whyintheworld Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I'm just setting up 4 of the CF50 floods and after reading through these forums kind of expected to have trouble with the CAT 5 connections. Sure enough out of the 8 pigtails, 2 of the pigtails won't pass a signal through and 1 is shorted out completely. When I hook anything to the last pigtail it takes out all of the floods... Since I have two of the floods with bad connectors I can only set up 3 of the floods until I fix the pigtails. I've never made Cat 5 cable or put ends on before but due to how they are routed through the casing, the only option is to put a new end on, or build a whole new cable anyway. I'll be heading to the store tomorrow to see if I can buy a good terminating/crimping tool for Cat5. Any suggestions on technique in building a Cat5 end? I'd bet Marty has a bad pigtail connection in some way... One of these floods was very intermittent at first, but wrong colors, off timing, etc. But when I started wiggling the pigtail it went away completely and hasn't come back. I was able to restore signal to the flood by disconnecting that pigtail entirely from the unit, as it was the one that was shorting and taking out the rest of the floods. But while I can make that one work now, since the other flood has a bad pigtail, I don't have a way to daisy chain the fourth... This is the first RGB I have added. I was strictly 48 channels of LEDs prior to this so I just daisy chained out of the CTB16PC but I don't have an extra port out to run to the 4th flood. Is it possible to use a switch or splitter with a usb/458 LOR dongle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Belisle Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Cat 5 cables are easy to build a little tedious but simple. Suggest you print a large wire color code chart and that a good quality tester is a must. Crimping the ends is one thing but being able to verify that you a secure correct flawless connection is a must. I had bought a kit on amazon that came with a handful of connections that seems to work good. My 10 watt dumb RGB system is using the LOR CMB24D controller that has worked flawlessly for the past number of years. I moved it to the end of my Network and added a terminator where I would normally daisy chain the next device. Show ran great last night, not sure if it was coincidence or if it was my controller creating reflection or memory down the line? May be an issue with the new firmware for an enhance network or a bug as a result of my S4 upgrade and Pixel editor use? Either way I'm good with the work around as show season is here and folks are lined up to watch the display. No I do not believe you can use a splitter or a switch with a USB485 dongle. From what I understand a repeater may be an option once one becomes available for an high speed enhanced network. Good luck whyintheworld, welcome to the madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whyintheworld Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I had to order the tester and crimping tool kit as I've not played around with the cables before. It is almost just as cheap to order them online these days. But with the way the CF50D case is, I can't pass a pre-made cable through to hook it up. Last night was the first night running the three floods. WOW are they bright. I need to relocate them just slightly as the inside of our house became a disco even with the blinds closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Belisle Posted December 24, 2016 Author Share Posted December 24, 2016 Put my CMB24D at the end of the network and added a terminator. Show has ran perfect for two nights. Feeling confident the problem is solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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