HDMI™ Cabling Application Notes

The HDMI Specifications do not specify cable lengths. However, for long cable runs the following is recommended:
If you need to send a 1080p signal more than 25feet, or a 1080i signal more than 49 feet, active electronics will help clean up and boost an HDMI signal when it's traveling long distances. You can purchase either a stand-alone booster or an active cable, where the circuitry is embedded in the connectors themselves. In both cases, the connection requires a power source.

HDMI over CAT5e/6:
Runs of up to 50 meters can be achieved by sending the HDMI signal over a run of CAT5e/6 networking cable, using special adapters designed for this purpose. These products incorporate booster and equalization electronics at each end of the path and require external power. Because of its tighter manufacturing tolerances, CAT6 cable is generally preferred over CAT5 in these applications. Stay tuned in March 2010 for more information about Suttle HDMI over CAT5e/6 products.

For more info on HDMI see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

1GHz vs 3GHz RF Splitters

The difference between installing a 1GHz RF splitter and a 3GHz RF splitter depends on the service. Although the same footprint and port configurations, the 1GHz splitters are all that is required for cable TV, digital cable TV, or cable internet at and below 960MHz. Satellite requires a start point of 2.4GHz requiring a splitter that is rated from 2.4GHz to 3GHz. When amplifying a 6 and 8 port splitter make sure to match the appropriate amplifier with your installation. A 1GHz drop amplifier should be used for your MOCA and CATV installs and a 3GHz amplifier should be used for your Satellite installs.

Coax Connector Color Coding

Assortment of color rings for video connectors such as our SURE Lock™ F connectors make identifying cables and wires trouble-free.  Once the SURE Lock™ compression connector is compressed on to the cable, professional installers simply slide the selected color ring over the connector for easy identification.  These colors are defined by industry standards to make commonly used connections for electronic devices in a home theater system easy to identify.  Here are a list of signal connections that reference the CEA-863-A standard for "Connection Color Codes for Home Theater Systems."

COLOR	CONNECTION
Yellow	Composite Video
White	Digital Video - Coaxial
Orange	Digital Audio - Coaxial
Green	Component Video
Grey	Sync, Horizontal Deflection
Black	Sync, Vertical Deflection
Red	Component Video (CH3, R)

Other color ring indicators such as green indicate the use for an RG6 compression connector for coaxial cable and red for an RG59. These two are the most commonly used for video coax applications inside the home.

Suttle Offers You the Support You Need

A big part of Suttle's website design was expanding their support resources. Here are just a few of the new resources at your fingertips:

• Additional, More Organized FAQs
• An Archive of All Previous Training Tips
• Glossary of Industry Terms and Abbreviations
• An Online Version or Suttle's Distilled USOC Guide
• Links to Industry Web Resources
• More Organized Literature Area with Tech Docs and Label Templates

Come visit us at www.suttleonline.com and see for yourself how Suttle can help you today.

MDU FTTx: Critical Considerations for the last 50 ft.

Suttle’s July Webinar with OSP Magazine has been recorded and is now available on-line and on-demand.

This webinar will walk participants through how fiber networks are typically deployed to Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs). Best practices and examples will be described as it pertains to major design considerations including types of PON ONTs deployed at an MDU, optimal ONT location, power and maintenance considerations, and how the fiber interfaces the wiring at the living unit.

For more information visit: http://www.ospmag.com/events/web/suttle.

Using a SAM-DSL Filter with a 66 Block

A cleaner and more effective way to filter a connecting block is to use a SAM-DSL module. To implement you would bring your unfiltered line in through your DSL module, resulting in your line being filtered to the connecting block. The connecting block then passes that filtered line onto your telephone or PBX. This solution allows your connecting block to be free of micro filters dangling from the clips creating a cleaner equipment room and saving on installation time.

Weatherproofing Coax Cable

When installing coax cable externally it is very important to ensure the cable is weatherproofed. This is critical because any moisture entering the coax cable will produce a large increase in the level of loss. If any moisture passes into the dielectric material it will cause impairment to the performance of the dielectric, and also increase the level of loss. It is extremely important to seal the end of the cable if it's used externally with the proper connector to ensure that no moisture enters the connector and in turn the cable. It is also important to ensure that the outer jacket of the cable remains intact and is not damaged during installation in any way.

Simple Tips for Designing an RF Distribution System

A single cable layout is pretty straightforward but there are several things to keep in mind when you design a system.

1. Better to use a separate amplifier and splitter then having a module that combines both. This will allow you to pick up the best parts and measure how each performs.


2. Always use top quality parts from your vendor for the CATV industry. This is not the place to cut corners to save money.


3. The gain in the amp will need to be equal to the loss in the splitter plus the loss of the longest cable run. Your goal is to provide a signal between 0 and +10dB at every wall jack.


4. Use attenuators on the splitter outputs for short cable runs that result in a signal over +15dB at the outlet.

Other Simple Tips:

• Keep those outputs terminated! Use self-terminating caps everywhere you can, especially on unused splitter ports.


• Make sure F connectors are screwed on TIGHT.


• Make sure braid is 60% and up for best coverage.

RG-6 vs RG-59 Coax Cable

When considering what type of coax cable in a residential application there are two common choices: either an RG-6 or RG-59 cable type. Though both cables are 75Ω characteristic impedance cable types, RG-59 cable has a 20 AWG center conductor while RG-6 cable has an 18 AWG center conductor.
RG-59 with it's smaller center conductor is suitable for use with baseband video frequencies, such as composite video, but its high-frequency loss is too great for use with broadcast frequencies over distance greater then a few feet. RG-6 on the other hand provides less high-frequency loss in a manageable size. However, remember that even RG-6 is available in many different quality configurations so be sure to pick a cable with proper shielding and center conductor materials. We recommend a quad-shield RG-6 cable with a solid copper center conductor for most residential installations.

Understanding Suttle's Enclosure UL Compliance

All of Suttle’s SOHO Access™ Enclosures (and most of our other products) are marked cULus meaning that these products are dual listed for both the Canadian market as well as the US market.

They are listed under cULus 1863 Communications-Circuit Accessories. This is the standard industry recognized designation for enclosures being deployed in a communications application. It is designated for low voltage communications equipments and should be applicable for the majority of installations and sufficient for the majority of building inspectors who have UL as a requirement in their jurisdiction.

As of 2007, Suttle has also added to other designations to its entire SOHO Access™ Enclosure line. These designations are Household Fire Warning System Units (UL 985) and Household Burglar-Alarm System Units (UL 1023). What these new listings allow for is the installation of either a household burglar alarm control board or a household fire warning system control unit board in our enclosure. However these ratings do NOT allow for SOHO Access™ Enclosures to be installed within a fire rated wall, which would be Fire Tests of Through-Penetration Firestops (UL 1479), and therefore should NEVER be installed within one.

Do you know that the SOHO Access™ Enclosures can play dual duty?

Certain enclosure sizes in the Suttle product portfolio can provide a dedicated secure space inside the tenant's home for the management of voice, data and video products as well as the fiber equipment such as the ONT and power supply used in the deployment of FTTH services. Suttle is providing this solution to several of its customers to support the delivery of their FTTH initiatives. The SOHO Access™ enclosure should be in a location that is accessible for cabling maintenance. When ever possible, the location should be centralized within the home to minimize the length of outlet cables according to guidelines provided by the EIA/TIA 570 B residential telecommunications infrastructure standard. For a quick overview of these guidelines follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIA_570B.

A common report we hear from the field is an open problem on RJ31X jacks. To-date we have found 100% of the reports were due to damage caused by inserting a 6-pin plug (RJ11 or RJ14) into the 8-pin RJ31X socket.

An RJ45 8-pin socket can typically be used for connecting a standard RJ11 or RJ14 phone plug, as the center pairs are wired the same whether using a 6-pin plug or an 8-pin plug. However, when used in an RJ31X, a 6-pin plug renders the RJ31X essentially useless for its intended purpose of monitoring and seizing line one in the case of an emergency.

The reason is when the 6-pin plug is inserted into an 8-pin socket, the outer pins (1 & 8) bend and many times won't spring back to their normal position. Afterwards when an 8-pin plug is inserted, the conductors do not make contact and the result is an open circuit. This becomes a critical problem when an RJ31X is involved in a security panel installation, as the jack is compromised if and when the security system needs to seize the lines to make a call to the security monitoring company. For more information, you can contact us at techsupport@commsysinc.com or 1-800-852-8662.

Clarifying T568A/B Wiring vs EIA/TIA 568 Standard

People often confuse the TIA/EIA-568-B wiring standard with the T568A or T568B pin/pair assignment defined in this standard. According to this excerpt taken from Wikipedia.org, “TIA/EIA-568-B specifies that horizontal cables should be terminated using the T568A pin/pair assignments, or, optionally, per [T568B] if necessary to accommodate certain 8-pin cabling systems." Despite this instruction, many organizations continue to implement T568B for various reasons, chiefly associated with tradition (T568B is equivalent to AT&T 258A). The United States National Communication Systems Federal Telecommunications Recommendations do not recognize T568B.”

T568A standard uses orange for line 2 and green for line 3, where T568B uses green for line 2 and orange line 3. Both are equal in performance, but care should be taken not to mix these wiring codes in the same installation (i.e., jack and patch panel must be wired the same). The same product can be used for either, as long as the pair order corresponds correctly. Most residential products are color-coded for T568A wiring as the default wiring standard. For a history on these wiring standards see this article on Wikipedia here.

The Pitfalls of the Field Terminated Modular Plug

Did you know that the limit for a field terminated modular plug is 32.8ft (10 meters)? Many installers incorrectly attempt to terminate these modular plugs on both ends of a cabling drop even though the average drop length in a residential home-run wiring system is 75ft (23 meters).

The issue is the product layout of modular plugs with contact blades used for field termination makes them more susceptible to crosstalk. The large contact blades positioned in parallel at the "nose" of the plug form capacitive plates, which are significant sources of signal coupling (or cross-talk). Especially since at the entrance of the plug the cable pairs are untwisted and split reducing the natural ability of the cable structure to remain immune to crosstalk interference.

Because of this Suttle recommends only using punchdowns for horizontal cable runs.