 CD changer, but this computerised
solution is not only better but far cheaper too. If you intend
creating an mp3 server, be prepared to allow 20 minutes for each CD you
wish to convert. I now have hundreds of CDs stored away, |
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Page created on March 02, 1997, last
revised: November 29, 2006. |
Redoak
e-mail address