Special cable to daisy chain first LOR controller to Showtime Central?

[Jasmine St. Denver]

I expanded this year to 48 channels. I see a note that I need can special Cat5 cable to daisy chain the first two controllers to prevent the power from back flowing into Showtime Central. Does this make sense to anyone? Where do I get the cable? What happens if I don't?

[TheDucks]

2 hours ago, Jasmine St. Denver said:

I expanded this year to 48 channels. I see a note that I need can special Cat5 cable to daisy chain the first two controllers to prevent the power from back flowing into Showtime Central. Does this make sense to anyone? Where do I get the cable? What happens if I don't?

They say contact the help desk for the cable.

What I guess, is the Timer wont work unless all the controllers are on the same time clock.

 

[Orville]

2 hours ago, TheDucks said:

They say contact the help desk for the cable.

What I guess, is the Timer wont work unless all the controllers are on the same time clock.

 

I think it's a little more complex than that, it states "MECHANICAL TIMER", perhaps "Digital Timers" don't require this "special cable", but I'd contact the LOR Help Desk to be sure of that. 

Back-feed is when stray voltages can feed back to a device via another path, thereby letting the Magic Smoke out of said device if you're unlucky.  This can also create a shock hazard{that could possibly be fatal} if a specialized cable is required and NOT used.   Again, contact LOR Help Desk as stated, they will be able to guide you on everything you need to know to get everything functioning properly and SAFELY!

So I have no idea how this "special cable" is wired, but probably still a cat5 cable, but has some wiring removed that supplies voltage through the Cat5 cables to devices such as ELL's, so it can't back feed into any of the first two controllers after the Showtime Central Controller.   If it was an G3MP3 Director with real time clock instead of a mini-director in the ShowTime Central,  there'd be no need for any special cable at all.

[TheDucks]

Orville, Mechanical timers tend to handle lots mor Amps than the digital ones. Thats the only dif if you look at the diagram. They power the controllers OFF (and therefore the FM) between shows

[Orville]

17 minutes ago, TheDucks said:

Orville, Mechanical timers tend to handle lots mor Amps than the digital ones. Thats the only dif if you look at the diagram. They power the controllers OFF (and therefore the FM) between shows

I just thought it odd they only mention "mechanical timers' requiring the special cable, but no mention of digital timers anywhere.  I looked.  That's what led me to my hypothesis above.  Most documents would state "mechanical or digital timers will require a special cable, if both types needed it.  So I had to hypothesize that digital timers must not require one from the documentation I read on it.

[Mega Arch]

7 hours ago, Jasmine St. Denver said:

 What happens if I don't?

I use the miniDirector - which is basically the guts of Showtime Central. I've always had one large timer turn all controllers on at the same time. I moved this year and have had to scramble just to get my layout to match up to my new house - but have had zero time to run new electrical circuits. So I'm using multiple cheap yard timers to power my 19 units from 4 different gfci recepts around the house/yard. So I can tell you, if the timer comes on to a controller farther away first - that just became the closest controller and lights are now flashing to the mp3 commands, which received power from the controller, even though power to that box with my fm transmitter and miniDirector hasn't tripped on yet. So speakers and fm transmitters are not on yet - just the miniDirector. Kind of annoying - but that's it. No damage. Just keep playing with the timers to get close so it's not embarrassing. So I set them all for 5pm, before dark enough for people to care. By 5:15pm - all are on, synced and running fine.

 

2 hours ago, TheDucks said:

Orville, Mechanical timers tend to handle lots mor Amps than the digital ones. Thats the only dif if you look at the diagram. They power the controllers OFF (and therefore the FM) between shows

 

2 hours ago, Orville said:

I think it's a little more complex than that, it states "MECHANICAL TIMER", perhaps "Digital Timers" don't require this "special cable", but I'd contact the LOR Help Desk to be sure of that.

 

2 hours ago, Orville said:

I just thought it odd they only mention "mechanical timers' requiring the special cable, but no mention of digital timers anywhere.  

 

 

I think mechanical was just referring to a remote timer - not mechanical vs. digital. - just remote.

 

 

[Orville]

1 hour ago, Mega Arch said:

I use the miniDirector - which is basically the guts of Showtime Central. I've always had one large timer turn all controllers on at the same time. I moved this year and have had to scramble just to get my layout to match up to my new house - but have had zero time to run new electrical circuits. So I'm using multiple cheap yard timers to power my 19 units from 4 different gfci recepts around the house/yard. So I can tell you, if the timer comes on to a controller farther away first - that just became the closest controller and lights are now flashing to the mp3 commands, which received power from the controller, even though power to that box with my fm transmitter and miniDirector hasn't tripped on yet. So speakers and fm transmitters are not on yet - just the miniDirector. Kind of annoying - but that's it. No damage. Just keep playing with the timers to get close so it's not embarrassing. So I set them all for 5pm, before dark enough for people to care. By 5:15pm - all are on, synced and running fine.

 

 

 

 

 

I think mechanical was just referring to a remote timer - not mechanical vs. digital. - just remote.

 

 

I was going by the description and the PHOTO, it's of a Mechanical Timer.  I quit using mechanical timers eons ago.  If I use any type of timer, it's always digital, less problems to deal with.  Always hated trying to set the idiotic dials on a mechanical timer and seems NOT one of them ever kept the EXACT time with another of the same exact model.

Now I just use my computer clock through the Schedule Editor {still digital in that respect LOL} to turn things on and off when not needed after show time is over. LOL

Edited November 26, 2018 by Orville