ProSoundWeb Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: 1 [2] 3  All   Go Down

Author Topic: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?  (Read 21237 times)

James Feenstra

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 731
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #10 on: April 06, 2012, 12:38:17 PM »

So what is the impedance of a 25' piece of cable? How about a 1000' piece? Which one is 110Ω?

Mac
One crude way to measure characteristic impedance: unroll a good length of line (say 50 feet or more), solder a 120 ohm resistor to the far end, at the close end hook up a pulse generator and and oscilloscope. See if there is any reflection of the pulse rising edge that is observed on the scope after a round trip time delay. If you can see any voltage spike, solder a different value, 110, 130, etc ohm resistor at the far end. When you have soldered the resistor that results in the smallest reflection back to the source, read that resistor value and that IS your characteristic impedance.

this would be a very quick test to determine if a cable is 60 or 110 ohms as you only need a couple resistors

there's also a way to do it with a standard ohm meter, but it escapes me at the moment

googling product id #s will still likely be the fastest, most accurate, way to figure it out, as the manufacturer *should* know what their cable is
Logged
Elevation Audiovisual
www.elevationav.com
Taking your events to the next level

Tony Mitchell

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 31
    • Event PA Hire
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2012, 03:44:41 PM »

Rarely had a problem using audio cable for DMX, never had a problem using DMX cable for audio (other than having to cut off two of the 5 pins and bending the other ones and filing them down...).

...which leans to answering the OP's question re how to ID unmarked cables (count the pins) - assuming you don't have any 5pin audio cables nor any 3pin dmx.
Logged

James Feenstra

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 731
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #12 on: April 08, 2012, 12:40:42 AM »

...which leans to answering the OP's question re how to ID unmarked cables (count the pins) - assuming you don't have any 5pin audio cables nor any 3pin dmx.
Although not technically dmx standard, there are plenty of fixtures that only take 3 pin data, which is likely the reason of the ops question

Also, there are a few older/stereo mics with a 5 pin connection that I've seen
Logged
Elevation Audiovisual
www.elevationav.com
Taking your events to the next level

Micky Basiliere

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 75
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2012, 08:27:14 PM »

Rarely had a problem using audio cable for DMX, never had a problem using DMX cable for audio (other than having to cut off two of the 5 pins and bending the other ones and filing them down...).

+110 !!! me either... the audio not for DMX is BS... never had any sort of an issue
Logged

dave moldover

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 65
    • Dance Jam Productions
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #14 on: April 11, 2012, 11:02:14 AM »

All cables in question have 3 pin XLR connectors. ADJ told me the "ACCUCABLE" branding was used for both DMX and Audio cables but those with Black ends connectors are DMX and Silver Connectors are audio. That helps with a few of them. Many do not have any marks or branding on them.

As far as using the audio for DMX, we have done this successfully too but for the future I want to create separate  groups of cables. Our shows are getting more complex, cable runs longer, each fixture is a critical part of a show. Much of it is going op in the air so cable replacement after it's flown is not possible. I don't want to take extra risks and have a signal cable fail during a show. This is why we want to ID all the cables in the current inventory.

It sounds like there may not be a simple, reliable way to sort the unmarked cables. We'll have to replace the questionable ones. They are mostly shorter pieces.

thanks for the input and suggestions.
Logged

James Feenstra

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 731
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #15 on: April 11, 2012, 11:10:45 AM »

+110 !!! me either... the audio not for DMX is BS... never had any sort of an issue
if you haven't had issues with it you haven't had enough of it in your rig yet.
Logged
Elevation Audiovisual
www.elevationav.com
Taking your events to the next level

DanGlass

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 58
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #16 on: April 12, 2012, 06:58:09 AM »

James, you are 100% correct.  Anyone who hasn't had an issue with using audio cables for DMX simply hasn't used enough of it on a show or is using so much flashing and movement that they haven't noticed. I spent quite a few early years with the mindset that audio cable was just fine until that one bigger show when everything went crazy. 

it can be either a bad cable that causes the issue or simply to much resistance build up, either way you cant find the exact source and your whole show is down the drain.  The cable standards were not setup to sell more cable to simply help prevent issues on shows.  The fact is that if you use audio cable you are rolling the dice every time and probably will be fine 99% of the time but is that 1% percent worth the risk?  The more cable you use the more resistance you create and then next time you add that new light will that be the time it all goes crazy.  Yes,DMX cables are more expensive and most sound companies have more audio cable then they need on a show so it is easy to just dig into that same case and pull out another cable, but for me the cost does not outweigh the benefits.  I know that unless my DMX cable is broken it will work every time, no worries, no guessing, no hesitation.   You cant say that with an audio cable.

If a lighting guy compares all the info and does his research and still decides to use audio cable then I salute you Sir for you are a braver man than I.  Also know that when you finally get the call to step up and do a large scale show for a nice payday and during the middle of your show half of your lighting rig begins to strobe, twitch, and do everything you dont want it to do, the following year when you are at that show please come up to where the lighting console is and introduce yourself to the new guy supplying lights for the event.  He will thank you for the oppourtunity and for making the choices you did, then you can kindly find your seat in the audience with the rest of the paying crowd.
Logged

Mac Kerr

  • Old enough to know better
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7551
  • Audio Plumber
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #17 on: April 12, 2012, 12:57:53 PM »

it can be either a bad cable that causes the issue or simply to much resistance build up, either way you cant find the exact source and your whole show is down the drain.

The issue is not the resistance in the cable, it is the characteristic impedance of the cable. This is the characteristic of the cable that makes all the interfaces between different lengths of cable, and equipment I/O, impedance matching so there are no reflections off a mismatched impedance. At the very high frequencies inherent in DMX data and digital audio this is very important in order to eliminate corrupted data.

Mac
Logged

duane massey

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1727
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #18 on: April 12, 2012, 07:06:12 PM »

(other than having to cut off two of the 5 pins and bending the other ones and filing them down...).

Hopefully it was apparent that this was meant to be humorous?
There is no argument on my part that using the proper cables is a proper thing to do, but in smaller systems where you only have 6-12 fixtures (and cable lengths are short) it becomes less of an issue. Just got back from re-working an existing system with 40-something fixtures on every type of XLR cable imaginable, and changing out the cables was not an option. Non-critical application (flashing lights on a dance floor, basic movers/scanners), but I would have preferred starting from scratch with all new DMX cables.
You can "feel" the difference on the Accucables, the DMX cables have a stiffer shield (maybe braided as opposed to spiral wrap on the audio cables?).
Logged
Duane Massey
Technician, musician, stubborn old guy
Houston, Texas

Micky Basiliere

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 75
Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #19 on: April 12, 2012, 10:39:30 PM »

Hopefully it was apparent that this was meant to be humorous?
There is no argument on my part that using the proper cables is a proper thing to do, but in smaller systems where you only have 6-12 fixtures (and cable lengths are short) it becomes less of an issue. Just got back from re-working an existing system with 40-something fixtures on every type of XLR cable imaginable, and changing out the cables was not an option. Non-critical application (flashing lights on a dance floor, basic movers/scanners), but I would have preferred starting from scratch with all new DMX cables.
You can "feel" the difference on the Accucables, the DMX cables have a stiffer shield (maybe braided as opposed to spiral wrap on the audio cables?).

Accu Cable ??? that's American DJ crap... if i was to spend stupid amounts of money on buying "DMX" cables i would not buy that... the only difference you feel is cheap.
Logged

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: DMX or Audio? how to ID unmarked cables?
« Reply #19 on: April 12, 2012, 10:39:30 PM »


Pages: 1 [2] 3  All   Go Up
 



Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.037 seconds with 24 queries.