RDM repeater

[sblair]

Keep in mind too that the TDR testing ESTA did as part of qualifying CAT5 cabling years ago shows that there is significant discontinuities caused by each connector, so ultimately this will be a practical limit far before the theoretical driver chip limit.

I proved it in our QC labs at HES many times by connecting (20) 5 foot cables together and you'd get tons of reflections compared to just using a single cable 100 foot cable.

[majid]

Originally Posted by sblair

I proved it in our QC labs at HES many times by connecting (20) 5 foot cables together and you'd get tons of reflections compared to just using a single cable 100 foot cable.

Thanks for comments Scott.
According to your test results, our 32 fixtures chain is already fragile more due to 32 sockets connection rather than unit loads.

Originally Posted by ericthegeek

Yes, it's still a good idea to use repeaters. Connecting all 170 of them on a single segment would be a terrible idea. Limiting each segment to about 32 devices is still a good rule of thumb for the reasons that Scott mentioned. But you can go higher under certain conditions (good cable, excellent connectors, etc.).

Exactly, I beleive even a blind repeater (without signal regeneration) would be useful to renew signal and reduce signal reflection which Scott mentioned.

Originally Posted by ericthegeek

I'm counting individual contacts. 170 devices with 3 wires each (Data+, Data-, and Common) = 510 connections.

You are right, I got it now!

Originally Posted by ericthegeek

I believe the one I worked on years ago is still available. I don't like to promote products here so please contact me outside the forum.

Sure, I will contact you for more details soon
Thanks.

[sblair]

Originally Posted by majid

Thanks for comments Scott.
According to your test results, our 32 fixtures chain is already fragile more due to 32 sockets connection rather than unit loads.

Yes, this has always been my belief from past experiences coupled with the TDR tests ESTA did many years ago studying the effects of difference cables types and connections.

Those studies can be found here: https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/working_gro...XoverCat5.html