DMX cable by the foot?

[PilotLight]

Guys,
Any one know where to buy DMX cable by the foot. I would like to make a few on my own in order to save a few bucks. If you could look at some of your cables and get me some numbers off of them and a short description of it would be a start. Like what gage? or Manufacture?

Thanks,
Mike

[Footer]

Well if the cables won't be abused to much, common CAT 5 will work if it is pined correctly. If you want cable specificly designed for DMX Beldin 8227 will do ya, and if you are really going to be abusing the cable go with tourflex.

[cutlunch]

You can also use cable designed for digital audio specified with a 110 Ohm impedance . Proel does such a cable.

[Pie4Weebl]

Originally Posted by Footer4321

Well if the cables won't be abused to much, common CAT 5 will work if it is pined correctly. If you want cable specificly designed for DMX Beldin 8227 will do ya, and if you are really going to be abusing the cable go with tourflex.

If you use dmx through a cat5 cable can you run it through routers and cat5 switches, I would love to do that over making a run up to the cats and down across the balcony every time I needed a cat-5 run.

[ship]

Any number of suppliers who sell pre-made cable will suppliy just the cable as with the above recommendations. Theater suppliers, fixture manufacturers and or suppliers, cable companies, production companies, literally hundreds of sources for a DMX protocal cable or even if light duty use Cat 5 cable suppliers.

DMX protocol is the key. After this, Belden and other compaies model numbers are abundant given Carol, Beleden, and a multitude of specific to distributer suppliers out there.

A worthwhile investment is buying a copy of DMX Protocol so as to see what specific types and brands initially at least were specified and the differences between them. Won't tell you who to get the cable from per say but will provide info in differences between grades. Lots of suppliers and sources out there, can't even list the amounts of cable in stock I currently buy from or have in the past.

Perhaps a websearch on dmx cable will show the extent of the availability.

[Chris15]

Originally Posted by Pie4Weebl

If you use dmx through a cat5 cable can you run it through routers and cat5 switches, I would love to do that over making a run up to the cats and down across the balcony every time I needed a cat-5 run.

It is my understanding that the answer in short is no. If you are using DMX over Ethernet then yes, but as far as I know, DMX will not run through network gear. It should be fine however to run it through a patch panel, just not through active equipment like routers & switches. There is DMX over Ethernet stuff out there, but I have little to no idea on that.

[BillESC]

The best we've found is DuraFlex. It is twisted pair and double shielded.

It will run you about $ .88 per foot.

[Pie4Weebl]

Originally Posted by Chris15

It is my understanding that the answer in short is no. If you are using DMX over Ethernet then yes, but as far as I know, DMX will not run through network gear. It should be fine however to run it through a patch panel, just not through active equipment like routers & switches. There is DMX over Ethernet stuff out there, but I have little to no idea on that.

that makes a lot of sense. I suppose the active gear has no way to tell that it is routing dmx.

[farmerjo1111]

Belden 9729 is the prefered DMX cable. you should be able to find this cable at just about any Electrical cable supply company. I just bout a 500' Spool form an electrical contractor but I don't recall how much.


Dustin Strobush
ETC Systems Group.

[Footer]

Originally Posted by Pie4Weebl

If you use dmx through a cat5 cable can you run it through routers and cat5 switches, I would love to do that over making a run up to the cats and down across the balcony every time I needed a cat-5 run.

What makes cat 5 usable for DMX is that it is a twisted media, 802.3 (the ethernet standard) is a much higher data rate then DMX, and therefore DMX can run on the media just as well as 802.3 data. Ethernet is the protocol, Cat 5 is what the protocol runs on (and it runs the same on fiber as it does on copper). The DMX512 protocol however is not a routable protocol like 802.3 is. DMX aquates to more of a serial protocol (think old modems) then the ethernet protocol. You can get DMX to ethernet nodes (artnet, shownet, etcnet2) that will convert your DMX signal to ethernet so you can run multiple universes accross one wire, and manage where your data goes. ACN which just got standardized is what is going to replace DMX eventualy, and that protocol is a routable protocol so you will be able to use off the shelf switches and routers to run with. This is the reason that is is sudgested to pull cat5 in renovations so that when the day comes that ACN will be usable its a simple matter of changing connectors, not pulling new wire.