Changing impedance (S-Video to Cat5)

[brianatlarge]

There are things out there you can buy where on one end has a S-Video plug, and on the other end is a RJ45 jack to plug in a network cable. You get two of those and you can run a video signal over long distances using just a regular ole network cable.

The problem is, they cost about $70-$100 a pop. And you need two of them to make it work. I figured, why spend that much on one when you could get 2-3 different parts and make one for less than $10.

As I was looking into this a little further, I found out that S-Video and Category 5 network cable has a different impedance rating. S-Video is 75 ohms and Cat5 is 100 ohms. In order to make this work I need to figure out how to change the impedance back and forth in order to make a homemade s-video to cat5 adapter.

Could you guys talk a little about impedance on your show and perhaps make a project about this?

[mikec]

Maybe you just found out why a company like Blackbox can charge what they do for their products. It's not just impedance it is also about the active components inside the unit.

[md2389]

I'd love to see a show on this. :) Sounds like a good challenge for Dave.

[mikec]

Dave would take a commercial box apart and figure out what components are in it. It is easy to copy then. Add the correct connectors on each end. Biggest hassle is the circuit board. (unless they have some custom ICs in it.)