Here is an easy way to extend your VGA Cables. This is a great DIY project for anyone that is setting up a home theatre. If you set up the projector on the ceiling, you have to run wires all the way to it. If you want to play your favorite computer game on your new big screen, and don’t have a video out card, then you have to have a really long VGA cable. I am sure these cables are really expensive, and not that easy to find. Cape sent me this article from elephantstaircase.com. Elephantstaircase is a cool wiki site with a lot of neat projects. I was really happy that I found this site. Anyway, this converter is a simple mod where you can use the 8 wires in an ethernet cable to carry the signal for your VGA cable. A VGA port has more pins than this, but only 8 of them are used.
All you have to do for this is get two Ethernet plug boxes (RJ45 project boxes), and wire in a VGA port for each one. It doesn’t really matter which ethernet wire you use on which VGA port pin as long as they are done the same way. You don’t want to build a cross-over cable :). Anyway, I thought this was a cool project, and was very useful for your home theatre. Go check out this article.
11 Responses to “Convert VGA cable to CAT5”
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I would suspect that the quality is not the greatest. If you could somehow shield the wires, it would not be that bad at all.
Hmmm I doubt that the quality of the signal will remain the same after it passes through the CAT5 cable. We have alot of potential for loss here.. the original vga cable, 2 converters, and a variable lenght of cat5 cable.
Would have to try to know.. Anyone ever did it?
If you Guys are interested in making your own CAT5 cable, I wrote a tutorial right here: http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/save-money-how-to-make-your-own.html
Sorry to be the one to point this out, but a long (25 foot) VGA cable can be purchased for about the same $ as a comparable length ethernet cable (for example, see http://www.cablesforless.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1661 , this one sells for about $12.)
“But shielding should help improve signal integrity over longer runs.”
Only in environment where there is some RF/electrical noise.. If you do this at home, and you do not run your wire beside a power Cable, you wont see the difference with UTP, STP or ScTP. The maximum lenght is the same.
Kiltak
[Geeks Are Sexy] Tech. News
We used something like this at my church. We meet in a HS auditorium each week, and after about a year, the CAT5 became very degraded from winding/unwinding each week. After some research I was able to find 100′ M/M VGA @ TigerDirect for $40.00. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1104151&sku=C250-1186
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http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/vgacable.html
Thanks for sharing
I notice that many people are commenting on if the cable was shielded it would provide better quality. cat 5 is UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cat 6 is shielded, and if you are planing on wiring your home for a gigabyte network 10/100/1000 then a box of cat 6 is a good investment…