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Make your own VGA cord of CAT5 cable!

by mlandgraaf on April 2, 2008 Table of Contents intro: Make your own VGA cord of CAT5 cable! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 1: Strip you filthy cable you! Strip! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 2: Soldering is fun! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 3: Decoration! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . step 4: Check if it works! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customized Instructable T-shirts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 5

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/

intro: Make your own VGA cord of CAT5 cable!

As most of you know, getting a descent length of VGA monitor cable is a costly thing. With this instructable I'll show you how to make a 15m long VGA cable, out of plain ol' CAT5 network cable.

Image Notes 1. it looks like a mess.. actually it really is!

step 1: Strip you filthy cable you! Strip!

To make life a bit easier, strip of about an inch of the CAT5 outer insulation. And behold: 8 precious wires in pretty colors. Make sure you strip about 2/3 mm of the inner wire insulation. Try using an wire stripper. I use my teeth, because Macgyver does it too. Don't make it to long as it could shortcut when fiddling all the wires in the VGA connector.

Image Notes 1. Nice wires

Image Notes 1. naked wires

step 2: Soldering is fun!

Well the next thing to do is solder the wires to the VGA connectors you bought. The best connectors are male ones. But my local radioshack didn't have em, so he sold me the female ones with an male-male adapter. As long as it works i say! The connector have got the pin numbers on the solderside, and with the help of a scheme i stole from http://www.geocities.com/dougburbidge/vgaovercat5.html i can solder the right wires to it. Note that im not using an RJ45 connector as shown on the illustration, thats not necessary in my application (very awsome home cinema set). Just solder the shown colors to the right pins. Good luck with the bridge for pins 5, 10 and 8, naah it's not really that hard =)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/

Image Notes 1. after you get the first one, it's easy!

Image Notes 1. dont need this one.... 2. ripped off http://www.geocities.com/dougburbidge/vgaovercat5.html

Image Notes 1. mmmm solder

Image Notes 1. beware of bridge!

step 3: Decoration!
I bought some VGA connector housings, it really tidies up the lot. After that i popped on the adapters, but if you bought the good connectors you don't have to, of course. Repeat steps 1-3 for the other side of the cable. You're awesome!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/

Image Notes 1. nicee!

Image Notes 1. adaptor!

step 4: Check if it works!

Connect the cable to the computer and to the beamer. Make sure your graphic card settings are correct and presto! VGA over a CAT 5 cable! I have no idea how long this cable could be. i made one that was 15m long and it worked perfectly @ 1024x768, so hallaluja! Enjoy!

Image Notes 1. screen works!

Image Notes 1. Great son of god! Free beer! Oh yeah and the cable works!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/

Image Notes 1. yep it works! 2. good ol' Amstel Beer!

Image Notes 1. Does it's job like a charm!

Image Notes 1. 15m of pleasure! Enjoy!

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Comments
12 comments Add Comment

Derinsleep says:
i think the title and the first sentence in step 1 was funny

Aug 25, 2008. 5:12 AM REPLY

kimrich says:

May 25, 2008. 11:24 PM REPLY Great idea. Seems to have definite length limitations --- unless the path is clear of potential RF interference, maybe? I have to go 50 ft and it sounds like this hack prob won't hack it without ghosting. Does anyone have any amplification of this likely problem? I know diddily about signal issues. Maybe different cable type? Or maximum observed cable length without ghosting? Does it work well with CRT monitors and not LCD monitors? Or better with LCD monitors? As soon as you dig an inch beneath the surface you run smack into why electrical engineers are usually well paid - grin.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/

gizqmo says:

May 19, 2008. 6:27 PM REPLY Hi, I made one of those to connect an LCD TV which is 50ft away from a PC., the result was a Ghosting image (1024x768), then I tried a shorter cable with 33ft long and though smaller the image was still ghosting, also once restarted the computer didn't know what kind of monitor was connected. I've three questions only. Is there a way to eliminate the ghosting? left it this way, could damage my TV? and, is it normal that this kind of cable is not allowing to detect the TV? (sorry for my horrible english). and thanks for your Instructable.

flipdriver says:

Apr 17, 2008. 4:49 AM REPLY great idea. gatta try this soon. It would be cool if you have soldered a ethernet port to the ends in stead of just using the cable. This way you can extend your cord as you like with just any ethernetcable you get your hands on...

I HACK says:
Gud job mate , simple but useful .

Apr 5, 2008. 11:29 PM REPLY

killerjackalope says:

Apr 2, 2008. 5:12 PM REPLY It might actually be easier to use and cut a pre-existing Vga cable, in terms of soldering and stuff because you wouldn't have to be working in so close to the little connectors.

mlandgraaf says:

Apr 3, 2008. 9:53 AM REPLY Yep i thought of that, but because the CAT5 is twisted pair, i reckon you couldnt just connect some wires together, 'cus you could get interference. And the soldering to the connector wasn't that hard, and it made a killer finish look.

killerjackalope says:

Apr 3, 2008. 10:47 AM REPLY Fair enough then, still a great idea, I suppose the only better thing would just be having two converter plugs, meaning a one time job and it's reversible in a second.

GorillazMiko says:
Nicely done! Great photos, detailed, nice job. :-)

Apr 2, 2008. 2:59 PM REPLY

mlandgraaf says:
Thanks :D

Apr 3, 2008. 9:55 AM REPLY

mathieujohnson says:
what is the highest resolution you can get with that cable?

Apr 2, 2008. 3:19 PM REPLY

mlandgraaf says:

Apr 3, 2008. 9:55 AM REPLY I tested it at 1024x786. My beamer doesn't go higher. I think that if you keep your cable not too long you can get high resolutions

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-VGA-cord-of-CAT5-cable/