[Stazzley]

Hi,

We have recently bought a stock of Robin 100 LED beams which only have 5 pin DMX connections, this means the time has come to finally make a decent batch of good quality 5 pin DMX cable.

Most of the 3 pin stock is made using Van Damme Tourgrade mic string and the current plan is to use this for the 5 pin cables as well as we don't use particularly long runs and rarely get problems with this. However since we're going to the effort of making the cables up I'm still looking for a good quality data cable to use.

Proper DMX cable all seems to have a braided shield which makes it stiff and harder to coil and having beaten up a sample a bit and opening it up the sheild had ripped in several places anyway. This rules out Tourmate Datasafe cable which we use in installs and for long drums.

So the question is does anyone have any recommendations for bulk DMX cable that hits all of the pointers below:

1) 110 or 120 Ohm - I'm aware I'm skipping over the most important critera as I hope anything with loosely the right impedence will be better than mic string!
2) Flexible - The main point. Easy to handle and coil, doesn't kink and tear the sheild. I'm guessing a stranded sheild will be better than a braided one.
3) Black - a lot of them seem to be funky colours which I don't really want
4) Reasonable price - about 60p to 90p per metre when bought in quantities over 100m

Looking around there seem to be a lot of AES cables that are advertised as DMX cable and in my experience AES seems to have the key benefit of being nice to handle so that may be the solution.


Any opinions welcome especially if you make a lot of cables. If anyone is in the position to send me any samples I can't promise to make you a millionaire but all advice will be appreciated!

Thanks,

Tom

[Ashley R]

Well considering what I can get the Beldon 8102 data cable for here in Oz, surely you should be able to pick it up for about a pound per meter, or I think I came across some people in the UK doing "copies"/an alternative to Beldon, but without the Beldon brand.

If you have gone to the expense of nice fixtures, why not go all out on the cable as well? I just bought some Mac Entours, and decided its time to make some proper cable.. 300m of Beldon 8102 cable and about 50 sets of Neutrik 5P XX connectors later, and I have a nice set of virtually indestructible cables.

[timsabre]

CPC sell really cheap 5 pin (or 3 pin) cables in shorter lengths (1m-2m-5m)... cheaper than you can buy the cable and connectors separately, even if you use cheap XLR's. e.g. 1m is £2.08 if you buy 10.
They are obviously not Van Damme/Neutrik, but they are nicely made and I've never had any problems with them.

This post has been edited by timsabre: 31 July 2012 - 02:52 PM

[dosxuk]

Ashley R, on 31 July 2012 - 03:22 AM, said:

I have a nice set of virtually indestructible cables.

Virtually indestructable cables, meet grumpy local crew :-)

[GR1]

If you use the cheap CPC DMX cables check each one for continuity and shorts before using. I've used about 60 over the last 3 months and 2 were faulty out of the bag - wiring shorts which were easily fixed. It is much easier to fix this stuff on a bench rather than on site.

I agree with Ashley - use proper DMX cables if you are investing in decent kit. When the kit is obsolete you will have a cable call ready for the next lot!

[Ashley R]

I know some local hire firms here in Oz, some of their Beldon cable is a good 10 years old at least! (Albeit made using older Neutrik or Amphenol connectors, some of which are missing the tab for the lock), You need to try pretty hard (or just drive something heavy over it) to break a bit of 8102.

You have coughed up the cash for proper robe's and not some Clone 101, Why cheap out now? What are the big guys using/trusting their reputation on?

[Stazzley]

Thanks for that,

It seems the big hire companies near us (who I asked first) either use mic cable or buy cheap stuff online in bulk then throw it out if it breaks; they also lose a fair bit. The cables we make ourselves don't break and we rarely lose any so it is worth making good quality ones.

Beldon 8102 seems to be one of those cables that is designed for all the electrical specs for DMX. I don't need the second pair and there doesn't seem to be a single pair version which would be cheaper. Is it ok to work with as the general opinion is that full spec data cable is harder to handle? For instance you can't leave a coil on the floor as it is so stiff it unravels itself. As most of the core damage is done to a cable when it is coiled which happens to it hundreds of times it makes sense for us to prioritise flexibility over features that we don't really need. Also if it is easy to coil local crew can do it which saves hours of time recoiling cables in the warehouse!

[landy]

Have a look at Kelsey digital mic cable, its robust and flexible the only thing is that it is not the easiest to strip the outer sheath when making up. However that is made up for by the other points, it probably is over budget (we buy miles of cable from them a year so get a discount)but quality costs. You need to weigh up the cost of the cable against its life before its lost, stolen, damaged.

[Robin Pratt]

We use Sommer Binary here and find it to be flexible, easy to coil and easy to terminate, owing to the use of a metal impregnated polyester screen rather than copper braid, this is backed op with a copper lap screen layer as well. Its available in 2 or 4 core versions, and yes, we do sell it but we also use it in our own hire/touring stock.


http://www.10outof10.../DMX-Cable.html