Anybody Have A Geek Squad Alternative?

[gemkeeper]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

How do I know about this stuff? I used to help my father install high-end sound systems at huge private ski lodges owned by the rich and famous, and rip out the failed systems that others had attempted to install.

Harry chickpea, where do you live and can you make a beeline to goodbyehollywood's house?

Leave a business card, please. You'll be referred to many, many people!

[goodbyehollywood]

That's true! C'mon down, Harry. We'll get that TV mounted, the tunes rocking and SMG's cocktails will have us all rolling!

[goodbyehollywood]

Originally Posted by gemthornton

Our #2 son got his first BS in electrical engineering. He came home for a laundry run shortly after graduating. (Now, this is a MENSA member.) I told him how happy I was that he was at home because my oven just went on the blink. I asked him to look at it. His response: "Mom, I don't know how to fix anything electrical; I just design the electrical systems."

Now, ask me how happy I am about those expensive college degrees!!

I can just see the look on your face. It was probably the same one my parents had on theirs the day I graduated from B-School. The ink wasn't even dry on my MBA, and I said, "I wish I'd've gone to film school." I thought my mother was going to pass out. Fast forward a few years and sure enough, there I am at UCLA (though paying my own way).

But I still can't hook up my A/V.

[TN Tin Man]

View from the outside of the home.......

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/tinman013/WallMountTV.jpg (broken link)

[harry chickpea]

LOL. I know how to do a lot of stuff, like mucking out a cattle barn, but it doesn't mean I'm eager to do it. How about some quick tips instead?

Look on the roof for any sewer vent. Try to avoid the area of the wall where it has to live, and consider how and where it has to attach to the sewer lines. When given a choice, run wire in an interior curtain wall rather than an exterior wall, since the structure is more important in the exterior wall and you have to deal with insulation. When drilling studs, stay at least about 8" from the ends, but avoid the middle if practical. You can tell an experienced installer partly by the number of extra-long drill bits they have in their tool kit. They can get stuck or break or dull, and having at least a couple prevents having to stop a job. Use a stud finder and electrician's tell-tale to find the rough locations of studs and wires. De-energize the circuits in the wall you are working on. Try not to notch any structural member (plumbers are bad about doing this) and tag any wire at both the ends, as well as any area where there might be a nest of wires, so you (or the next guy) know why it was installed, and where the other end is supposed to go. Generally, running wires in an attic is a little easier than in a tight crawl space, and you don't worry about critters or plumbing as much. Make sure equipment and wiring in a circuit has a single point of ground. Ground loops can be an annoying cause of hum and phantom currents. Sometimes wallboard has to be broken open. It always helps to have a patch kit with fast setting mud, and hopefully a little matching paint. Little LED flexible flashlights or booklights can light up the interior of a wall cavity better than a big light, and a little dental mirror can be a help in peering into those cavities. An electricians snake is better than a coat hanger, but sometimes both are needed. Electrician's tape, duct tape, tape measure, vise grips, wire cutters, and a hammer and star drill can round out the basic tools needed, unless you start using conduit. There can be a temptation to pull a mop board and run the wire behind it, in the space under the wallboard. Don't do it unless it is a very temporary situation (IE party time in an apartment) and the wire is low voltage speaker wire or something similarly innocuous. Remember that it is much easier to run an extra wire when doing an initial installation than coming back and trying to retrofit. If you plan on eventually running a tv or sound system in another location in the house, run the required wires as one job and make sure the ends are tagged and tucked out of sight.

Those tips should keep you out of the worst trouble. Now about my fee...

[Beretta]

This will get ya started.......

http://bestsmileys.com/drinks/4.gif (broken link)

Cheers!