DMX cat5 cable

[chrisatpsu]

what's the longest run you've had from the dongle to your first device?  does anyone know where the limit might be?

i know it depends on a lot of stuff like the quality of cable.  But i'm looking for more or a practical application.  is 150ft too long?  125?  100?

[caretaker]

If you needed to do a real long run I would consider using DMX cable which is 120 ohms and shielded.  When I used to work with bands it was not uncommon to use a 500 foot DMX cable to go from the lighting board to the dimmer packs and never had any communication issues.

[jnealand]

Don't know about DMX specifics, but with ethernet you can usually do 300ft.

[chrisatpsu]

yeah, i knew about the ethernet limit around 328 ft.   but because the dmx signal is different, i thought it might have a shorter limitation.

i was helping a fellow dla member today, and when we replaced the 125ft cable, with a shorter one, the express was receiving the dmx signal from the dongle.

[kgustafson]

For this long of a run, I would seriously consider going wireless.

Perhaps this can be a punch-list item for next year's show?

(just exploring all the possibilities)

Kurt

[tbone321]

yeah, i knew about the ethernet limit around 328 ft.   but because the dmx signal is different, i thought it might have a shorter limitation.

i was helping a fellow dla member today, and when we replaced the 125ft cable, with a shorter one, the express was receiving the dmx signal from the dongle.

That could have been a problem with the cable as well.  That length should not have been a problem.  I have run twisted pair serial connections close to 800 feet and it worked just fine and that was also coming close to power lines and flurecent fixtures which are known to emit serious EMF.

[scharbon]

My longest cable is from my dongle to an SSR4/DMX.  The length is over 100 ft, is coiled up on itself in a couple of places, and it is bundled with 5 120 VAC extension cords and another DMX CAT 5 cable.  No problems.  Could it have been a bad connection in the cable?

[RJ]

more than 1000ft.

RJ

[chrisatpsu]

you can have more than 1000ft from the dongle to the first device?

[rm357]

Compared to 100mb ethernet, we are a sloooooooooow data rate. The impedance of the wire is much less of a problem for us.

RM