temorary DIY ilda cable?

[neskusen]

Right now I need a 30 meter long ilda cable but I don't have time to order and wait for delivery. I do have few long ethernet cables and DB25 (ilda) cable connectors. Can I use two ethernet cables soldered to the DB25 connectors as a temporary solution? That will provide 16 pins, enough for the ilda channels I use. Two cables coming out from one connector is not pretty but would be nice to know if it would work as a temporary solution.

[Datsurb]

Should work fine. I know there are passive converters available using two pcs ethernetcables.
Stanwax has a nice solution for sale.
http://shop.stanwaxlaser.co.uk/ilda-...ptor-347-p.asp

Just to give you an idea that your question is doable.

Espen

[neskusen]

Thanks! I'm actually aware of Stanwax product and was considering buying that instead of a 30 meter ilda cable, because on one side the con is having two cables but on the other hand I will not get myself in the same situation when say I now need 50 meter long ilda cable. But my deadline is too close to get Stanwax's cool adapter or a real ilda cable delivered on time.

The only reason I'm worried is of a thing called impedance. I don't know that much about electronics but I think it's for example ilda cable and ethenet cable wires having different resistance affecting the signal. Maybe the adapter by Stanwax and other for sale have a resistor soldered to each wire or something similar.

[Datsurb]

No, there are no resistors here.

As Stanwax write about the boxes

Quote stanwax "We are often asked about the length of cable run possible with these adaptors - We answer that it depends on the quality of the cable used however we have used them with cheap cat 5 cable in a length of 240 metres with no problems."

[neskusen]

OK. I meant the cables which connect DB25 pins to RJ45 pins inside the box (I'm only guessing that it is a ribbon cable, could be PCB tracks too).

[mixedgas]

OK. I meant the cables which connect DB25 pins to RJ45 pins inside the box (I'm only guessing that it is a ribbon cable, could be PCB tracks too).

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ILDA specs a certain group of cables with a high impedance set of differential pairs. In reality most types of twisted cable or shielded straight cable work just fine, and impedance is not critical at all with the differential signaling used for X-Y and in some cases for RGB.
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Your just dealing with DC to Low Audio... The differential signalizing is used for noise canceling, and it works well, allowing all sorts of cable for X-Y signals...
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Ethernet cable works, so does pairs made of shielded single conductor audio cable, quad conductor shielded audio cable, XLR type cable, most types of twisted pair telephone wire, most audio cables, and every line printer cable on the planet.
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Tech Specs are in one of these three PDFs...
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http://photonlexicon.com/forums/show...ILDA-STANDARDS
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rarely, there might be the odd open cable that will pick up some noise....
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Pangolin's guide to projector wiring is very worth a read, and is free on their web site.
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However the ILDA signaling standard was designed very well.. There is some uncommon, cheap, hardware out there that ignores the standard or uses single ended XY signals and or TTL blanking. If you have that, then you want shielded cable as soon as possible. Thirty meters might be a bit tough on the single ended RGB signals if your projector uses that scheme, so I would test the cable stretched out before I went into the field...
~~
Steve

[kecked]

You could build a buffer to amp up the signal before the long run. It still doesn't account for the rounding of the signal as it passes down the cable. Might work might not depending. just because the ilda standard is 25db doesn't mean you are limited to it. xyrgb ground is 6 conductors so cat 6e cable with the right connection on the end would work provided you have no shutter and run single ended.