Wess Hoskins Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Can you use a ell from CPU to 1st controller then cat five from there on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulXmas Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I am 99.9% sure you can!Take a look at page 9 of http://www.lightorama.com/Documents/RF-V4_Man_Web.pdfI would love to have one but that is the price of one controller! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Wess Hoskins wrote: Can you use a ell from CPU to 1st controller then cat five from there on?You need to use the USB adapeter with the BOOSTER built inhttp://store.lightorama.com/uscoadwivobo.htmlor provide external power to the ELL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wess Hoskins Posted February 26, 2010 Author Share Posted February 26, 2010 I have the booster, just wanted a cleaner install and wanted to know if I used the ell to 1st controller I could cat 5 from there.1st controller is only 100 feet away... just wanted 1 less wire coming out of garage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmais68569 Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Save your money & run a Cat 5 cable. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Do not try to upgrade firmware on controllers when connected over ELL.. Only do that when hardwired to the controller...I run a couple hundred feet of cable between my PC and first controller, just because it was the lowest impact way I could get out of the house... (through the low wall of the room over the garage, into the tiny attic over the garage, through an existing hole in the garage ceiling, and out under the garage door) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al in Raleigh Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Yes, I do it myself. I use a few ELLs and make separate networks out of them. If you start getting weird hanging lights then shift the frequency of the ELL. I ran into that 2 a year ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 If it's worth it to you to replace a 100' run with a $200 set of radios, it will definitely work.I'd rather hardwire for many reasons, first of all cost, but secondly, wire is just less error-prone and more trouble free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 The ELL's work so much better and are safer when crossing driveways and sidewalks.I tried hanging a run of CAT5 15 feet in the air to span a 20 foot wide driveway. Darn near impossible. This was back in 2007. Ordered some ELLs and it was the best purchase I ever made!I am so glad the ELL's are available, allows a tremdous amount of flexibility and really speeds setup when dealing with 368 channels plus 4 CCRs.They work like a charm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al in Raleigh Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Tim Fischer wrote: If it's worth it to you to replace a 100' run with a $200 set of radios, it will definitely work.I'd rather hardwire for many reasons, first of all cost, but secondly, wire is just less error-prone and more trouble free.Not true. When you link them all together you run the risk of destroying all of the controllers and maybe your PC too. The communication side of the controllers are all electrically connected together. Get water in one controller and bridge the isolation barrier then watch all of your controllers die. The risk of me destroying thousands of dollars of electronics is too great. Besides, I have this stuff running all over my yard with the same conditions that John said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Al in Raleigh wrote: Tim Fischer wrote: If it's worth it to you to replace a 100' run with a $200 set of radios, it will definitely work.I'd rather hardwire for many reasons, first of all cost, but secondly, wire is just less error-prone and more trouble free.Not true. When you link them all together you run the risk of destroying all of the controllers and maybe your PC too. The communication side of the controllers are all electrically connected together. Get water in one controller and bridge the isolation barrier then watch all of your controllers die. The risk of me destroying thousands of dollars of electronics is too great. Besides, I have this stuff running all over my yard with the same conditions that John said.and another valid reason to spend a few extra dollars to use the isolated USB 485 adapter to at least protect your PC when/if the controllers start having problems on the comm lines.http://store.lightorama.com/usisad.htmlLike Al, I have too much money invested in this equiptment to risk a cascading disaster. I think of ELLs and isolated USB-485 adapters just like I think of insurance for my home or my car. Worth spending the money for the protection and peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Al in Raleigh wrote:Tim Fischer wrote: If it's worth it to you to replace a 100' run with a $200 set of radios, it will definitely work.I'd rather hardwire for many reasons, first of all cost, but secondly, wire is just less error-prone and more trouble free.Not true. When you link them all together you run the risk of destroying all of the controllers and maybe your PC too. The communication side of the controllers are all electrically connected together. Get water in one controller and bridge the isolation barrier then watch all of your controllers die. The risk of me destroying thousands of dollars of electronics is too great. Besides, I have this stuff running all over my yard with the same conditions that John said.I'm not sure what you're saying is not true. Are you saying it won't work, or that I wouldn't rather hardwire? In practice I've never heard of anyone frying an entire network of controllers like that. And for total protection, you'd have to have a pair of ELL's between every controller pair. Far better to just keep your controllers dry (puting the enclosures in inverted plastic bags will all but guarantee it, and it's cheap, if not exactly attractive ) But if you'd rather protect a $200 PC controller with a $200 device, that's another option :dude: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al in Raleigh Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Tim, are you an EE, technician, or electrician? An EE would never make such broad assumptions. There are threads on this forum of people forgetting to shut their enclosure doors and flooding a controller with rain water or yard sprinkler water. Water and electronics are bad combinations. Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't make it correct. My house has never burned to the ground but I have insurance in case it does. Enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Fischer Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Not sure what's being argued about here. I've repeatedly said that ELL's are a viable option if you feel the benefits justify the extra cost over a wire.Unless you're trying to convince me personally to replace all my wire with them, I think we are on the same page. I have never once said that people should NOT use ELL's, just that I personally favor wire. Everyone has their own opinions. I'm giving mine for free, and that's all it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrypowerz Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Al in Raleigh wrote: Tim, are you an EE, technician, or electrician? An EE would never make such broad assumptions. There are threads on this forum of people forgetting to shut their enclosure doors and flooding a controller with rain water or yard sprinkler water. Water and electronics are bad combinations. Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't make it correct. My house has never burned to the ground but I have insurance in case it does. Enough.Al... I am an EE, technician, and electrician. (not that it really matters) I am not taking sides here, but I do like to keep what I feel are misconceptions down for others.You mentioned earlier about a daisy chain of disaster if one controller has a situation in a wired configuration. The chances of serious damage to everything connected is actually extremely slim.The most likely worse case scenario is biffing some comm chips on the controllers (which are in sockets for a reason), and perhaps if you were really, really unlucky, toasting a port on the controlling PC if it made it past the RS485 adapter.As you said there are plenty of stories of lids left open (even Dan himself) ,and the effect down chain was..... nada.Ell's are useful when you need a wireless connection.... they do give you isolation (as does the USB ISO, although I thought it's main intent was noise isolation)... no argument from me on that.But just a couple of short years ago there was no option like this available AND the controllers cost even more than they do now, and folks got along fine.Traction control, and ABS on cars are very beneficial, but you can drive a car without them and not die.Thousands of us still do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 I'll chip in that while I do pay home insurance, what I pay, even over the life of the house is no where near the price of the house, and I get to spread it out over decades...That said, an ELL is definitely the answer to crossing a street. Also, consider that running a data cable across property lines may actually violate one or more laws. Not that I would expect any of them to be enforced, unless someone in the cable, phone, or power industry has a vendetta against you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Batzdorf Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Like it has been said, there are purposes for the Ells. Last year was the first for me and Ells. Great units, I will try to procure at least one per year until my data cables are at a min. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbirdruss Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 I think you overlooked the best reason to go with ELL's... They are WAY COOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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