DIY VGA(m)-to-BNC(m)

[korpse413]

I'm pretty deadset on picking up an Extron Crosspoint switcher as a solution for my consoles that are outputting component and VGA. As per Extrons site these things seem to handle everything you throw at them, so for my case as long as they support RGsB and RGBHV I will be happy. The price I can grab one of these is practically nothing, and I know Extron is a Gold Standard in the industry. Plus comp switchers are pricey and I hear mumblings of 'not that great' to subpar.

For component I would just use the RCA-to-BNC adapters that are pretty easy to come by.

For VGA on the other hand - I would like to create my own cables. I guess the price to defeat is this. Is my best option to buy something like this and simply cut it in half so I can make 2 cables out of it? I can try and check for old spare BNC cabling at work with the A/V department, but if anyone knows of a different source for bulk BNC for a project like this I'm all ears. I'm a pretty frugal nerd like most of us here are so cutting costs is definitely at the forefront. Also, I am treating VGA cabling as it is - extremely easy to find. I guarantee others like me have spools of it in our bins somewhere.

In the small research I have done I came across a handy website here giving a basic pinout of what to do. Its also reiterated here that using 75ohm coax cabling is recommended - is the Monoprice cable above rated like that? Apparently mini-coax is a thing, if the monoprice is anything it must be that right? The cables look so skinny. 75ohm must be the standard but is redundancy a thing? I ask only because I notice on the back of Extron Crosspoints are dip switches on each input/output labeled 75ohm. Plus I have 75ohm terminators on the would-be-empty BNCs on the back of my BVM. If all of these are present does all that redundancy present a problem, or is it the best safeguard?

I was going to reanimate and hijack viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52476 but left it alone and start my own. I am always impressed with peoples DIY setups and figured now is my time to start. My plan right now is to move comp/vga to the inputs of the Crosspoint as well as a gscartsw to one of the inputs, but depending on how this goes I could totally see myself eliminating scart all together and just going BNC for everything. Thanks for any advice!

[Guspaz]

I don't understand, why are you building a custom cable instead of just using the Monoprice one, or something like it? Is there some sort of signal conversion requirement that you have that necessitates a custom cable?

[korpse413]

I guess I should stop pinching the penny. I just figure I could cut the cost down by half or more, but if the difference is 30 or some odd dollars I guess I need to compare time vs effort

[Guspaz]

Could you really save any money doing that? We're talking about an $8 cable here. Less if you're buying in bulk. Your plan to cut the BNC cable in half and put your own VGA connector onthere is going to save what, $1-2 per cable? For how much effort?

I get the reasoning for rolling your own SCART cables (where you've got to put a bunch of components in and there are varying opinions on what is best there), but I don't see the point in doing that for cables that don't have any components in them and are readily available very cheap.

Let me be blunt, retro gaming is not a hobby you want to get in to if saving $2 on a cable is a big deal to you. This is an expensive hobby.

[Fillicia]

Having the skills to make your own cable is quite useful when it comes to out-of-the-box retrogaming tho. Might not save him much now but being able to do it might spare him a lot of trouble and eventually money in the long run. (E.g: making some console to BNC cable directly)