I have a DVHS recorder and want to link it to a Samsung T165 in a seperate room, how long a run in feet of cable can I get away with before I have signal loss on a Firewire cable.

The suggested maximum length is 14 feet.

The standard FireWire cable actually consists of six wires. Data is sent via two separately shielded twisted pair transmission lines (28 AWG). The two twisted pairs are crossed in each cable assembly to create a transmit-receive connection. Two more wires (22 AWG) carry power (8 to 40 V, 1.5 A max.) to remote devices. Currently, these power lines are rarely used.

A 4-conductor cable without the 2 power lines is used for DV camcorders and DVCRs. Adapter cables are used to connect 4 prongs on one side and 6 on the other. These adapter cables simply connect the data lines while omitting the power connection.

Longer cable connections can be achieved by using thicker cable or by lowering the bit rate. Although way outside of the FireWire spec, several people have reported successful 100 Mbit/sec transmissions over more than 20 meters using standard cable.

Check out ANIXTER online or:

http://www.ausonia.ca/EN/Manufacture/goldx/pages/FW.htm