House wiring project
Brad's house is getting wired for sound, video and data. He says he would like to play MP3's from his computer and have them play anywhere in the house. My solution is a multi-zone constant voltage sound system capable of delivering 200W.

Start date: March 2002
Expected finish date: August 2002

Status:
Lockup stage. Has all cabling fitted but still needs attachments. No holes for speakers are cut into the ceiling yet. MDF now has shelving.

Task Description: To provide built-in sound and video creature comforts associated with a modern home.

Summary: I have placed emphasis on wiring and outlet points for phone, data, smoke alarms, sound and video because of the difficulty of wiring modifications after building completion. Phone / data and video outlets are in every room because of the negligible cost and increased convenience when changing the layout of the house. In my opinion the convenience of having a phone point next to your bed far out-weighs the estimated $15 it cost to put it there while in the building stage. I also believe that you should be able to re-arrange your rooms and have somewhere to plug your TV into. Again the convenience is estimated to be $15 per point.
The most expensive part of the exercise is likely to be indoor and outdoor sound having the greatest upfront expense. Indoor speakers installed with volume control for each zone will work out to roughly $35 for each speaker and outdoor roughly $45. Digital tuner nor amplifier have been factored in because they are not an upfront expense and can be added at any time after move-in. Even though $35 per speaker may seem hefty you must take into account the fact that the traditional home stereo has been made obsolete.
All communications, audio and video will be centred at a wiring cabinet outside the main bathroom. (MDF Main Distribution Facility)

Recommendations: Sound should be included in the bathrooms and an extra indoor speaker to be mounted in the future lounge room and kitchen / living room. I suggest a 100v PA amplifier be used in the wiring cabinet instead of separate amplifiers for each zone.
I recommend using data outlets throughout the home because they are compatible with phone systems and make communications throughout the house extremely flexible and cost effective.

Note: I should point out that when you buy a roll of wire / cable, if you choose not to run that extra point, then instead if having the wire in you ceiling / wall then you will have that same bit of wire in your shed gathering dust.

Provisions for pay television services: There is no reason why both cannot exist on the same wall plate and therefore reducing the price of installation to just one run of coaxial cable. (note that pay television uses a higher grade of coax than regular television) you can take your chances with regular coax if you don't want to pay for a run of higher quality stuff..

At no time during installation will I make joins in the walls or ceiling, all cable runs will be without joins or splitters. Joins in the ceilings and walls are prone to fault and in that case would render the cable useless. Joins on ceiling speakers are the exception.

By making the phone outlets (RJ12) into data outlets (RJ45), which is compatible with phone gives the lines dual purpose. Patch cables will be used to patch in any point in the house to phone or data, your choice.
Because I haven't got an Austel license I am allowed to install an isolated network but not connect it to the phone network. If you happen to patch it in then I did nothing wrong. If on the other hand I had an Austel license I would tell you that you should not exceed a REN of 4.