paull@hplabs.UUCP (Rob KA6SFV) (01/08/85)
What I do for the problem of connecting my Beta-HiFi VCR to
the stereo amp is very simple. A got a 40 Ft. roll of audio type cable
from Radio Shack and a pack of RCA jacks. I made two 20 ft. cables
and connected them up. They work fine. Total cost about $6.00.
Why blow all your dough on cables when inexpensive stuff works
as well?????
As far as using short audio and long RF cables, I can't figure that
one out. It seems to me that cable losses are far greater at RF than
AF. Were talking about 62-68 Mhz. RF (presuming your using channel 3
out of your VCR. if not then were talking about 3 to 4 Mhz video)
verses 20-20Khz AF.
Oh well, I guess I see Godzilla Cable, et al, as the pet rocks of audio.
If you have the urge to spend heavy dollars for cables, check your
local Radio Shack first. Also for speaker wire, check you local
welding supply house. Of course if you like to name drop the current
'in thing' in max-bux audio stuff then by all means drain your
bank account.
Rob Paull
ps: I know where you can pick up some small power poles for running speaker
wire accross your listening room ;-) .dmmartindale@watcgl.UUCP (Dave Martindale) (01/09/85)
In article <1381@hplabs.UUCP> paull@hplabs.UUCP (Rob KA6SFV) writes: > > What I do for the problem of connecting my Beta-HiFi VCR to >the stereo amp is very simple. A got a 40 Ft. roll of audio type cable >from Radio Shack and a pack of RCA jacks. I made two 20 ft. cables >and connected them up. They work fine. Total cost about $6.00. > >Why blow all your dough on cables when inexpensive stuff works >as well????? I once cut up a Radio Shack patch cord to use it as an adapter. The sheild braid provided nowhere near 100% coverage of the inner insulator. Looks like they scrimped on copper in the cable. I wouldn't want to use these in RF fields. > As far as using short audio and long RF cables, I can't figure that >one out. It seems to me that cable losses are far greater at RF than >AF. Were talking about 62-68 Mhz. RF (presuming your using channel 3 >out of your VCR. if not then were talking about 3 to 4 Mhz video) >verses 20-20Khz AF. For audio signals coming from a 10K ohm source impedance (typical), the losses at 20KHz are significantly *different* than those at 20Hz for 20 feet of standard coax. This produces a frequency response change which you might hear. For video signals, which must use a 75-ohm source impedance into a terminated cable to avoid reflections, much longer cables can easily be driven. If you are transmitting video, losses at 4.2MHz will not be much different than those at 60Hz. And if you are transmitting RF, the cable losses will only reduce the carrier level, not affecting the displayed picture at all if the set's AGC can compensate. >If you have the urge to spend heavy dollars for cables, check your >local Radio Shack first. Also for speaker wire, check you local >welding supply house. Welding cable is great stuff - very flexible for its current-carrying capacity. I use it for battery jumper cables. But it's not cheap. If you just want a very heavy cable for speaker wire (which doesn't have to flex) ordinary electrical wire should be cheaper.
lincoln@eosp1.UUCP (Dick Lincoln) (01/10/85)
> What I do for the problem of connecting my Beta-HiFi VCR to > the stereo amp is very simple. A got a 40 Ft. roll of audio type cable > from Radio Shack and a pack of RCA jacks. I made two 20 ft. cables > and connected them up. They work fine. Total cost about $6.00. > Why blow all your dough on cables when inexpensive stuff works > as well????? > As far as using short audio and long RF cables, I can't figure that > one out. It seems to me that cable losses are far greater at RF than > AF. Were talking about 62-68 Mhz. RF (presuming your using channel 3 > out of your VCR. if not then were talking about 3 to 4 Mhz video) > verses 20-20Khz AF. > Oh well, I guess I see Godzilla Cable, et al, as the pet rocks of > audio. Re audio vs video cable losses: The difference is that video output and input circuits are impedance matched in the video band to the cable's characteristic impedance, while the audio equipment's input and output circuitry is not (not less than 600 ohms, output; 100K ohms or larger, input). Therefore the cable attentuation, while perhaps much greater in overall amount at video compared to audio frequencies, may not shape the waveforms coming across as much in the video band as it does in the audio, and thus causes less perceived video than audio distortion. Hence you can probably get away with cheaper coax cable in the video rather than the audio spectrum. Re "Godzilla", etc.: Several contributers to this group have given plausible evidence for audio performance improvement of relatively high fidelity systems with Monster Cable, etc. This is probably due as much to the better connectors that come with these higher priced cables as it is to the cables themselves.