Shop Multimedia #1: Shop Computer - Remote KVM via CAT5

Great idea….my brother has an almost identical setup in his shop…only difference is that he’s a motorhead.

I think you should have gone for the bigger LCD though…...45 inch minimum….Oh and where’s the fridge?

I ran CAT5 all through my house years ago so we could have web access in all the rooms. I went wireless a couple years ago and can now bring the laptop to the shed.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Mot,
Nice solution to get PC access in the shop.

I’m sure you thought about having another complete PC on a wireless router, but chose this method to reduce cost and not have a full blown PC sucking in dust with the cooling fan, which would eventually ruin the motherboard.

Thanks for sharing your innovation!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

great, and economical solution!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Thanks guys! Tom, I did consider an entire machine down there and actually bought an iMac just for that purpose. However, I just couldn’t get around the fact that there is such a dust environment. As a test drive for whether I’ll even use the computer in the shop, this solution was more economical. My desktop PC is a rocketship, so I’ve really not made any compromises. My only quibble so far is that I should have used a 4:3 monitor like I have on my desktop. I have some screen size issues. However, I have another of the same monitor at work. I’ll just swap them out so there is the same thing in the both locations. The display issues should disappear. I hope.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Great Idea! I have never seen those KVM’s before. I already have 2 CAT5 and 2 CAT3 cables running
to my shop when I built it. I have been hesident about putting a PC out there for the same reason.

I see on the web site that one person was having a problem with the video. Let me know how yours
works out when you get the new monitor.

I think I will have to do this also!

I don’t understand what you meant by the “one limitation” you mentioned.
Did you mean that both keyboards can’t be used at once?
Could you elaborate on that please?

To keep dust out of the keybaord just turn it over when you’re not using it.

Thanks

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

bravo
35 Celsius.. yikes !!!

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Very well done and thanks for solving my problem for me.

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

Mot – Great solution. At another job we used the KVM to control trhee or four computer from one keyboard, mouse and monitor. I never thought of running it the other way. When we built our shop, we buiried a pvc pipe to run cables to it in the future. This will work good for me also. Thanks.

-- Joel Tille

Mot:
Don’t know if this would interest you but I saw rubber keyboards a discount house about a week ago for $8.00. (Bianca Amour) next door to Princess auto.
At that price you don’t have to worry about dust etc.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Thanks for the link, Bob. Yes, to ellaborate, the limitation is that only one console can be used at a time. You can’t have one user on the office PC, and one using the remote KVM in the shop concurrently. I saw the same video problems as the one guy that reviewed that KVM switch. It was a cabling issue for me. I put my own ends on my CAT5 and had one wire that didn’t get up high enough into the end and was making an intermittent connection. New ends and problem solved.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Nice set up Mot. I had thought about something similar. In the wireless world we live in I thought it wouldn’t be too tough to set up the peripherals in the shop and leave the actual computer in the house. My study is luckily in the FROG room above the shop. It wouldn’t be difficult to leave the PC up there and run wires for the display and controls for the shop. If the keyboard and mouse go bad, no big loss. I have a couple antique minivan size monitors that I could care less if they went. They do take up space though. I have come to the conclusion that it is more work than reward for me. It wouldn’t see much use as of yet.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Nice work Mot. Now how will you get anything done in the shop with Lumberjocks.com always on your monitor?

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I hear ya Bill. Until I decide on final placement, it really hurts my back to surf with the monitor on the workbench. I think I’ll get a lot done before that. LOL.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

GReat set up, Tom. But how would I get a pop break if the computer was in the shop??

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Just make it so it’s too uncomfortable to actually work on it…I guess. LOL

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Tom,
This is exactly what I have been trying to figure out for a week now. I want a computer in the workshop but couldn’t figure out how to protect the CPU et al from dust. Since I have Windows XP, I was thinking along the line of a “user” station, but worried how I was going to protect from dust. This solution is great. Thanks so much for sharing your fix and including the url for the purchase.

-- Forget the health food, I need all the preservatives I can get !

No problemo! If you have any setup difficulties, let me know. It was pretty easy. The one thing that I did find and I might have mentioned this somewhere, is that it works best if you have the same aspect monitor in both locations. I have a wide screen in the office and standard screen in the shop. It can make it so you have scroll bars. I’ve since put a similar standard screen in the office and took the wide screen to work. Inconvenience solved.

Cheers!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)