DirecTV HD DVR, and Nandor's Law of Cable Conservation
I am getting a DirecTV HD DVR installed this Friday, hopefully.
I keep all my stereo equipment (DirecTV TiVo, two amp/receivers, 5-disc DVD changer, VCR, tape deck, PowerBook 15" w/ various peripherals, etc.) in the front closet out of sight, with IR junk so I can control it all. A snake of cables goes into (coax, Ethernet, phone) and out of (video, speaker) the closet behind the TV through a small hole in the wall.
I had most of it in a little TV cabinet thingy, with backs and sides, and making changes to the system was a huge pain, so I wanted to do something different. Basically, I am using wire shelving.
So since the new HD DVR is coming this week, I figured, now's a good time to do it all. I pulled everything out, put up the shelving, then hooked it all up again. Took me about eight hours to do it all, and I am sore all over. I'm happy with it.
In preparation for Friday I also put in place the cables the HD DVR will use: component, optical audio, and analog (for use on the regular TV in the other room). As I am not entirely sure what will happen with the coax situation, I am not touching that. I have the phone cable ready except that I need to buy a splitter at Radio Shack tomorrow.
I won't be doing HDMI/DVI because I already have the PowerBook connected via DVI. At some point I'll get an IR-controllable DVI switcher, I guess.
I also already programmed my Harmony Remote control and put an IR transmitter in place, so the remote will be ready right away too. So the installer dude just needs to worry about the dish and the multiswitch situation. I think.
Anyway, this afternoon, when cleaning up, and seeing mutliple unused cables strewn across the floor, I came up with Nandor's Law of Cable Conservation: There is no conservation of cables.
I keep all my stereo equipment (DirecTV TiVo, two amp/receivers, 5-disc DVD changer, VCR, tape deck, PowerBook 15" w/ various peripherals, etc.) in the front closet out of sight, with IR junk so I can control it all. A snake of cables goes into (coax, Ethernet, phone) and out of (video, speaker) the closet behind the TV through a small hole in the wall.
I had most of it in a little TV cabinet thingy, with backs and sides, and making changes to the system was a huge pain, so I wanted to do something different. Basically, I am using wire shelving.
So since the new HD DVR is coming this week, I figured, now's a good time to do it all. I pulled everything out, put up the shelving, then hooked it all up again. Took me about eight hours to do it all, and I am sore all over. I'm happy with it.
In preparation for Friday I also put in place the cables the HD DVR will use: component, optical audio, and analog (for use on the regular TV in the other room). As I am not entirely sure what will happen with the coax situation, I am not touching that. I have the phone cable ready except that I need to buy a splitter at Radio Shack tomorrow.
I won't be doing HDMI/DVI because I already have the PowerBook connected via DVI. At some point I'll get an IR-controllable DVI switcher, I guess.
I also already programmed my Harmony Remote control and put an IR transmitter in place, so the remote will be ready right away too. So the installer dude just needs to worry about the dish and the multiswitch situation. I think.
Anyway, this afternoon, when cleaning up, and seeing mutliple unused cables strewn across the floor, I came up with Nandor's Law of Cable Conservation: There is no conservation of cables.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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