since I purchased my first 2 controllers through this sale I still need cat 5 cable and the adapter. Can I purchace the adapter seperate on the LOR website? Also, what is the difference between booted and unbooted cat 5 cable? I noticed that it is cheaper to purchace it here than in a store. If I do purchase it from a store am I able to use the ends that come on it or does LOR require special ones?
And if you're planning to add more controllers in the future, spaced around your yard, you might want to invest in a longer roll (like 200') of CAT5 cable, a bunch of RJ45 connectors, and an RJ45 tool. You can find this stuff on the net, although the shipping charges may be high.
____________________ LOR user since 2007
88 Channels (32 are for my neighbors' lights.)
I was under the impression that once I hooked up my first controller with CAT5 I could use telephone wire?
I forgot the other half of my post lol.
As far as the starter package goes I was under the impression that I was unable to use that with this sale. I am not planning on purchacing anymore controllers until next year.
Last edited on Sun Feb 24th, 2008 05:14 am by JimCanfield
JimCanfield wrote: I was under the impression that once I hooked up my first controller with CAT5 I could use telephone wire?
Yes, of course, I forgot about the telephone wire. I'm using Cat5 for several reasons, including its extended range, that most Cat5 will do better outdoors than most telephone cable, and that it has some extra pairs that I'm using for speakers.
____________________ LOR user since 2007
88 Channels (32 are for my neighbors' lights.)
JimCanfield wrote: I was under the impression that once I hooked up my first controller with CAT5 I could use telephone wire?
You can use Cat5 or phone (Cat3) anywhere in the "netowrk"; I perfer Cat5 easier and more cost efficent.
JimCanfield wrote: As far as the starter package goes I was under the impression that I was unable to use that with this sale. I am not planning on purchacing anymore controllers until next year.
You could buy anything in the store but only the OC Boards were on sale.
hbomb341 wrote: You can use Cat5 or phone (Cat3) anywhere in the "netowrk"; I perfer Cat5 easier and more cost efficent.
Actually, it appears that LOR will work with "Silver Satin" or flat parallel phone cord, which is not even up to cat 3 standards. Cat 3 is also twisted pair cable, just not as twisted, nor as accurately twisted as cat5... (purely for informational value)
I'm also a big believer in Cat 5 for LOR. If you make your own cat 5 cables, I strongly recommend a test tool like this:
While it does not do the exhaustive suite of tests that the Fluke DSP-4300 that I normally use does, we have found it to be a solid test tool for $50...
Also remember that solid wire cat 5 is not suitable for use where it will not be protected from repeated bending. Solid wire is great in the walls, or other protected places, but out in the yard it should be stranded wire suitable for patch cables.
One more thought.. If you are not using cat5, it is probably much more important to not run the power and data cables near each other. I had no problems with over 200 feet of cat5 LOR control cable bundled with 17 12/3 extension cords last year. I doubt it would have worked with phone cable..
You can still order the starter package at anytime. If you order it now the shipping charges can be combined with your controller order so the starter package will be pretty much free to ship.
If you order now, send and email to orders@lightorama.com and ask that the orders be combinded (include the order numbers). If you use the same credit card for both orders they will be linked in the store and easier for the order people to combine them.
I did run phone cable last year, with the first run being 75' from controller one to two, and ran it next to the extension cords and had no problem. Also easy to fit it into the CTBPC16 box. Maybe just lucky.
I used phone wire between all ten of my controllers last year with no problems. Used cat5e from the PC to the first controller. Everything worked flawlessly.
Phone cable works pretty good! In my own display I use phone cable. I think that the biggest issues with phone cable are that it is more flimsy than the cat5 and the connector does not fit as well in the RJ45 connector in the controller.
We see more customer problems with phone cable than with cat5 (normalized by usage). Not exactly sure why but it seems that the phone cables are just not as reliable as the cat5. This is most likely for a number of reasons. So when asked I tell people to go with cat5 because that reduces the risk of them having a problem. A problem with the communications can be very frustrating because one bad connector can affect the entire network and it is difficult to pinpoint the problem.
Sounds like I should consider switching to Cat5 for this season since I'm doubling the number of controllers, and they will be more spread out than in 2007. However, if it is good enough for Dan, I may try it one more year.
