crabtreechristmas Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 Hi, this is my first post! I was planning on buying the 16 channel starter package for the summer sale this year, and I have a few questions.1. On the connection from the cat. cable to the connector, to the computer, where does the plug go in? Is it a USB port? If so thats good, but I'm not a tech wizard. When i get it, and it's not a USB plug, i'll just plug it into the hole that looks right;). (I have a dell windows XP computer if that helps)2. I'll have my computer in my basement and then have the cable go out a little window, to the front yard. does anyone know of a way to "plug up" the rest of the window?Thanks in advance for all your help! (Remember I'm new here so please don't make fun of me)
shfr26 Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 It is cat5 to cat5 on the computer.. Do not know how to plug your hole in the window. Can you drill a small hole somewhere else?
jimswinder Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 shfr26 wrote: It is cat5 to cat5 on the computer.. Do not know how to plug your hole in the window. Can you drill a small hole somewhere else?you sure about that?I thought it went from the LOR (CAT5 connection) to the USB-RS485 Communications Adapter and Cable USB - USB485 which has a USB connector at the computer end, doesn't it? Or are we talking about two different things?As far as the window, I bought some heavy density foam rubber (about 4" thick x the size of your window) , slit a hole thru the middle of it and put my wires thru it. I had a window that slid up and down so the bottom portion of the foam went on the sill, wires thru the middle and then the window dropped on the top of the foam making a seal to keep the cold air out. Worked great. And then put a piece of wood on top of the window to the top sill so the window could not be opened.
iresq Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 A good source for cat 5 if you need one is monoprice.com.
Darryl Lambert Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 crabtreechristmas wrote: 1. On the connection from the cat. cable to the connector, to the computer, where does the plug go in? Is it a USB port? If so thats good, but I'm not a tech wizard. When i get it, and it's not a USB plug, i'll just plug it into the hole that looks right;). (I have a dell windows XP computer if that helps)With any of the starter packages there will be an adapter from USB to cat-5. So you just plugin your usb cable to the adapter and from there you use cat-5 to your controller.2. I'll have my computer in my basement and then have the cable go out a little window, to the front yard. does anyone know of a way to "plug up" the rest of the window?Either drill a hole to the outside through the window frame or you might have to put a piece of plywood over the window, leave it open a crack to allow your cable out, also put a piece of wood in the window track so no one could open it because it won't be locked. Or you could go the more expensive route and buy the easy light linker. The link is Here
Brian Mitchell Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 To put it into English. There are two ways to connect to the computer. USB or a serial port. If you have a serial port, it is a nine pin connector and the adapter you get from LOR will plug into that. If you only have USB connecters you need a second adapter (USB to serial) also available from LOR. Use theirs, it's guaranteed to work.So it will look like this. USB adapter plugs into your computer. Serial adapter plugs into that and CAT5 (or phone cable) plugs into that and goes to your first LOR box in lineI also go out a basement window.I use a flat phone cable to go to my first box because I can fit it between the panes of my window and storm window without much of a gap and some simple foam weather stripping will block up that.Phone cable works just as well at CAT5. I know several of us that use only phone cable. I use a mixture with no issues at all. You just have to make sure its 4 wire cable because 2 wire won't work.
George Simmons Posted June 21, 2010 Posted June 21, 2010 crabtreechristmas wrote: Thanks in advance for all your help! (Remember I'm new here so please don't make fun of me)We appreciate having new people to chew on. Yum, yum... And we like giving answers because it shows off how smart we are. (Sometimes we even give correct answers, too - once we stop laughing that is...) But I don't believe that "please don't make fun of me" stuff is going to get you very far. You see, a lot of the "smart" around here actually stands for smart-aleck, so be careful what you ask for - we'll be watching...
shfr26 Posted June 22, 2010 Posted June 22, 2010 jimswinder wrote: shfr26 wrote: It is cat5 to cat5 on the computer.. Do not know how to plug your hole in the window. Can you drill a small hole somewhere else?you sure about that?I thought it went from the LOR (CAT5 connection) to the USB-RS485 Communications Adapter and Cable USB - USB485 which has a USB connector at the computer end, doesn't it? Or are we talking about two different things?Hey I was tired after work and forgot about the adapter. One for Jim Zero for Pete:DIt has been a year since I hooked it up.
toddmoon Posted June 22, 2010 Posted June 22, 2010 Go easy on the newbies George We all had to start sometime too.
crabtreechristmas Posted June 22, 2010 Author Posted June 22, 2010 Thank you all for great answers! If I have anymore questions, I'll be sure to post!
Steven Posted June 22, 2010 Posted June 22, 2010 crabtreechristmas wrote: I'll have my computer in my basement and then have the cable go out a little window, to the front yard. does anyone know of a way to "plug up" the rest of the window?When running a cable from inside to outside, remember that water goes down. Assume the cable will get wet outside, and using your finger, follow the path the water will take. If the cable is run correctly, it will go up, not down, through the window so that the water remains outside.The rule that "water goes down" has an exception. This is when there is something wrapping the cable that acts as a wick. In this case the water can "wick", or seep, up the cable and end up where it shouldn't.My house doesn't have a basement, so my computer is in the garage. I installed a couple of electrical boxes with network sockets under the eaves that I use to connect the LOR network. Attached files
ErnieHorning Posted June 22, 2010 Posted June 22, 2010 I cheated. I used the drier vent, the hole was already there. The only work was a small hole in the steel pipe, just big enough for the CAT5 connector. At the end of the season, the cable comes out and a piece of aluminum tape goes over the hole.
toddmoon Posted June 22, 2010 Posted June 22, 2010 Right now I have been doing the window thing. I am planning on doing some remodeling in the future and I am going to run some cat6 cable outlets to several points to the outside of my house and do a few runs in the yard to receptacle's.That will also help with take down time in the winter. Where I live there is usually several feet of snow on the ground so rolling everything up has to wait till the snow melts a little.
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