cat5 daisy chain question

[PaulXmas]

july1962 wrote:

PaulXmas wrote:

Hi

Can you draw a picture of what goes to where?

I think you have something like this?


Basement -----------------------Roof-----------------????
and so on?

Computer---------Cat5 cable with female end----------Terminal One (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)------Terminal Two (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)-------Terminal Three (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)--------Terminal Four (1 cat5 cables w/female end)

Ok then just use 2 patch cables at Terminal One, Terminal Two and Terminal three. The last one only needs one.
Plugone end of the patch cable into the controller and the other into female ends.
It doesn't matter what cable goes where just as long ast terminals 1 to 3 have a cable going from the controller to the female ends.
Just make sure you have set up your controllers before hand.

Hope this helps!

[Guest guest]

PaulXmas wrote:

july1962 wrote:

PaulXmas wrote:

Hi

Can you draw a picture of what goes to where?

I think you have something like this?


Basement -----------------------Roof-----------------????
and so on?

Computer---------Cat5 cable with female end----------Terminal One (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)------Terminal Two (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)-------Terminal Three (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)--------Terminal Four (1 cat5 cables w/female end)

Ok then just use 2 patch cables at Terminal One, Terminal Two and Terminal three. The last one only needs one.
Plugone end of the patch cable into the controller and the other into female ends.
It doesn't matter what cable goes where just as long ast terminals 1 to 3 have a cable going from the controller to the female ends.
Just make sure you have set up your controllers before hand.

Hope this helps!

Hmmmm....I think I already knew this. It doesn't really solve the problem of having to use more cables than necessary. I would only use 4 cables just daisy-chaining between LOR boxes. This way uses 7.

[Tim Fischer]

july1962 wrote:

Another thought. The LOR's have the little box where you can plug in 2 cat5 cables. One cable goes in, one comes out. I don't know what's on the other side of that box to make it work, but couldn't that same sort of box be wired into the terminals I had installed so that the daisy chain exists inside the terminal and you just hook into it? Or is it always just a straight line with one in and one out and not nothing else can tap into the same line? Don't all the "pins" in each plug line up along the line to the same "pins" and if so, why couldn't you tap in anywhere along the line if the "pins" line up? So instead of 2 plugs (like in the LOR) there would be 3...one in, one out (to create the daisy chain, and then another to tap into?

The problem is that it's bad to "Y" (split) an RS485 network, except for tiny 'drops' at each device. The jacks on each LOR controller are wired in parallel, and there is a tiny (maybe an inch) split going to the comm chip on the board. This 1" "split" doesn't cause any problems. But when you're making a split of several dozen (or hundred) feet, you can cause serious signal reflection issues. Some folks have gotten it to work, but I seriously doubt you'd get a system working where there's a split at each controller.

[PaulXmas]

july1962 wrote:

PaulXmas wrote:

july1962 wrote:

PaulXmas wrote:

Hi

Can you draw a picture of what goes to where?

I think you have something like this?


Basement -----------------------Roof-----------------????
and so on?

Computer---------Cat5 cable with female end----------Terminal One (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)------Terminal Two (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)-------Terminal Three (2 cat5 cables w/female ends)--------Terminal Four (1 cat5 cables w/female end)

Ok then just use 2 patch cables at Terminal One, Terminal Two and Terminal three. The last one only needs one.
Plugone end of the patch cable into the controller and the other into female ends.
It doesn't matter what cable goes where just as long ast terminals 1 to 3 have a cable going from the controller to the female ends.
Just make sure you have set up your controllers before hand.

Hope this helps!

Hmmmm....I think I already knew this. It doesn't really solve the problem of having to use more cables than necessary. I would only use 4 cables just daisy-chaining between LOR boxes. This way uses 7.

Yes but you are using short cables instead of long ones.
You still have the option of using 4 very long cables
But it sounds like he did what you wanted.
Maybe you should have requested MALE ends ( making sure they reach the controller boxes) but could be expensive to repair (cheaper to just buy a short patch cable).

[Guest guest]

PaulXmas wrote:

Yes but you are using short cables instead of long ones.
You still have the option of using 4 very long cables
But it sounds like he did what you wanted.
Maybe you should have requested MALE ends ( making sure they reach the controller boxes) but could be expensive to repair (cheaper to just buy a short patch cable).

Well that depends on how far the LOR boxes are from the terminals. Plus, you have the added possibility of more cables going bad and trying to figure out which one has. And 7 short cables may be no shorter than 4 long ones.

And no, he didn't do what I asked. I asked to be able to plug one cable into a terminal like a phone jack. If he couldn't do that, he should have said so.

[Tim Fischer]

july1962 wrote:

And no, he didn't do what I asked. I asked to be able to plug one cable into a terminal like a phone jack. If he couldn't do that, he should have said so.

If you have an issue with his work, you should tell him. Personally I think he took what you asked for and did it to the extent it was technically possible, but I'm not the one footing the bill/signing off on his work...

[Jeff Sand]

july1962 wrote:

And no, he didn't do what I asked. I asked to be able to plug one cable into a terminal like a phone jack. If he couldn't do that, he should have said so.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think you're still missing the point. Lightorama is not designed for a star topology (like a phone system). Nothing that you, I, or your electrician can do or say will change that fact. What the electrician installed is what LOR supports.

[Guest guest]

Jeff Sand wrote:

july1962 wrote:

And no, he didn't do what I asked. I asked to be able to plug one cable into a terminal like a phone jack. If he couldn't do that, he should have said so.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think you're still missing the point. Lightorama is not designed for a star topology (like a phone system). Nothing that you, I, or your electrician can do or say will change that fact. What the electrician installed is what LOR supports.

Yes Jeff, I understood you the first time, I was just replying to the previous poster! Jeesh!

The electrician knew NOTHING about LOR and in fact knows nothing about cat5, he had an assistant that ran the cat5 cable. So while he may have installed "what LOR supports" he did NOT install what I asked for.

[Guest guest]

Tim Fischer wrote:

july1962 wrote:

And no, he didn't do what I asked. I asked to be able to plug one cable into a terminal like a phone jack. If he couldn't do that, he should have said so.

If you have an issue with his work, you should tell him. Personally I think he took what you asked for and did it to the extent it was technically possible, but I'm not the one footing the bill/signing off on his work...

I think I've said several times now that I intend to. And if you'll read the post before this one, the electrician knew nothing about LOR and knew nothing about cat5. He had no idea whether it was "technically possible" or not. And if he did know, he should have told me it was impossible before he installed it.

[PaulXmas]

july1962 wrote:

Jeff Sand wrote:

july1962 wrote:

And no, he didn't do what I asked. I asked to be able to plug one cable into a terminal like a phone jack. If he couldn't do that, he should have said so.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think you're still missing the point. Lightorama is not designed for a star topology (like a phone system). Nothing that you, I, or your electrician can do or say will change that fact. What the electrician installed is what LOR supports.

Yes Jeff, I understood you the first time, I was just replying to the previous poster! Jeesh!

The electrician knew NOTHING about LOR and in fact knows nothing about cat5, he had an assistant that ran the cat5 cable. So while he may have installed "what LOR supports" he did NOT install what I asked for.

Then call him back and ask him to fix it!
So this is no longer a problem for this forum?

[Guest guest]

PaulXmas wrote:

Then call him back and ask him to fix it!
So this is no longer a problem for this forum?

How rude! I sure hope you have a better day tomorrow PaulXmas, and a very Merry Christmas.

And I sure hope you don't ever let petty things like this annoy you so desperately.

[Tim Fischer]

july1962 wrote:

PaulXmas wrote:

Then call him back and ask him to fix it!
So this is no longer a problem for this forum?

How rude! I sure hope you have a better day tomorrow PaulXmas, and a very Merry Christmas.

And I sure hope you don't ever let petty things like this annoy you so desperately.

I don't think he was trying to be rude-- but simply asking if this issue is now closed as far as this forum is concerned, or if you're expecting more assistance.

[Guest guest]

Tim Fischer wrote

How rude! I sure hope you have a better day tomorrow PaulXmas, and a very Merry Christmas.

And I sure hope you don't ever let petty things like this annoy you so desperately.

I don't think he was trying to be rude-- but simply asking if this issue is now closed as far as this forum is concerned, or if you're expecting more assistance.

LOL....well considering it started out with "Then call him back and ask him to fix it!", I felt it was rude. I came to this forum to get information so that I COULD call him back and ask him to fix it. I certainly didn't need to be told to do so. The "So this is no longer a problem for this forum" sounded to me more like "shut up," more than anything else.

[Kenneth D]

Without knowing what the distances are, it may or may not be more economical to use what is there. You may be able to use a combination of going out of one box to the controller and then to the next controller and then to the junction box, etc. If the cat 5 junction boxes are really daisy chained through conduit, then a longer cable could be pulled through and leave the correct length you need to reach the box. Or it can be pulled and used directly between the controllers. Cat 5 and connectors are not that expensive. Depending on how much length you are talking about really determines what is more economical.

Yes, the more connections you have, the more you introduce possible failure points, especially in subsequent seasons if the receptacles are not weather proof. That being said, if you have a cable long enough to go to your controller coming out of the box, it will be sticking out of the box and unprotected from the weather all year long, not just a connection box.

I would talk to your electrician friend and try and work something out with him and make sure you both understand what needs to be done to determine what will be most practical from both a useful and monetary stand point.