Does it matter where the cat 5 cables land?

[marcmiller04]

I just (finally)  powered up my show this year and it's having a lot of issues. I added 3 boxes, so I'm at 96 dumb channels. 

Last year I had 48, and all boxes were near each other, but to save some  Hassle I moved some of the boxes closer to their display pieces this year. Last year I had my cat 5 cables run from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 with no issues. This year it's a lot more random based on distance and location.  I also made my cat 5 cables. I'm on my way to get a tester now but the sequences are not running correctly and it seems like it may have an issue with the cat 5  Cables. My main question is does it matter what order the cables go from Box to Box and does it matter which port they are input into?

[PhilMassey]

No to both questions.

[marcmiller04]

Thanks, I didn't think it mattered, but wanted to be sure

[Orville]

7 hours ago, marcmiller04 said:

I just (finally)  powered up my show this year and it's having a lot of issues. I added 3 boxes, so I'm at 96 dumb channels. 

Last year I had 48, and all boxes were near each other, but to save some  Hassle I moved some of the boxes closer to their display pieces this year. Last year I had my cat 5 cables run from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 with no issues. This year it's a lot more random based on distance and location.  I also made my cat 5 cables. I'm on my way to get a tester now but the sequences are not running correctly and it seems like it may have an issue with the cat 5  Cables. My main question is does it matter what order the cables go from Box to Box and does it matter which port they are input into?

You did keep at least a 6 inch gap between any electrical cords and the cat5 cables didn't you?   If a cat5 cable crosses any electrical cords or is ran alongside them directly {bundled with them}, this can cause erratic things to happen when a sequence plays. 

Unless you cat5 is very heavily shielded from such things, most are not, and you say you made your own, so they probably aren't shielded.  So this could cause erratic behavior as the RF {Radio Frequency} from electrical hum can interfere with poorly made or unshielded cat5 cable.  

And even if shielded, always best to try and keep a minimum of 6" from ANY electrical, light strands, anything electrically powered.

I always try to keep my cat5 runs at a space of 2-4 feet away from any electrically powered objects.  I have some that are  just at, or slight over, the 6 inch mark because of how they had to be run.  But they are NEVER allowed to sit on, cross over or run in a bundle with any power {electrical} cords.

A lot of folks that get into this hobby make this mistake, and even on occasion one of us that's been doing it for a while still end up making this blunder, rare, but happens. LOL

 

[marcmiller04]

14 hours ago, Orville said:

You did keep at least a 6 inch gap between any electrical cords and the cat5 cables didn't you?   If a cat5 cable crosses any electrical cords or is ran alongside them directly {bundled with them}, this can cause erratic things to happen when a sequence plays. 

Unless you cat5 is very heavily shielded from such things, most are not, and you say you made your own, so they probably aren't shielded.  So this could cause erratic behavior as the RF {Radio Frequency} from electrical hum can interfere with poorly made or unshielded cat5 cable.  

And even if shielded, always best to try and keep a minimum of 6" from ANY electrical, light strands, anything electrically powered.

I always try to keep my cat5 runs at a space of 2-4 feet away from any electrically powered objects.  I have some that are  just at, or slight over, the 6 inch mark because of how they had to be run.  But they are NEVER allowed to sit on, cross over or run in a bundle with any power {electrical} cords.

A lot of folks that get into this hobby make this mistake, and even on occasion one of us that's been doing it for a while still end up making this blunder, rare, but happens. LOL

 

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm 90% sure I just had one wire crossed somewhere in my cables I made.  I went to purchase a CAT-5 tester and it was cheaper for me to just purchase 6 new cables, which I did and it seems like the show is running great now.  I will definitely keep all that in mind if I have more issues.  

[Kapkirk]

Marcmiller04

 

Glad you got your show running, for future use here is a cat 5 tester for <10.00, I too make up some of my cat5 cables and this thing is cheap tester but works.I also used it to test the cat5's going in and out of one of my controllers to verify the controller cat 5 ports were good. 

https://www.amazon.com/iMBAPrice-Network-Cable-Tester-Phone/dp/B01M63EMBQ/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZXRoZXJuZXQgdGVzdGVy-ac_d_rm&keywords=cat+5+tester&pd_rd_i=B01M63EMBQ&pd_rd_r=acf91d28-5d15-4985-a708-11cc652b0c02&pd_rd_w=UcmgA&pd_rd_wg=luZ95&pf_rd_p=e2f20af2-9651-42af-9a45-89425d5bae34&pf_rd_r=8G1DVTVMXR4VG96E4XQ4&psc=1&qid=1576445095

[Orville]

43 minutes ago, marcmiller04 said:

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'm 90% sure I just had one wire crossed somewhere in my cables I made.  I went to purchase a CAT-5 tester and it was cheaper for me to just purchase 6 new cables, which I did and it seems like the show is running great now.  I will definitely keep all that in mind if I have more issues.  

G;ad you're up and running. 

Not knowing exactly how you ran the cat5 cables, I just thought I'd bring up this issue that can cause some strange behavior during a show.