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Long HDMI Cables Can Kill Your Receiver! How To Run Long HDMIs Safely

hdmi can kill your receiver

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• Active HDMI 30 ft: https://amzn.to/2DWrsdR

  1. Standard (passive) HDMI cables aren’t meant to send a reliable signal over 15ft. Receivers and media devices aren’t built to power cables that are over 15ft long either.
  2. HDMI cables have different ratings for different signals. They also come in different versions, currently ranging from 1.0 to 2.1. HDMI cables may or may not be able to handle the following:
    1. 4k resolution
    2. 4k at 24hz vs 30hz vs 60hz
    3. 3D
    4. HD or UHD Signals over 15, 30, 50, 100 ft, etc.
    5. Chroma Subsampling
    6. HDR
    7. HDMI 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.0 or 2.1
    8. 5k, 8k and 10k at 120 Hz

You have several options for running HDMI over longer distances:

  1. HDMI Balun (HDMI Converter Kits) over Cat
    1. Priced from $30 – $300, depending on what you need
    2. Read the specs carefully
    3. They often give you other features, like IR extenders
    4. I bought a kit for $100 that includes infrared extenders and can handle HDMI 2.0, which support 4k at 60hz and is only powered from one side.
    5. Be sure to consider future needs
  2. Optical HDMI Cables
    1. Priced at $100 – $400
    2. Starting price is higher but they’re more of an all-in-one solution (no adapters, no kits
    3. These combine the technology of fiber optics and HDMI, letting you run VERY long distances (up to 1000 ft).
  3. Wireless HDMI Kits
    1. Range from $130 – $400
    2. Very mixed reviews and ratings
    3. No wires between source and display, which is incredible!
    4. Up to 660ft of range (for the pricier versions)
  4. Active HDMI
    1. Priced between $20 and $130
    2. They use a chipset in the cable which leverages the 5 volts of power from the source to provide a more stable long range feed
    3. They’re uni-directional, so you have to put the source end at the source and the display end at the display or it won’t work
    4. Cheaper than most other options but there is still a lot of controversy over their functionality. The reviews tend to be quite mixed.

If you have a receiver that has a fried HDMI board or doesn’t support HDMI at all but supports fiber optic you can leverage one of the above options and just use the fiber optic output on your source to plug into the receiver, assuming it has fiber optic out (like Apple TV or most Blu-Ray players). If that’s not an option and your receiver can still output audio from the HDMI inputs, you can use an HDMI splitter to send one signal to the display via the options above and the other to the receiver just for the audio portion.

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How to Install Fiberglass Insulation

How to Install Insulation

Installing insulation yourself is not a difficult task. It doesn’t take too long and, contrary to what some believe, is not typically a super-itchy experience. The last couple of times I did this it was easier than I expected and definitely worth doing myself. You don’t need much at all by way of tools, either.

Tools Needed

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A quality mask to prevent breathing in particles
  • Eye protection
  • Gloves and full skin protection
  • Utility Knife and several blades
  • Measuring Tape
  • A staple gun (if you’re using faced insulation)

That’s it! Pretty simple as far as tools go. 

What is “R” Value and what do I need?

The “R” in R-Value stands for resistance. R-Value is a measure of how well a material can resist the transfer of heat. Heat transfer is a two way street. When it’s hot outside, your insulation resists letting heat in. When it’s cold outside it resists letting your warm air out. In the United States, there are different requirements based on where you live and what type of insulation you’re doing. Here’s a chart to help you determine what you need. If you live outside the United States, be sure to check what you’ll need for your area.

Insulation Recommendations for New Wood-Framed Houses

As far as how to actually install the insulation, please check out this video with step by step instructions for both faced and unfaced insulation.

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DIY Ocean Desk – A Standing Desk with Personality

Because I spend so much time at my desk, I wanted to create a unique and beautiful desktop that I could place atop a motorized base. I started researching and discovered these gorgeous desk by a French designer in the Caribbean. He uses local stone, some serious machinery and a boat-load of epoxy. There’s a catch, however – his tables sell for anywhere from $12,000 – $60,000 each! A bit out of my budget, but I still love his work and wanted to try something that was original using wood. Continue reading “DIY Ocean Desk – A Standing Desk with Personality”

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How to Add an Electrical Outlet for a Wall Mounted TV

After we wall-mounted our new TV, the first thing we had to deal with was all of the ugly wires hanging down. In a related article, I show how to hide your TV wires for just $10. In fact, I later came out with another article and video showing how to do this by using a kit that hides your A/V wires and your electrical wiring as well, if you’re interested in doing this with a kit. Continue reading “How to Add an Electrical Outlet for a Wall Mounted TV”

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How to Fix the Hook Timing on a Sewing Machine

How to Fix the Hook Timing on a Sewing Machine

 

When my wife’s sewing machine was broken I decided to call a sewing machine repair shop but they told me it was going to be $90 just to take a look at it. I’m a cheapskate so I decided to do a little internet research to try to figure out how to fix it myself and, fortunately, as you’ll see below, this was just a fix that required some adjustments – no parts or anything like that. Continue reading “How to Fix the Hook Timing on a Sewing Machine”

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Building a Woodshop From Scratch – Drywall, Mud, Tape, Paint and Epoxy Flooring

A lot has happened on the shop in the last several weeks. If you haven’t already taken a look at the progress, be sure to check out the framing, the siding, trim and roofing and broken rib and the electrical work as well. Let’s take a look at the latest. Continue reading “Building a Woodshop From Scratch – Drywall, Mud, Tape, Paint and Epoxy Flooring”

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How to Create the Perfect Retro Games Room

How to Create a Retro Gaming Room

In the face of today’s high-tech games and fast-paced technology, retro gaming is making a major comeback. The BBC reports that more people are collecting and playing with games on systems that dominated the early days of home gaming. These include the Atari 7800s, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, and Sony PlayStations of the 80s and 90s, and the classic titles everyone played with as children. Continue reading “How to Create the Perfect Retro Games Room”

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3D Printing: 13 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Getting Started

13 Things I Wish I Knew About 3D Printing When I First Started

Several years ago I read a book called Makers, by Chris Anderson and he talked about how, in the future, we could all have 3D printers of our own and our homes would be like little manufacturing factories. Today, we’re seeing that happen around the world. It’s pretty incredible. A couple of years ago I got my first 3D Printer and it cost me about $650 and could print just about anything I wanted up to 150mm squared. I was pretty stoked but it was a real labor of love. Things broke, prints got messed up and I spent more time trying to get a successful print than I did actually making cool stuff. Continue reading “3D Printing: 13 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Getting Started”

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Building a Woodshop from Scratch – Electrical Wiring

If you’ve been following my other posts about this wood shop, you’ve seen the framing and then the siding, trim and roofing and broken rib come along over the last little while. By that point I only had two big projects left to do outside the shop: running electricity to the shop and building the front doors. I’ve started on the front doors and have come a long way but at this point in the year, it’s starting to get colder and darker so I figured I’d better hold off on the doors (I have temporary doors in place – they’re super ghetto but they do the job) and focus on getting power and lighting into the shop so I could hook up the heating/AC unit and stop running 100ft extension cords from the house for power. This will allow me to build the doors inside the shop and put them up as soon as they’re ready; hopefully in the next few weeks or so. I haven’t yet finished wiring the inside of the shop but I have started, and the shop now has its own power. Here’s how that all went down. Continue reading “Building a Woodshop from Scratch – Electrical Wiring”