Note sure if this is possible but: Cable Homelab

Hardware Hub Build a PC
, , ,
1

Hello there,

As I build the server discussed in another thread, there is another build I was curious on how to accomplish.

Idea:

  • Build a cable homelab where I can “stream”/broadcast specific shows and movies to my TV’s as if it were an actual TV channel. Example - a Twilight Zone channel that just runs through each episode chronologically and then loops after ending. Another for Clone Wars, Andy Griffith, MASH, etc.

Goals for this build:

  1. To have movies and TV optical media (to be ripped) able to just be played on the TV as if it were a TV station broadcasting. (Background noise, set to play chronologically as my OCD will want to not shuffle episodes but see them one after the next)

  2. Be able to setup multiple channels (about a dozen).

Must haves:

-Not a Netflix XP but the kind where you’re younger brother went to go get snacks and the show came back on you yell so he didn’t miss what was next.

-Can flip through channels with remote as if they were actual channels.

-Just runs 24/7, loops after ending.

-Multiple Channels

-As little DIY as possible (ex. I do not want to be rewiring anything, soldering, etc.)

-$4k budget, (willing to push it a little +/- $2k if necessary)

-No PLEX.

-Privacy. Ideally any services used do NOT have access to what I am running or playing at any given time.

-No WIFI in the house so everything is wired via RJ45 Cat6A cables or COAX (I live in an old neighborhood with not so many modern houses/construction unless I DIY’ed it at mine)

Nice to haves:

-Have one or as minimal source devices as possible sending multiple signals

-Pause / Next Episode, Previous Episode, etc.

-Guides for each channel (update themselves)

-Digital Playback to Cable COAX preferred, HDMI as possible

-Minimal Power Draw and noise.

-$1-2k budget

Here is so far what I have seen so far:

So I watched this video a while ago after researching possibilities:

but this is all old CRT’s and using much older equipment and requires some rewiring. So not quite in line with what I am looking to do.

and also came across this one then too which was much more in line with my goals:

However, it’s basically a bunch of Raspberry Pi’s (not against) running each channel. Hoping to have smoother playback, and less devices if possible. A few other things don’t quite align.

`

I was thinking of building a small NAS (6-12 core, ~32GB RAM, SSD Storage) and running each channel in a media player on a VM each that would output to a different HDMI port to then go into an RF modulator each (with a different channel for each) to then go into splitters that connect back into the single COAX that goes to the entire house.

`

Good idea or is there a more efficient way to go about it?

Also, I may just be dumb since I have never used one but do RF modulators only output a single channel or multiple? That could help a TON!

TLDR: Want to broadcast my own home cable channels to the whole house via COAX. Have some ideas but not sure the most efficient way nor what exact hardware so advice on my proposed setup would be appreciated.

Any and all advice welcome! :slight_smile:

2

I should add perhaps I have 21 RU available for this setup.

It will be in the 2nd warmest area in the house (happy wife rules) so I am not including a UPS or cooling fans in the budget (although I will be adding them anyway).

Just advice on the setup if possible, how possible, open to used equipment just prefer not to bring out the soldering iron or gloves for this one…

3

The rf modulators you will have access to are 1 per channel.

This is only a VERY DiY project. There are no pieces to this designed for SOHO use.

The only ‘close and easy’ option is Emby or Jellyfin with M3u files as plalists, and you can build out a ‘tv guide’ file for them also. You would need some way for the tv and any device to use it, though.

OR

HDMI splitters and running HDMI signals to everything, this would limit your ‘channels’ to the number of HDMI inputs on your TVs.

There are some other ways to local ‘stream’ things, but they all end up as variations of number one.

1 Like
4

Thank you so much for that info! Dang.

Let me please clarify, by DIY, I mean rewiring, soldering new connections, etc. I can build or config, run cables, etc. Kind of figured that was a given. I just don’t want to have to get as nitty-gritty with this project (like the guy in the first video I attached he had to remove and re-wire electrical connections, that’s what I mean by I don’t want to be doing to much DIY, does that make better sense now?)

I’ll build/run any cable runs necessary just curious on what the best way forward is that would be “wife-approved”. And again, by DIY I don’t mean building or getting physical, I mean electrical work. lol

1 Like
5

hdmi in, 1080p support, cable channel out, with selectable cable channel. so you will need 1 of these for each ‘channel’ you want to broadcast in your house. there are cheaper, but most do not allow channel selection.

next is what media will you connect? this is why the multiple PIs is used in most of the videos on youtube. it is just easier to have 1 low power pc per stream, as apposed to trying to reliably run multiple streams with audio, from 1 pc.

this does not almost ever, make sense in a home, when for 1/4th the cost one of the other ready made ‘home media’ options are available.

even in a business office it does not really end up as a good solution, we ended up just using HDMI powered extenders that run over ethernet cable for our situation.

hotels is the only time these systems are still really used, and even they are using them less. and most of the multi-channel multi-stream rack equipment is licensed so not really available used.

4 channel, a cool $5129.

1 Like
6

What if there was a way to convert a video signal of whole shows you have an pipe them through an SDR into your coax cables?
I don’t know how you’d go about that but seems to me the cheapest way to make this work.

1 Like
7

I feel like Kodi media center could do this with a smartphone as the remote over wifi

8

If there is a way, great! Im not locked into the ideas in the videos. More or less just what I came across when I was searching. Just want to play my old shows on the TV, 24/7 whenever I want without having to click all the time (Plex for example). Just turn on the tube and they’re on.

I have never heard of Kodi media center. I’ll have to look it up. But again, no wifi in the house. Everything is wired. Wired HDMI. Wired Cable. Wired RJ45. No wifi or hotspot.

Thank you so much for the recommendation. Stinks to know that I’ll have to buy one per channel. But it is a niche idea so I appreciate it highly!

As mentioned Im not locked into the ideas in the videos. More or less just what I came across when I was searching. Just want to play my old shows (Twilight Zone, MASH, Andy Griffith, Saved by the Bell, Star Wars, etc.) on the TV, 24/7, chronologically, whenever I want without having to click all the time (Plex for example). Just turn on the tube and they’re on. Simplest thing seemed to be to use the Coax the house has running throughout.

If maybe a cheap, used Dell Optiplex with a TV tuner and a cheap GPU (1030? or Intel ARC?) inside going to a Cable Splitter? Or no TV tuner and just run it into the Thor Broadcaster with VLC running its media on repeat as a playlist??? A recommendation or suggestion on how to have something more robust/better??

This is less about what makes sense and more about doing something for myself for once in my forsaken life. So yeah I get it. But again, more about something I want than something I need or someone else would say they need to do this too cause its just awesome. Does that make sense?

9

This is what I could find the the few minutes I got now. It’s analogue so probably not what you’re looking for. But maybe it’s the right track.

10

i would use a NAS for the storage and then a RaspberryPI for each stream. basically 1 Thor broadcaster + 1 PI connected via network cable to a NAS where the media is.

doing multiple streams from a single computer is going to cause a lot more issues. A TV card would also not be helpful for your use case.

we all deserve to treat our self more often than we do.

Not for this project, but also maybe of use to you would be MoCa adapters. they adapt ethernet to be carried over CoAX.
https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Adapter-Ethernet-Network-Streaming/dp/B08TDVN14D

11

Hm. So a NAS that stores the media. A PI that somehow takes the signal (how by the way?) and is then connected to the THOR, to the greater cable connections. Hows this work?

Sounds to me this is what the NAS solution would be. If I used a cheap computer with relatively budget friendly hardware (better than a PI though) connected to a THOR and duplicated that for each channel, would that be a better solution? Multiple streams (one per) across on multiple computers?

Just brainstorming here.

I was thinking about this until I learned COAX shares the connection. For work I still need as fast as possible upload and download speeds as I can get. So ideally, not sharing everything on the same connection as our internet would be ideal. Plus, Im not sure exactly how to make it work exactly. We have 5 TVs and at least 30 COAX connections (also at least a dozen phone jacks) throughout the house. Zero RJ45 across the house. Only in the den were I would need it for working afterhours. Its an older home so just keeping it COAX to COAX (since all out TVs have it anyway) would be the ideal. This isnt routing to a computer of any kind, only televisions.

Good idea though just not sure it would even work for anything we have going.

How would I setup the Nas → Pi → Thor ->Cable → TV setup? I am really intrigued…

12

Hm. Not sure that’d work. I’ll continue to look over it but I have a bunch of digital media to stream so converting it to analog back to SDR would be interesting. Also, I use NTSC not PAL…

1 Like
13

thor

this would give you 3 ‘channels’ on any number of TVs in your house.

you COULD just use a large SD card on each PI and load one set of media on each PI, too. but you would be very locked in and changing any media would be a task. the NAS allows for easier media change.

the thing i keep trying to mention is you have associated a protocol with a cable type. in reality you have more options than you are thinking about.

here is a page that talks about the MoCa adapters.

depending on your reasoning for not doing wireless, you could maybe also consider wireless point to point bridges too.

KODI is a front end for media at a remote location, like a NAS.
EMBY and JellyFin are complete streaming servers, like a local netflix.

Cat6 is just a physical standard and you can do the same thing with COAX.

SMB/CIFS and NFS are remote connection standards, similar to your thoughts about ‘broadcasting a tv signal’.

But, as stated, the image i posted would do exactly as you requested and only need very short patch cables to hook the devices sitting on the table together.

14

So what is the software side look like then? How does one Pi “stream”/broadcast a cable connection for the THOR to send? How do I select said media (Tv Show, collection of movies, etc.) to be streamed on that one Channel (example: Channel 5 is Saved by the Bell, Channel 7 is Star Wars, Channel 9 is MASH, etc.)

I’d assume I could possibly use a more powerful computer in replacement of each Pi too right? Sorry to harp, I just have a lot of old PC’s I could possibly use instead with overkill hardware (old OLD Pc’s like Intel Gen 4 - Gen 8, which is not that old, mini-pc’s and Optiplexs) for this but obviously no worries of potential overheating/failure. So putting them to use here would be an added bonus.

I get the concept. I’m just saying that I have Coax in the wall and TV’s with Coax. So it just makes sense to utilize that connection, right? Where and why would I covert COAX to RJ45 and how would this benefit? Not being mean just extremely curious for this build… :slight_smile:

We don’t have an AP nor do we use our cell phones that much. We really just use the TV and computers (desktops) for work, gaming, or leisure. Don’t own a laptop and if someone does call personally its a home phone or the cell using cell service. No reason to be using wifi or having the device at all if we don’t plan to use it and no one ever visits that would.

So, everything that can uses Ethernet or COAX (TV’s only) or the phone jacks throughout the house.

We don’t plan to watch anything on the phone. I’d like to stop paying my TV bill since nothing we have we want to watch but I miss my old shows (and I do own DVD’s or have ripped them already) so I intend to just have my “own” tv channels for my shows since again, we really are just watching the same things every day for 20 years anyway (these shows). Does that make sense?

Please explain.

I know I’m talking about a cable type. But again, how does converting connection types make any sense? When I could buy a COAX cable to go from the wall to the TV (already done). Why convert to Ethernet in between? Just curious…

15

the THOR adapter takes an HDMI input signal and sends it via frequency conversion over CoAX. the PI, or any old computer, can run any OS you have access to, and you would just play your media on repeat in media player, VLC, or whatever, and hook the monitor port to THOR, and THOR into the CoAX.

sure, but running 4 old desktop computers is going to use a significant amount of power.

a monitor signal with audio (HDMI) is what the THOR adapter converts to a broadcast channel and sends over the home CoAX. that is why it is difficult to use 1 computer for multiple signals to separate THOR devices.

you don’t.

you have a road, that road could be used for cars, busses, motorcycles, etc. you chose bicycles and are only using it for that.

we are kind of going in circles here. it sounds like you have a goal. watch your media on your TVs.

the options are:

  1. any sort of device to generate a audio/video signal, connected to a THOR transmitter. 1 set per channel. CoAX hooked into TV. you can watch whatever the device controlling this is sending.

  2. a storage tank and a computer hooked to the TV. physically connecting these things can be whatever cable type you have available. you can watch whatever is available on the tank whenever you want.

NOTES for consideration. the majority of planet earth did option 2. but both of these are valid options still. hence things like the THOR exist at all. CoAX can be used for A LOT of things. and last but not least ‘easy’ for one person is ‘unobtanium’ for another.

16

Roger that. That’s doable.

I think a bunch of lower powered machines won’t change much. Least I can do is try it and see but sounds good. Thank you so much for all your help!!

I have two locks that take the same key. I could shim it, pick it, or torch it. But why do that if I own the key? Any of the options get me into my house, but why go through the extra effort if I have everything already setup? Plus, MoCap goes COAX to RJ45 right? How does this help me? Im not watching any of this on a computer, but a TV (not SMART ones either).

I understand the perks of streaming everything to devices and the convenience of plex. Again, I just want it running 24/7. Simple, clean, old school.

Based on our discussion and this entire thread, the rest – the doing it – will be easy for me to accomplish. Much simpler than I was expecting actually. Once the THORs come in, I have an old NAS box I’ll load my media on, setup a few old dells and hp devices to run the media by VLC, and disconnect my cable cable* from my splitter (that goes from the ISP to split to my modem and to a single cable to the rest of the whole house, the 30 COAX cables in the walls) and plug the cable cable* into a splitter to receive a signal from each THOR.

Thank you again so much.

  • (to the TV’s)

I agree. I think based on your and everyone else’s advice, I know the way forward now in terms of hardware and software. So thank you SO MUCH!!!

17

This topic was automatically closed 273 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.