Running Power and Video signals attached?

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karaoke_carlos

karaoke_carlos

New DJ
Jun 30, 2008
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For "aesthetic" reasons, I want to run equal lengths of power (2 wire for a TV) and video (coax/cabble) signal in one sheath.

Can anybody tell me if I can expect to see degradation of video signal... or any potential issues for running power and tv signal together?

Thanks!
 
karaoke_carlos said:
For "aesthetic" reasons, I want to run equal lengths of power (2 wire for a TV) and video (coax/cabble) signal in one sheath.

Can anybody tell me if I can expect to see degradation of video signal... or any potential issues for running power and tv signal together?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If they are sheilded right you shouldn't have a problem....
 
Best case is to run high voltage (power) and low voltage (audio, video, dmx) separately to prevent interference. If they have to cross paths do it at a 90 degree angle to limit interference. Running them bundled together is a worst case scenario and tests the shielding and noise rejection capabilities of all gear involved. If they have to run together, try to keep them separated by the width of your finger as a "handy" measuring tool when taping or strapping them down. If you can, run them in separate sheathing or put a small sheath around one first to keep them separate within the large sheath. I assume you are talking about automotive split sheathing which is typically black but you could also look at raceway type products (aka wiremold) which is typically white/ivory/beige and many times is paintable. Some of the raceway products are wide & flat which may allow you to keeping power & signal cabling separated by an air gap which is much better than being strapped together.

When running horizontally and taping it's best to lay each cable out separately to not only prevent signal noise, but it also leaves a flatter profile when the house inevitably rolls a maintenance cart over your cabling letting your cables share the crush load rather than concentrating it on a bundle of cabling pinching the weakest one.

It is possible that you won't hear/see any noise with them bundled together when you test it at setup, but Mr Murphy will change something between setup & showtime to add noise to the power line which could then be transferred to the signal line during an event.

Good luck!
Scott
 
^^^^Really?


Huh? I run my power to my TV and sheilded composit video cable next to each other on every setup.... not once have I seen interferance issues.... in fact if you look at the video I shot at my last show you may be able to see what looks like a single black cable running from the TV to my area... that is in fact as I described above and what I do every show.... YMMV I guess.
 
jokerswild said:
^^^^Really?


Huh? I run my power to my TV and sheilded composit video cable next to each other on every setup.... not once have I seen interferance issues.... in fact if you look at the video I shot at my last show you may be able to see what looks like a single black cable running from the TV to my area... that is in fact as I described above and what I do every show.... YMMV I guess.
Click to expand...

How long is your run?

I think the previous post is a best case scenario when it comes to multiple cables and power supplies. I'd start off the separated way then test to see if your setup would work over a 100' run. Not saying your way is wrong, just saying his was is always going to be an advantage...
 
jtnichol said:
How long is your run?

I think the previous post is a best case scenario when it comes to multiple cables and power supplies. I'd start off the separated way then test to see if your setup would work over a 100' run. Not saying your way is wrong, just saying his was is always going to be an advantage...
Click to expand...

Well the power cord and video cable are both 25' and both ended up stretched strait for about mmmmmm..... 8 or 9' then coiled near the power outlet with the exceptiong bing that the video cable then went up to my converter box on my table....

Over 100' runs run the risk of power issues anyway.... especially on a 20 amp circuit and especially so if other things are powered off that same circuit.... you might not have enough juice then to even turn the TV on... depending on the draw of the other electronics. At over 100' I can't even run a powered staple gun... found that out durring construction of the Microtel.

Distance of the run wont make much difference as far as electrical interferience assumeing proper sheilding of the wires. What does make a difference is signal loss.... the long the run the weaker the video signal is going to be and then you may need an in-line booster, and of course power roll-off.

For long runs of video it is better to run coax rather than S-video or composit for this very reason.

Power should always come from the nearest source.
 
You may not notice the interference, but most likely it's there. Many higher end video products have built in 60hz noise rejection circuits to limit visible interference when people do this.

It's like when people use xlr cables for dmx connections. It might work until something interferes with the signal. In an emergency you may be able to get away with it and hopefully no one will notice, but why do it on purpose?
 
In my case, I'm planning on using COAX for TV signal and two strand wire (12-14 ga) for power. They would run together MOST of the length, but they would have a way to plug into separate sources close to the ends.
 
Running together is the problem, the longer the distance they are together, the more likely there will be visible interference. Coax is MUCH better than a non-shielded cable and if you are feeding into the tuner (on channel 3 for instance) there is inherent noise rejection in the circuit but this is still a concern. If you see noise, try to get the cables away from each other only letting them run together for as short of a distance as possible.

Good luck!
Scott
 
While there can be interference (and yes I have seen it, little noise lines on the screen) generally it isn't bad enough to change it! The longer the runs the more interference you are likely to see.

However in a bar situation you are more likely to see interference from several different sources!

I like the 2.4 and 5 gigahertz rabbits for video signal you just have to make sure you get them setup high enough to get a "clear" line of sight between the transmitter and receiver, That way you can plug the TV into any recepticle in the room no matter what the distance without cords running all along the floor!
 
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