hi...i need to get a scart lead through a brick wall, but need to keep the hole to a minimum, is there a way to split a scart lead or can i buy one that has a split connector
cheers
mickcoulson
cheers
mickcoulson
scart lead
- Thread starter mickcoulson
- Start date
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Scart plugs are a bit of a pain to wire. There are a lot of wires, the terminals aren't solidly mounted in the base and a standard scart cable is not wired the same at both ends. On the plus side the pin spacing is fairly generous.
Personally i'd rather make the whole cable from scratch than try and remove and re-fit a connector from a commercial cable. Re-soldering a connector is always more of a pain than soldering one that has never been used before.
Also note that there are different types of scart cable.
Firstly there is which wires you need, a "composite video and audo" cable is easier to make but with modern kit you really want a "universal" cable that supports RGB. Unfortunately that means a lot of wires to solder.
Secondly there is what type of cable you use. For short runs you can use a simple "overall screeened" cable and this will be much easier to terminate. For long runs you should use a cable that has coaxial cores for the video signals but this will be harder to terminate.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/20-way-overall-screenedscart-cable-290
http://www.maplin.co.uk/individually-screened-universal-scart-cable-293
http://www.maplin.co.uk/scart-line-plug-43116
http://www.hdcabling.co.za/images/SCART_Cable_Connector_Diagram.gif
Personally i'd rather make the whole cable from scratch than try and remove and re-fit a connector from a commercial cable. Re-soldering a connector is always more of a pain than soldering one that has never been used before.
Also note that there are different types of scart cable.
Firstly there is which wires you need, a "composite video and audo" cable is easier to make but with modern kit you really want a "universal" cable that supports RGB. Unfortunately that means a lot of wires to solder.
Secondly there is what type of cable you use. For short runs you can use a simple "overall screeened" cable and this will be much easier to terminate. For long runs you should use a cable that has coaxial cores for the video signals but this will be harder to terminate.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/20-way-overall-screenedscart-cable-290
http://www.maplin.co.uk/individually-screened-universal-scart-cable-293
http://www.maplin.co.uk/scart-line-plug-43116
http://www.hdcabling.co.za/images/SCART_Cable_Connector_Diagram.gif
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C
ChrisFrost
Actually, there is a method that requires no soldering at all. With a bit of patience, some dexterity, and the right tools then the pins can be removed from the block and reinserted after.
Open the SCART plug. This usually means unscrewing the cable clamp collar and then opening the plastic clam shell. Remove the cable, the black plastic pin block and metal ground shield. Then take the ground shield off the pin block. Take note of the ground pin that was sandwiched between the shield and pin block. If you have a camera, or a decent cam on your phone, then take some shots at various stages of the disassembly for reference later on.
You should now have just the cable and the pin block with the pins clearly visible. Look closely at the pins. Look at the flat pin blade. You'll see that they are locked in place by a small tang pressed out from the flat of the blade. Use a braddle or similar sharp pointed tool. Flatten the tang and push the pin back through the pin block. Once you have done this, take note of the shape of the pin hole and the orientation of the pin and tang. There's a right way and a wrong way to put them back. Also the orientation is different on the odd and even numbered rows.
Use a pin out diagram and mark what cables from from which numbered pin holes.
Before reassembling make sure to put the cable clamp collar over the cable.
To replace the pins gently push the tang back out before sliding the pin in to place. Use some fine needle nosed pliers to pull the pin blade through until the tang locks it in to place. Straighten any bent pins as you work.
Trying to solder the pin tags when they're still buried in the pin block is a lesson in frustration. So you'd have had to remove the pins anyway or else ended up with a big old mess of melted plastic. The alternative of soldering just the wires is simpler but there a good chance that a short would occur somewhere in all those uninsulated connections, and it's usually after you've reassembled the cable. Doing what I suggest will work so long as you don't need to do it more than a couple of times per plug and it assumes the operator isn't a cack-handed baboon
Open the SCART plug. This usually means unscrewing the cable clamp collar and then opening the plastic clam shell. Remove the cable, the black plastic pin block and metal ground shield. Then take the ground shield off the pin block. Take note of the ground pin that was sandwiched between the shield and pin block. If you have a camera, or a decent cam on your phone, then take some shots at various stages of the disassembly for reference later on.
You should now have just the cable and the pin block with the pins clearly visible. Look closely at the pins. Look at the flat pin blade. You'll see that they are locked in place by a small tang pressed out from the flat of the blade. Use a braddle or similar sharp pointed tool. Flatten the tang and push the pin back through the pin block. Once you have done this, take note of the shape of the pin hole and the orientation of the pin and tang. There's a right way and a wrong way to put them back. Also the orientation is different on the odd and even numbered rows.
Use a pin out diagram and mark what cables from from which numbered pin holes.
Before reassembling make sure to put the cable clamp collar over the cable.
To replace the pins gently push the tang back out before sliding the pin in to place. Use some fine needle nosed pliers to pull the pin blade through until the tang locks it in to place. Straighten any bent pins as you work.
Trying to solder the pin tags when they're still buried in the pin block is a lesson in frustration. So you'd have had to remove the pins anyway or else ended up with a big old mess of melted plastic. The alternative of soldering just the wires is simpler but there a good chance that a short would occur somewhere in all those uninsulated connections, and it's usually after you've reassembled the cable. Doing what I suggest will work so long as you don't need to do it more than a couple of times per plug and it assumes the operator isn't a cack-handed baboon
Can you not use a hdmi cable ? Scart cables are very passe. You don't need to drill such a big hole in the wall to get a hdmi plug through... You'd need a core driller to get a scart through !
C
ChrisFrost
Yes, brilliant idea... Drop £30+ on one of those boxes for pretty much no benefit at all, all to save 20 minutes stripping and re-pinning a SCART lead.
Or, here's an idea....Why not read somewhere in a forum exactly how to strip and repin a SCART lead. Then you might not have to drill such a large hole (HDMI plug > SCART cable thickness), and you wouldn't spend £30+ on some random bottom-of-the-heap Chinese made SCART to HDMI box.
Now where oh where could one find such useful information....I wonder?
Or, here's an idea....Why not read somewhere in a forum exactly how to strip and repin a SCART lead. Then you might not have to drill such a large hole (HDMI plug > SCART cable thickness), and you wouldn't spend £30+ on some random bottom-of-the-heap Chinese made SCART to HDMI box.
Now where oh where could one find such useful information....I wonder?
No need to be quite so sarky. We don't know that both ends don't have HDMI - it has been known for people to replace bits one at a time and end up watching via SCART when both ends have HDMI.
When a friends mother got Sky+HD - first time I walked in their living room after it was done, I was able to say "that's not HD". The Sky installer had plugged the SCART cable in, so the TV switched to using it. I could tell from the horrible upscaler artifacts the TV added
When a friends mother got Sky+HD - first time I walked in their living room after it was done, I was able to say "that's not HD". The Sky installer had plugged the SCART cable in, so the TV switched to using it. I could tell from the horrible upscaler artifacts the TV added
Yes, brilliant idea... Drop £30+ on one of those boxes for pretty much no benefit at all, all to save 20 minutes stripping and re-pinning a SCART lead.
Or, here's an idea....Why not read somewhere in a forum exactly how to strip and repin a SCART lead. Then you might not have to drill such a large hole (HDMI plug > SCART cable thickness), and you wouldn't spend £30+ on some random bottom-of-the-heap Chinese made SCART to HDMI box.
Now where oh where could one find such useful information....I wonder?
"One of those boxes ?" - Well, what a highly technical description ! What boxes ? Assuming that you are referring to hdmi to SCART adapters, on what basis are you stating that they would be required ?
SCART cables are yesterday's technology. Where in the OP is it stated that the required connection cannot be made by using a hdmi cable ? Removing and reattaching a SCART plug to its cable would be an absolute pain and is to be avoided if at all possible.
The purpose of this forum is to try to help people by offering advice - Not to make sarcastic trolling comments based on ignorance.
C
ChrisFrost
You might not credit mickcoulson with the intelligence to decide the most appropriate connection for his needs. but I do. Similarly it looks like he has weighed the options and given serious consideration to SCART as an appropriate solution.
As for SCART being passe, well let's just review shall we. Is digital RGB at 576i any better a picture than analogue RGB Video via SCART? What about sound; when listening via the TV speakers is stereo LPCM or DD or DTS really noticeably superior to analogue stereo audio? As much as I value HDMI for lots of reasons, I can't make the argument that for SD viewing with sound via the TV speakers that HDMI offers better picture or sound over SCART. Can you?
What about functionality? HDMI has CEC, and that's all very clever. But look at the number of forum enquiries bemoaning the fact that an old SCART setup would auto switch and that HDMI doesn't do this. Yes, I am aware that in certain circumstances it will, but it is by no means universal and, more importantly, it doesn't always work as the user requires. I'll be the first to acknowledge SCART's limitations and failings, but you have to admit that for simple signal switching it did exactly what the general public wanted and it did it simply.
Coming back to mickcoulson's original enquiry, I think if HDMI was an option then he would have taken it. Don't you? So is it really useful to suggest that he's being old fashioned and should abandon his plan and use HDMI instead? I don't believe so.
He doesn't elucidate why SCART is the preferred option. Maybe the source device doesn't have HDMI. Or perhaps the TV's HDMI sockets are all occupied, or he finds the Pin 8 switching useful, or even that the TV has no HDMI sockets. Whatever the reason, SCART is his choice and we have to respect that. So re-pinning a SCART connector is the simple choice and by no means the onerous task suggested. If it was a choice between stripping the SCART plug or buying a SCART to HDMI converter box plus leads plus accommodating an extra power socket plus finding a thicker drill bit or drilling multiple hole to fit the bigger dimensions of a HDMI plug .... well, I know what my choice would be. Can you make the case for HDMI then?
As for SCART being passe, well let's just review shall we. Is digital RGB at 576i any better a picture than analogue RGB Video via SCART? What about sound; when listening via the TV speakers is stereo LPCM or DD or DTS really noticeably superior to analogue stereo audio? As much as I value HDMI for lots of reasons, I can't make the argument that for SD viewing with sound via the TV speakers that HDMI offers better picture or sound over SCART. Can you?
What about functionality? HDMI has CEC, and that's all very clever. But look at the number of forum enquiries bemoaning the fact that an old SCART setup would auto switch and that HDMI doesn't do this. Yes, I am aware that in certain circumstances it will, but it is by no means universal and, more importantly, it doesn't always work as the user requires. I'll be the first to acknowledge SCART's limitations and failings, but you have to admit that for simple signal switching it did exactly what the general public wanted and it did it simply.
Coming back to mickcoulson's original enquiry, I think if HDMI was an option then he would have taken it. Don't you? So is it really useful to suggest that he's being old fashioned and should abandon his plan and use HDMI instead? I don't believe so.
He doesn't elucidate why SCART is the preferred option. Maybe the source device doesn't have HDMI. Or perhaps the TV's HDMI sockets are all occupied, or he finds the Pin 8 switching useful, or even that the TV has no HDMI sockets. Whatever the reason, SCART is his choice and we have to respect that. So re-pinning a SCART connector is the simple choice and by no means the onerous task suggested. If it was a choice between stripping the SCART plug or buying a SCART to HDMI converter box plus leads plus accommodating an extra power socket plus finding a thicker drill bit or drilling multiple hole to fit the bigger dimensions of a HDMI plug .... well, I know what my choice would be. Can you make the case for HDMI then?
Try reading the OP (Original Post to you) again. NOWHERE does it state that a hdmi lead could not be used to achieve the required connection - End Of.
I have precisely zero interest in wasting my valuable time entering into a completely irrelevant debate regarding the relative merits of SCART and hdmi cables with you - You should get out more.
Suffice to say that HDMI leads must be used to connect HD equipment if you want full HD picture quality. The fact that SCART leads cannot be used if you want full HD picture quality is what makes them, as I perfectly correctly stated in my post, yesterday's technology.
I have precisely zero interest in wasting my valuable time entering into a completely irrelevant debate regarding the relative merits of SCART and hdmi cables with you - You should get out more.
Suffice to say that HDMI leads must be used to connect HD equipment if you want full HD picture quality. The fact that SCART leads cannot be used if you want full HD picture quality is what makes them, as I perfectly correctly stated in my post, yesterday's technology.
C
ChrisFrost
Try reading the OP (Original Post to you) again. NOWHERE does it state that a hdmi lead can be used either. So yes, End Of but not in the way that you think.
Good. Because you know I'm right. Thanks
None of that is in dispute. But where does it say in the OP that he's trying to use SCART for HD? It doesn't. So, as you put it - End Of.
Ding, ding - end of round one, back to your corners please.
To be fair, the OP might not have considered the possibility of using HDMI. If he's not aware of what's available, then he might not know that there are converters available. It's possible that for his use case, a converter might be worth it for the ease of passing a cable through the wall - that's something only he can decide. Also part of the equation would be whether one end of the link has HDMI meaning only one conversion instead of two.
I also agree that SCART still has it's place. It's almost ubiquitous, and unless you want HD then you won't gain much (if anything) going digital. How many people are watching "SD" digital signals and think they are watching HD ? Just because SCART is yesterday's technology doesn't mean it doesn't have it's place.
To be fair, the OP might not have considered the possibility of using HDMI. If he's not aware of what's available, then he might not know that there are converters available. It's possible that for his use case, a converter might be worth it for the ease of passing a cable through the wall - that's something only he can decide. Also part of the equation would be whether one end of the link has HDMI meaning only one conversion instead of two.
I also agree that SCART still has it's place. It's almost ubiquitous, and unless you want HD then you won't gain much (if anything) going digital. How many people are watching "SD" digital signals and think they are watching HD ? Just because SCART is yesterday's technology doesn't mean it doesn't have it's place.
Good. Because you know I'm right. Thanks
No - Because I've already comprehensively and irrefutably proven my points and, as I've already clearly stated, your SCART v hdmi cable nonsense is completely irrelevant and indicative of someone with far too much time on their hands. All the OP (Original Poster to you) wants to do is to make his connection through the wall by the easiest and quickest possible means. Based on the information supplied that may well be by using a hdmi cable. My "crime" (in your eyes only) was to ASK the OP whether he might be able to use a hdmi cable.
I really like your infantile use of smiley faces in this context ! - Says so much...... !
I'll leave it to other forum members to decide who is right, who is, in the spirit of the forum, trying to be helpful to the original poster, and who is just trying (and failing miserably) to be a sarcastic smarta*** .....
Hee hee. It's certainly pronounced "braddle" but it's spelt "bradawl"..
<-- puerile smiley face. (I use 'em all the time to indicate humour etc.)Mind you, I've used this method myself but with a pin. Tedious but cheap, so you won't end up "Bankrupt".
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