Cat5 cable

[Beanbag109]

I just found over 2000 feet of cat5 cable for sale (in 5 boxes) for $70. I am not up to smart strings yet, but I will get there. Is this a good price?

Thanks'
Mike the newbe

[Steve Gase]

A lot of folks goto monoprice.com for cables.  You might look there for something comparable.

[chrisatpsu]

for going to the ssc from the hub make sure it's stranded cat5 cable...  it'll handle the power better than solid.

[RJ]

this is likely Solid. do not use solid on Smart Strings. Stranded only.  It is not that it is better to use stranded, you must use stranded.

RJ

[Beanbag109]

Thanks folks, I)l wait until I'm closer to SS's

[mykroft]

current flows better in stranded cable because there is more surface in stranded vs solid where the current flows on the surface of the conductor, not the center....

[RJ]

At our freqency, voltage & current this is not an issue. What is an issue is the mechnical issues. It is far cheaper in the long run to just pickup premade stranded cables from like Monoprice and not having issues. Solid will cause issue in the long run and it will not have saved anyone anything.

RJ

[Jeffl]

This has me inquisitive now.  Should we also stay away from solid for running DMX for LE's and such?  I have some left over solid from when I wired my house and thought it might be good to use it.  Now I'm having second thoughts.

[deanathpc]

Can I ask the issue with solid?

[rogerwh]

I'm sure others with more knowledge can chime in, but one of the issues with solid is it is designed to be installed in a permanent manner and not moved.  Continued flexing and bending of the cable as you would normally have running the cables to an Express, etc from year to year will eventually lead to a break in the wire.

[RJ]

when a solid conductor on you DMX stuff breaks you quit working. When it breaks on SS stuff you can cause other conductors to carry more current (not good). Also as said the stranded premade cables are done with a machine so we know we have a good connections to prevent hot spots in the connectors from us not making good connections.

Please just take my word and use the standed stuff to prevent issues. If you order the stuff from monoprice or a different place like that you can get the premade stranded cables cheaper than you can buy the stuff to make them.

RJ

[Jeffl]

Buying them instead of making them is usually cheaper and almost always saves time because we mess up the ends.  The one thing I have noticed lately is the cat5 cables do not have twisted pairs.  I had a rabbit chew one and after cutting it open I noticed the wires were straight through.

It worries me that these should be four twisted pairs instead of 8 wires straight through.  It makes me wonder what problems this could cause us.  I'll also watch where I purchase cables in the future.  Cheaper isn't always better.

[tbone321]

If the cable you are speaking of had no twists then it couldn't have been CAT5.  The number of twists per inch is one of the specs of CAT5 and I'm pretty sure that it's not 0.  If it is being sold as CAT5 then someone is selling the wrong product.

[Jeffl]

If the cable you are speaking of had no twists then it couldn't have been CAT5.  The number of twists per inch is one of the specs of CAT5 and I'm pretty sure that it's not 0.  If it is being sold as CAT5 then someone is selling the wrong product.

Welcome to buying products made in China.

[chrisatpsu]

I had posted this on the porch
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