Members Marko Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 I have more sends on my snake than channels on the board I use. (got a good deal, and it leaves options for the future) I know signals can go both ways on a cable, but will that cable work for video, like to work a tv monitor on stage from FOH, or a signal to control lights? I feel like this is an amaturish question that I should know the answer to, and I think that the answer is "yes", but I want to be sure. And something I've wanted to express for many months of reading and learning on this and other sites, THANKS so much to all you pro's who share your knowlege (patiently or otherwise) with the less-experienced. You are a blessing beyond what you know, and truely advance the industry more than any school or recourses available. Love, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 Believe it or not, I have used a snake line for composite video and it worked pretty well. I was shocked actually as it was over 200 feet! The main problem I would worry about other than signal quality is the potential for ground loops, though a video isolation transformer is an (expensive) option., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted May 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 Thanks, Agedhorse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 Is this over balanced or unbalanced in the snake? It never hurts anything to try. I do recall an unbalanced to balanced converter for composite video. Of course, to could be too much money to spend on composite video (which sucks). Convert to SMPTE259 and you can go quite a distance over a snake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted May 6, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 Hi, The snake sends are XLR, ballanced I presume, and I want to send the video signal from a Karaoke machine down the snake to the box, then out (via adapters) to the TV monitor so I can mix and run the thing, FOH. I also got a light pole and some flashy lights that I thought I could control FOH, as well. I'm finding this kinda embarrassing, but here's the situation. I have somewhat of a passion for Sound Reinforcement, I've mixed many Bands at a Lounge that has since closed, and I do Sound Providing as more of a hobby/charity thing. It's more of a hobby as I have a good day job. I don't have anything steady to do on weekends, so I hooked up this little DJ/Karaoke gig at a bar down the street from my house just to get some stuff out of the basement and make some pocket change. I can't do this DJ/KJ stuff like they do sitting at a table where the singers sing. DJ/KJ is kinda new to me, and I don't really have that as a passion, but I just need something to do on weekends and hear some decent sound. To have any fun at all, I have to have my FOH position, with some semblance of a stage, even as small a Gig as this is. So that's the whole story I was trying to hide... haha. Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted May 6, 2006 Members Share Posted May 6, 2006 If it works consider yourself lucky. The cost to balance the composite video might be too expensive (~$200?). You'd be better off sending the video over a single conductor, 1/4" line in the snake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 The video might be a noisy but hey give it a try. I it doesn't give you the results you want, Coaxial cable (made for video) is pretty near dirt cheap these days(due to the explosion of satellite TV, Cable TV & Cable ISPs) . Probably running it is worth more in time than the cost of the cable. As for the lights there are a couple of systems for lite control that I know of (DMX and the old system of variable DC Voltage (not much current here and I think 10V to 0V)). The snake send should be fine for either one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 I don't know the protocol, but my best guess is that pin 1 is shield/ground and BOTH pin 2 and 3 will be the signal hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members milesdf Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 in any dmx scheme pin 1 is ground/common, pin 2 is data - , pin 3 is data +. in the 5 pin scheme pins 4 and 5 are unused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted May 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Maybe just running the coax cable as you mentioned JRBLE is wisest. Hey, thanks so much for the great advise Gentlemen. You guys are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 I assume the DMX comment has nothing to do with the video topic? The reason for using the 2 hots is to minimize coupling, second path reflections between a parallel conductor and [worse] impedance mis-match. Actually instrument cable would probably be an even better choice w/out using coax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrActical_AV Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Have you considered wireless? You can pick up a wireless video extender unit for under $75 with pretty good quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted May 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 OMG- PrActical... that's ingenious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prog Posted May 7, 2006 Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Originally posted by Mark G. Hinge OMG- PrActical... that's ingenious! I think the rest of us were under the impression you didn't want to spend any money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Marko Posted May 7, 2006 Author Members Share Posted May 7, 2006 Sorry, it wasn't a money-saving thing, it was a neatness, ease-of-setup, utilize what I had in the snake instead of running more wires and stuff. I hope I didn't appear to diss all the great advice... sorry if I did. I can see how it appeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ear Abuser Posted May 8, 2006 Members Share Posted May 8, 2006 I too have run composite video over a twisted pair, and it worked, using nothing but bastardized adapters. However , this might be a better solution:http://www.svideo.com/500021.html not too expensive- they're meant for cat 5 but I bet they would work fine with shielded twisted pair snake cable. ( for the curious, a balun is a BALanced to UN balanced transformer, used a lot in the RF world back when TV sets only had twin lead (Ballanced) antenna connections but you had a coaxial (unbalanced) antenna signal-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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