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[Brian Wynn]

Today I tried a 100' STP on the S16 end, connected to a 100' UTP thence connected to the console.

Although it initially resists the sparks, enough sparking makes it lose sync, and any sparking soon after that results in immediate sync loss.

That makes me want to throw in the towel on this.

STP with Ethercons is the way to go.

If only Behringer had announced that at the beginning instead of six or nine months later....

 

 +1

[Aaron Nickerson]

Thank you to everyone who has contributed knowledge to this thread.  Please forgive if this is an ignorant question.

I am considering purchasing an x32 and 2 s16s. They will be installed in a room with cat5 cable permanently installed.  The issue I have is that I do not know if they are UTP or STP, as it was installed before my tenure.  Originally the system was designed for an avid profile system.  Our needs in that room have changed drastically, and we are looking to downgrade to a smaller, simpler system, something our high school volunteers can handle more easily. 

My question is how can I tell if I have UTP or STP cat5.  The cable runs to wall mounted brackets.  There are ethercon connectors on the receptacles.  Is there a better solution than ordering the system and crossing my fingers?  Any information is greatly appreciated.

[Corey Scogin]

My question is how can I tell if I have UTP or STP cat5.  The cable runs to wall mounted brackets.  There are ethercon connectors on the receptacles.  Is there a better solution than ordering the system and crossing my fingers?  Any information is greatly appreciated.

Pull one of the jack plates off and look for a shield connection.  It'll be the only bare wire you can see.  You should also be able to see some of the cable to look for UTP or STP or a model number printed on the jacket.

[Kevin Maxwell]

Thank you to everyone who has contributed knowledge to this thread.  Please forgive if this is an ignorant question.

I am considering purchasing an x32 and 2 s16s. They will be installed in a room with cat5 cable permanently installed.  The issue I have is that I do not know if they are UTP or STP, as it was installed before my tenure.  Originally the system was designed for an avid profile system.  Our needs in that room have changed drastically, and we are looking to downgrade to a smaller, simpler system, something our high school volunteers can handle more easily. 

My question is how can I tell if I have UTP or STP cat5.  The cable runs to wall mounted brackets.  There are ethercon connectors on the receptacles.  Is there a better solution than ordering the system and crossing my fingers?  Any information is greatly appreciated.

The question I have is if it is installed in metal conduit would you get the same performance if you were to tie the ethercon jack to the conduit on each end and then just use Shielded twisted pair wire from these jacks to your devices?

If it isn’t either in metal conduit or tying the shield to the conduit is a no go then it sounds like you are taking a gamble. If it is in conduit see if the church (I am assuming that this is a church) has an electrician and talk to them about how hard it would be to pull a new piece of STP cat cable thru. If its not in conduit you might want to look into how hard it would be to run the recommended cable in place or in addition to what it already there.   

[John Penkala]

I'm still looking for a decent pliable shielded cable that's readily available and not more than $1/ft.  I contacted TMB about ProPlex but they refuse to sell to end users and I refuse to jump through hoops just to buy a cable.  Also, according to Dan M. the ProPlex isn't very flexible.

I currently have a Rapco / ProCo cable from MF that uses Belden 1533R.  It's stiff and holds its shape worse than a pipe cleaner.

I also picked up a cable off of Amazon that appears to be made by Wavenet.  It's definitely better than the Belden 1533R but nowhere near the Gepco CT504HDX UTP cable.  I'm probably going to stick with that until something better comes along.  I haven't experienced the same issues that Dan M. did with dropouts due to pinching but I'm not as confident in this Wavenet cable's ability to support the pair spacing to prevent it.

*edit: I misread Dan's post initially.  I went ahead and purchased some TMB ProPlex and I'm happy with it.  It's very flexible.

Corey,
          The Belden 1533R STP cable is very good cable but pretty stiff as you note. Alone, the 1533R cable is tough to use. FWIW, I made a snake with 3 channels of 1533R and 2 channels of Belden 1696A 110ohm AES/EBU cable. The combination of the two types of cables makes the snake flexible enough for mobile use.

JP

[Chris Clark]

Thank you to everyone who has contributed knowledge to this thread.  Please forgive if this is an ignorant question.

I am considering purchasing an x32 and 2 s16s. They will be installed in a room with cat5 cable permanently installed.  The issue I have is that I do not know if they are UTP or STP, as it was installed before my tenure.  Originally the system was designed for an avid profile system.  Our needs in that room have changed drastically, and we are looking to downgrade to a smaller, simpler system, something our high school volunteers can handle more easily. 

My question is how can I tell if I have UTP or STP cat5.  The cable runs to wall mounted brackets.  There are ethercon connectors on the receptacles.  Is there a better solution than ordering the system and crossing my fingers?  Any information is greatly appreciated.

Here's a comparison of the two. UTP there will be no foil shield and the only extra thing you might have besides the twisted pairs might be a "rip cord" used to break the outer jacket down (I don't know the technical term). STP will have a foil shield and drain wire that is used to connect to the metal casing of the STP ends.

I would hazard a guess it is UTP, STP is rarely specified for install unless a specific need is called for, such as this instance where you have almost unequivocal real-world use AND specification by the manufacturer.  Best bet is to pull the plate off as Corey mentioned to check the wire itself. If it is not STP I would strongly recommend repulling the wire with STP. If it is in conduit this should be fairly painless, even if it is not in conduit I can think of very few reasons why the cable should've been stabled to structure at any point in the run so you should still be able to pull new STP in while pulling the old UTP out.

The question I have is if it is installed in metal conduit would you get the same performance if you were to tie the ethercon jack to the conduit on each end and then just use Shielded twisted pair wire from these jacks to your devices?

Based on the numerous results we've gotten from great testers like Dan and others, I would guess even using EMT end to end would not provide the same performance as true STP, and personally I would not recommend attempting it unless you want to go back later and still pull STP through it. I'm thinking the STP benefit has something to do with the proximity of the shield to the transmitting pairs, additionally, EMT is not usually a perfect connection end-to-end, threaded rigid might have a better chance but still unlikely.

[Kevin Maxwell]

Is all of the STP stuff foil shield only or is there any braided or wrapped shield stuff available?

[Corey Scogin]

Is all of the STP stuff foil shield only or is there and braided or wrapped shield stuff available?

Yes, there are other shield types.  The TMB ProPlex has a braided shield.

[Joe Sanborn]

Dear Guys,

We are in the process of developing a specific Ethercon cable for our digital consoles made for us by Neutrik. It will be built to the proper specification and also be quite affordable.  We will follow up when the cable is available via our distributors.

Best Regards,
Joe Sanborn
Senior Manager, Marketing Communications
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

[James A. Griffin]

We are in the process of developing a specific Ethercon cable for our digital consoles made for us by Neutrik. It will be built to the proper specification and also be quite affordable.  We will follow up when the cable is available via our distributors.

Best Regards,
Joe Sanborn
Senior Manager, Marketing Communications
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

Thanks, Joe!

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