dave87's Home Media & Digital Lifestyle - WIP!

[MuscleFlex]

that HP microserver is interesting! makes my readynas duo look like a toy!

[dirky]

thanks for the heads up on your thread....
.. didn't your parents say anything about this? you're supposed to be saving up money for your own house!
very nice build tho... more like an avforums setup! wish i had vision like yours!

what dave doesnt know is that once he's finished, he's getting the punt so his parents can enjoy it

[dave87]

thanks for the heads up on your thread....
.. didn't your parents say anything about this? you're supposed to be saving up money for your own house!
very nice build tho... more like an avforums setup! wish i had vision like yours!

Parents' are quite relaxed, mainly because I've done most of the work, and it was done at the same time as redecorating, so minimal impact for them

that HP microserver is interesting! makes my readynas duo look like a toy!

It is a fantastic piece of kit for the price - a lot cheaper than a less powerful dedicated NAS box, so win win. The only thing is it comes OS less, so you need to set that up - not the most taxing of thing to do though

Yes noisy, expensive to run when its all powered up and generates a bit of heat, I actually have more stuff in there now, I added 2 x 2651xm routers as well.

You really need to create a thread detailing what you've got - would be an interesting read

what dave doesnt know is that once he's finished, he's getting the punt so his parents can enjoy it

You say that, there is a rumour my current bedroom would become a movie theatre if I moved out.....add a projector and get rid of the bed, and it isn't far off....lol!

[dave87]

Haven't updated this in a while, but current job is to board out some of the loft so we can sort the stuff up there into a more ordered fashion than 'wherever it fits'.

Oh, and sort some quieter cooling for the hall cupboard which has the kit in it

[Repressor]

& then measure out the required number of cables to the legth calculated:

How does this look now? I can't imagine trying to fit it under the carpet/down the side. Is it inside some sort of casing going down the bannister?

[dave87]

They didn't stay there - that would get me shot!

Have a look at this post:

http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...ml#post1992192

I ran one cable first to work out the length of cable I would need to follow the route I had in mind, I removed that and ran it down the hallway/stairs/dining room. This allowed me to run the other wires to the same length, and cable tie them together:



They were then taken up into the loft and installed

[dave87]

A little update to this thread, which is well and truly overdue


Firstly remember this?




Well, with some cooling upgrades (a 120mm fan on low speed blowing air out of the top of the cupboard and new fans in the Linksys switch (Scythe 40x40x20mm, versus the Fractal design 40x40x10mm ones that were in there before) and we get this:




This means I have GbE and PoE (though I've yet to find a need for PoE....give me time ) back - network speeds vastly improved. Think the next step will be to order two of these and I can call it job done. Well, until I cable up another room....




On another note, if you've followed this thread, then some additions have been made to my study.

First the Denon PMA-510AE arrived:



...and as my Denon AVR-2809 was off for repair at this point, I used the rear speakers from my Home Theatre setup with it:




Which actually sounded rather good, if I may say so. However, my Denon AVR receiver returned from repair, so they needed to go back. Obviously I couldn't step backwards in terms of speaker quality could I? That just wouldn't be cricket.

Anyhow, a chance find later, and I added these to the setup:




So, it now looks like this:





and, just because:











They're biwired (I believe, I'm using Speaker outputs A+B on the Denon Amp, though it is not biamped as the fronts are on my Home Theatre setup). I think they sound rather good, but I haven't really had a chance to turn them up as yet. Clarity is something else - so precise you would swear you were in the recording studio where the music was being recorded.

Now to resist adding a subwoofer of some description........(though I should really add one to my Home Theatre setup before I consider adding one to the study)



.....also seeing if I can find a matching Dell S2309 so I can have two of the same monitors on my desk....so watch this space.

[dave87]

On a slightly different note, I spent the evening wiring up the new TV Aerial booster - downstairs digital TV has gone from 30 ish Digital channels (same aerial, new booster) to 130. I think I can safely say, the old one was past its best....


....I'll sort some pics out when I go up there again to finish the wiring off

[Pancake]

Looks awesome, everytime i look in here i end up wanting buy stuff!

On a side note, you are using vista?

[dave87]

Looks awesome, everytime i look in here i end up wanting buy stuff!

On a side note, you are using vista?

Damn, I've been found out



In my defence I built a new PC whilst I was at Uni, and I was originally running XP 32bit. When I upgraded to 6gb of RAM (this is before Win7 was on the horizon) I needed a new OS, and Microsoft were running the Ultimate Steal program - I think I got Vista Ultimate for £38 or thereabouts. Keep meaning to pick up Windows 7 Pro to replace it, but that would mean reformatting, and theres a few other things I want to do at the same time (SSD/New Case/New Fans - the last part have just been purchased).

[Biscuit]

On a slightly different note, I spent the evening wiring up the new TV Aerial booster - downstairs digital TV has gone from 30 ish Digital channels (same aerial, new booster) to 130. I think I can safely say, the old one was past its best....


....I'll sort some pics out when I go up there again to finish the wiring off

We have some issue with our digital signal, what booster did you swap too?

[dave87]

We have some issue with our digital signal, what booster did you swap too?

I went for this one from Screwfix:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-da...r-8-way/29700#


8 Outputs, uses F-Type connectors (more reliable than push fit aerial connectors IMHO) and has an additional input for DAB/FM radio, so if I do decide to add that at a later date, then I can do.

I must admit I stopped short of going for the distribution type boxes, mainly because we've got SkyHD multiroom anyway, and they seemed a lot of extra expense for a feature I didn't think I would use - though if you've got Sky, they may be worth a look.

[g8ina]

One thing I just noticed is that the amp is at the bottom of that stack, with the printer on top - you may want to see if you can rearrange that so the amp has some headroom for heat diss.

Apart from that, blimey

[Biscuit]

I went for this one from Screwfix:

http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-da...r-8-way/29700#


8 Outputs, uses F-Type connectors (more reliable than push fit aerial connectors IMHO) and has an additional input for DAB/FM radio, so if I do decide to add that at a later date, then I can do.

I must admit I stopped short of going for the distribution type boxes, mainly because we've got SkyHD multiroom anyway, and they seemed a lot of extra expense for a feature I didn't think I would use - though if you've got Sky, they may be worth a look.

F-Types are a lot more reliable, that's not just your opinion its fact I have worked on video head end systems and you wont find a single push type in there.

Currently im in a flat and have no way to distribute the cables, was hard enough hiding the network cables, so i will just have to go for a single version

[dave87]

Think the next step will be to order two of these and I can call it job done. Well, until I cable up another room....

Well, I ordered those bits Sunday night, they arrived this morning. So, I now have this:




The OCD part of me is much happier now

[Biscuit]

Definitely looks better mate good effort