Author Topic: Splitter premise  (Read 4030 times)

Offline urthegman

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Splitter premise
« on: August 04, 2012, »
Just want to make sure I understand what I am building. Is the premise behind the DMX splitter so that we can use one long Cat5 cable to an area of our display and up to 3 shorter ones to other DMX controllers or equipment like Aether II's etc.??? Sorry for all the dumb questions, but also is my transformer facing the right direction?
« Last Edit: August 04, 2012, by urthegman »

Offline n1ist

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Re: Splitter premise
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2012, »
Yes, that's the purpose of the splitter.  As for the transformer, I don't have a new splitter to look at but my first guess is that it may be backwards.  Look at the back side of the board; the traces from the AC input connector anf fuse should connect to pins 1 and 2 on the transformer.
/mike

Offline mokeefe

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Re: Splitter premise
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2012, »
Unfortunately the silkscreen on the new V3.0 DMX Splitter PCB appears to be missing the pin numbers and there is no updated assembly manual yet.  However, the updated SSR4 PCB uses the same transformer.  Following the PCB traces on both boards I can tell it uses the same orientation as the DMX Splitter.  The bad news is yours appears to be in backwards.  I would strongly recommend that you NOT power this unit up until my suspicions are either confirmed or corrected.

Regarding its use, you basically have it correct.  You can use it split the DMX signal to different areas of your display if you'd prefer not to run the DMX cable in a complete daisy chain method. The splitter regenerates the the DMX signal and sends it out the 3 DMX out ports.   Most of the time the topology of your layout will determine whether it makes sense to use the splitter or just daisy chain all your devices (assuming all your devices have pass through DMX jacks).

Maybe I'll put mine together tomorrow and work on an updated assembly manual as the transformer question is certainly going to come up repeatedly.

-Mike
« Last Edit: August 04, 2012, by mokeefe »

Offline chrisatpsu

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Re: Splitter premise
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2012, »
to maybe clear things up a little bit, think of the splitter as like a big Y splitter. it's useful for when you want to split the dmx signal wire to go in 2 or more directions.

an example, but not limited to...


say your dmx signal just left the house, you could place a splitter right outside the house, so you can run a line to the left side of the yard, then another to the right side of the yard, plus have an extra line to go to the roof.

if you have 3 items in a small area, you don't have to split up the signal as most dmx equipment can be daisy chained. but it's really up to personal preference.
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Offline urthegman

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Re: Splitter premise
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2012, »
Guess it wasn't such a dumb question after all! It's not soldered in yet because I wasn't sure of its direction, it can only be either the way it is or turned upside down. If the fuse is pin one and the power is pin 2 then yes it is upside down in the picture.

Offline mokeefe

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Re: Splitter premise
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2012, »
Yes, pin 1 and 2 on that transformer are the primary connections and should go to the AC power (connector and fuse).

-Mike