Amateur TV cable frenzy

Recently, I ordered a high-quality RF video modulator, and have been putting it through its paces in the lab!  I’ll have more to say about RF performance, but right now I have a connection problem…

I have a serious a lack of cables on-hand!   So far, the video equipment uses a haphazard mix of BNC, RCA, and F connectors, and there’s very few RCA and F connectors on hand around here.  Plus, the processing loop of the modulator took up my last good short RG-6 cable.  Darn!

Plus… I honestly don’t know where the test monitor I’m using came from, it’s an ancient JVC monstrosity with two video inputs.  It has the air of an old transmitter monitor from the gigantic  connectors poking out of the back!

At first I thought they were N connectors, but they didn’t look quite right, and of course didn’t hook up to the handful of N connector things I dug out.   My next guess was 75Ω TNC, not that I had any such thing on hand, but a check of the plug diameter threw that out too.

In the end, I found out that it’s actually old-style Amphenol UHF connector.  It’s still in the Wikipedia infoboxes, but I doubt too many folks still use it.  It’s a big, unwieldy, and expensive alternative to connectors that were designed after 1950.

Apparently the advantage to folks living in 1972 is  you can just solder the thing to the end of your cable and never have to go out and buy a crimper.  Unfortunately, I have to live in 2012, and I’ll be needing a spool of RG-6, ends,  and a crimper for a host of pesky RF cable runs sure to come in the development of this and other projects.

What I need to hook up together (diagram to follow):

Video Sources

Potential sources: VGA, DVI, Composite, S-Video.  Component, HDMI

Composite can go straight in;  S-Video and Component possibly, with cheap combiners, VGA/DVI/HDMI with expensive converter boxes.

Video Modulator

Video In: F connector

Audio In: RCA cable

Video/Audio Out:  F connector

VCR

Video In: 2x RCA connector, F connector

Video Out:  RCA connector, F connector

Audio In: 2x L+R RCA connectors

Audio Out:  L+R RCA connectors, F connector

Test Monitor

Video In: N connector

Video Out: N connector

Audio In: Mono RCA connector

Audio Out: Mono RCA connector

Stereo Encoder

TBD

Other video sources

TBD

 

To do

Turn up computer video generator

Add stereo encoder to the mix

Test Passthrough Mode on Test Monitor (need connector)

Get a power amplifier for the signal (very expensive! </Mr Dink>)