DMX to RJ45 adapters Yes/No?

[ullrichr]

Has anyone used DMX 5 pin to RJ45 adapters?

Acceptable or not?

Why?  We have a ton of Shielded Cat5/6 cable. If we don't have to buy specific DMX cable, it would be nice.

[J Pearce]

Cat5 cable is explicitly stated as compliant in the DMX specification. Adapters can work well, and can offer multiple universes over 1 cable. There is an ESTA standard pinout which should offer cross compatibility, and has been designed to offer some protection from mis-plugging.

[alistermorton]

Yup, works fine. 

[DrV]

The only caveat to what's been said is that if you're using this in a situation where the cables get unplugged and moved from time to time i.e. not fixed down, be sure the cable you have is patch cable (with flexible, stranded cores) rather than installation cable which has solid cores. The latter will start getting internal breaks due to bending much sooner than the former.

[timsabre]

As Dave suggests Cat5 cabling is not as robust as DMX cabling using XLR connectors. If this is a rig that only gets changed infrequently then should be fine. If it's in and out every day then personally I would avoid using Cat5 with XLR adaptors as you'll get faults due to bad connections or broken conductors.

(I'm assuming you have normal network-style Cat5 cable and not tour grade Cat5 with ethercon connectors. That would be a different answer)

[Tomo]

Note that shielded Cat5/6 is not really recommended for DMX usage, as it's currently unclear what RJ45 fixtures, splitters and patch panels should do with the shield.
(This is one of the reasons why ESTA are reopening the E1.11 DMX512-A standard rather than simply reaffirming it)

Some leave it floating, while others connect it to ground which can lead to ground loop problems.

When making your adapters:

• The colour coding mentioned in the E1.11 standard assumes RJ45s are wired to EIA/TIA 586B as that's the most common.
  Be aware that "Crossover" patch leads will swap the Data 1 and Data 2 pairs.
• Do not connect anything to the blue pair (RJ45 pins 4 & 5). These can have large voltages (>60VAC) on them in some use cases, which can damage equipment and even be dangerous.
• Both of the brown pair of conductors must be connected to XLR5 pin 1
• You must not connect anything to the XLR shell.

ANSI E1.11-2008 (R2013) Standard RJ45 pin assignment:

1 white / orange: data 1+ (XLR-5 pin 3
2 orange: data 1- (XLR-5 Pin 2)
3 white / green: data 2+ (optional, XLR-5 Pin 5)
6 green: data 2- (optional, XLR-5 Pin 4)
4 blue: Do Not Connect
5 white / blue: Do Not Connect
7 white / brown: Data Link Common (Common Reference) for Data 1 (0v, XLR-5 Pin 1)
8 brown: Data Link Common (Common Reference) for Data 2 (0v, XLR-5 Pin 1)

[sunray]

On 5/11/2023 at 1:03 PM, Tomo said:

Note that shielded Cat5/6 is not really recommended for DMX usage, as it's currently unclear what RJ45 fixtures, splitters and patch panels should do with the shield.
(This is one of the reasons why ESTA are reopening the E1.11 DMX512-A standard rather than simply reaffirming it)

Some leave it floating, while others connect it to ground which can lead to ground loop problems.

When making your adapters:

• The colour coding mentioned in the E1.11 standard assumes RJ45s are wired to EIA/TIA 586B as that's the most common.
  Be aware that "Crossover" patch leads will swap the Data 1 and Data 2 pairs.
• Do not connect anything to the blue pair (RJ45 pins 4 & 5). These can have large voltages (>60VAC) on them in some use cases, which can damage equipment and even be dangerous.

 

On 5/11/2023 at 1:03 PM, Tomo said:

• Both of the brown pair of conductors must be connected to XLR5 pin 1

A little confusing, I've always known it to be pin 7 (white/brown) for the orange pair and pin 8 (brown) for the green pair (as shown in your list below) to prevent ground loops when used for 2 universes

On 5/11/2023 at 1:03 PM, Tomo said:

• You must not connect anything to the XLR shell.

ANSI E1.11-2008 (R2013) Standard RJ45 pin assignment:

1 white / orange: data 1+ (XLR-5 pin 3
2 orange: data 1- (XLR-5 Pin 2)
3 white / green: data 2+ (optional, XLR-5 Pin 5)
6 green: data 2- (optional, XLR-5 Pin 4)
4 blue: Do Not Connect
5 white / blue: Do Not Connect
7 white / brown: Data Link Common (Common Reference) for Data 1 (0v, XLR-5 Pin 1)
8 brown: Data Link Common (Common Reference) for Data 2 (0v, XLR-5 Pin 1)

 

Before people remind about the system for running 3 or 4 universes in one cat 5/7 cable, yes I know.