eurbani Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I have most of my network set up and the last couple of controllers are acting a little wierd (not responding to all commands.)This sequence shouldn't be over taxing the network. There is one timing that calls for 80 channels to turn on at the same timing, but at most timings there are only changes for maybe a couple of dozen channels. There are no CCRs on this network or sequence.Here is what the network looks like:Computer> USB cable with magnet> USB-RS485> 35 ft cable> PC Controller> 10 ft cable> PC Controller> 15 ft cable> PC controller> 50 ft cable> LOR800W> 100ft cable> PC controller> 15 ft cable> PC controller> 50 ft cable> PC controllerI suspect that my cable lengths are too long. There are several that I can shorten. I just purchaser RJ45 connectors and a crimper to accomplish that task.Is there anything that I am missing? Is it possible that this is not network related?My first show had two controllers. My Halloween show had 4 controllers and 4 CCRs and worked fine. This is what that looked like:Computer> USB cable with magnet> USB-RS485> 15 ft cable> CCR> 5 ft cable> CCR> 8 ft cable> CCR> 5 ft cable> CCR> 10 foot cable> PC Controller> 25 ft cable> PC Controller> > 100ft cable> PC controller> 15 ft cable> PC controllerI'm off to shorten cables. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilM0nkey Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 With 275 feet of cable I don't know if that would be the issue.What groups of channels are you seeing that don't seem to work properly?How fast are the timings that you aren't seeing? I have one sequence where the timings are so fast that the lights can't respond fast enough to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurbani Posted November 15, 2012 Author Share Posted November 15, 2012 I'm having issues with controller 08 and 09 which are the last two on the network.The timings for this song are not particularly fast. There is one section of the sequence with .2 second timings and that seems to be fine. The section that I'm having troubles with, the timings are .5 seconds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilM0nkey Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 If possible I would take a few controllers out of the middle and see if that fixes the communication issues (less wire). That would narrow it down between a weak signal or possibly a hardware issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Cable length shouldn’t be an issue. There are a lot of things that could cause these symptoms though. Probably the first thing you want to try is changing out the cable just before the two controllers that are acting up. And it might not be a bad idea to run the LOR verifier and make sure you don’t have duplicate Unit/Circuits assigned to more than one sequence channel (it will also check for conflicts in background sequences also). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Birsching Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 That much cable should not be a problem - I've run more boxes and cables than that and it worked fine. I have had problems where the connection inside the box (cable to jack) was a bit flaky and it caused problems (though mine were all over, and it was the last box in the chain). Make sure the cables are seated well and fit tightly in every box - it only takes one to mess things up. Problems like this tend to be connection issues, not cable lengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Just a recap, first no problem with a mere 300' of cable. When several thousand feet is the norm. Agree if you have a spare cable handy, replace the cable before the last two controllers. Are you keeping your cat5 cable and power cables seperated by at least 6" (I rather it be 12")? Do you have any CFL lamps in your display or near any of the power cords for the display? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurbani Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 Thanks guys. It was a cat 5 cable. That didn't seem like it could be the case, because I swear that the lights didn't work at the exact same place in the sequence which made me thing that it was something in the sequence or a network issue.What can I say? You all are brilliant.The good news is that I finally figured out how to the use RJ45 crimper that has been sitting in my tool box for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 You all are brilliant.No... just experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwertz Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Glad you got it figured out. Have fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett H. Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 This is the right place to ask. Someone on here will have experienced what your problem is. So the best way to put it is everyone on here is brilliantly experienced. I usually go to a cable issue right away from my experience. I seem to not be able to design a rabbit proof cat 5 cable yet. But rest assured when i do i will let everyone know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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