BILL VANDERSLICE Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Does cat 5 wire from iDMX carry same signal that the XLR cable carries? In other words, could you provide signal to DMX convertor box by LOR daisy chain by using RJ45 adapter to XLR to DMX convertor and convert back to RJ45 and complete the LOR daisy chain? I have conduit under my drive way and have 2 cat 5 wires in this 3/4" conduit. Problem is conduit is full because it has 2 phone cables and 2 TV comcast cables along with my 2 cat 5 cables. I want to add DMX to other side of drive way. If I must run 2 XLR cables, it would require new conduit or I could consider wireless. It would be great if I could use cat 5 cable and provide signals to 2 devices(LOR & DMX) but I have my doubts! I am awaiting answer from Dan on this but thought I would post it and see what ideas I get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 DMX is a higher bit rate than LOR, and the data on the wire is much different. That said, LOR only takes 2 pairs, and DMX only takes 2 pairs, and common cat 5e cable is 4 pairs. You could probably get away with wiring up custom cables that either take both the LOR and DMX out, and back, or LOR out and back on one cable, and DMX out and back on the other... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank A. Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Good eveningBillif you look at the dmx layout on this link you willnotice a cable in red dot dash ---- this cable is cat5http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/forum75/21616.htmlcat5 cable plugs into (xlr to rj45) adapterstested this for a month last summer with no issueshowever did not use it in my final layoutadapter is http://www.cpoint-lighting.com/pro_products/index.htmcheck around for best pricemount your idmx 1000 where you want it and use your cat 5 with adaptersfor your dmx signalFrank A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Hey Bill!Frank nailed it. With a modification on the pin out, it can. With that said, this is one of those subjects that is kind of like religion. You can get a lot of passionate responses. The DIY crowd is all over it. The hard core DMX crowd thumbs their noses at this subject.There is studies being done by the DMX standards committee looking at that. I ahve a link I think in my DMX Primer, i have to check to see if I put it in there.Your issue is one I would look at more. Cat5 is unshielded. That is one of the big pluses (and cause for expense) of DMX cables. They are shielded. If you are running in another conduit with other stuff, not sure what the cross talk would do to your DMX signal.Cat 5 is cheap enough to set up a test universe to see how it would do. Time on the other hand............... :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisquit476 Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 A place to buy adapters:http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Control-Adapters-Terminators/XLRJ45-3M.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 bisquit476 wrote:A place to buy adapters:http://www.productionadvantageonline.com/Control-Adapters-Terminators/XLRJ45-3M.aspxJust a little FYI on those adapters. I purchased them to use last year and they worked great, however LOR sells the exact same thing for only 10 bucks...http://store.lightorama.com/rjtoxlr3ma.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpctech Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 No problem!I have a 25pr Cat3 cable that runs out to my yard for various reasons. I have 2 jacks in a WP box out in the yard. One Orange Cat5 jack wired to the Orange pair only (568b wiring) I use this jack for DMX which is compatible with before mentioned adapters and DLA hardware. The box also has a Blue Cat5 jack wired to the Blue pair only I use this jack for LOR. Both of these have the same jacks in the basement were by iDMX and LOR show computer is located. I power the iDMX with a 12v power supply which then powers my LOR to RS-232 convertor. By powering the iDMx I don't need to support mote then 1 pair out to my LOR controllers.KEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenL_MCSE Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 I found this, I think it might help all of us...http://www.lightorama.com/Documents/DMX-DOC.pdfIf I'm reading it properly, I can simply make my own cat 5 cable to be LOR at one end and DMX at the other. You can build SSR's the have DMX connectivity for fairly cheap...am I reading it right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 What that document says is that the controllers will understand LOR protocol, or DMX protocol.What some people read it to say is that S2 will directly drive DMX. It will not. It still only directly drives LOR protocol. It still takes an iDMX to drive DMX fixtures from LOR.But, if you have a DMX console, and want some low cost dimmer packs, you can use the cable described in the doc to connect the LOR controllers to the DMX universe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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