Cat5e Cable

[RichardS]

Thanks to all for responses. Job done, and it all works beautifully. I can now close my office window again 'cos the 15m patch lead from the loft isn't obstructing it any more...

Stefek - I found one of your earlier posts about making up patch leads (1st

2nd and 3rd rule is don't do it!) & I reckon on balance that's about right. You're all correct - theyre cheap as chips really, and examining my motives further I reckon it was just my instinct to try and put the materials overrun to some good use.

As it is I'll hang on to it (of course), 'cos now I've got this network installation fever again you never know where the cat5 will end up....

[tony sayer]

Yes it is about right unless like many crimping jobs you have the "Correct" crimps and the correct tool for the crimp job. We have used crimped BNC connectors for some years before we invested in the correct tools. Weren't cheap, but have lasted and not ONE failure:))

[Stefek Zaba]

That's certainly the basic source of the limit; but the more attenuated the signal, the worse the signal-to-noise ratio (obviously)...

[Stefek Zaba]

Among the places it ends up in Zaba-land is: running in a slit trench of maybe 5cm depth a couple-o-hundred yards for kids to do Morse code with during a 2-week camp - the 'transceivers' I knocked up were fitted with Cat5 sockets, so runs of arbitratry distance can be done with straight-thru patchcords (single-transistor amp on each one so the 'remote' signal is only a control signal); Morse is much more "real" if you're not line-of-sight and within shouting distance. Even in the house I've had one lot upstairs and the others in the opposite corner downstairs to provide the requisite 'isolation'.

The Cat5 cabling here now has Ethernet, ISDN, ADSL (i.e. pre-filter phone line) and post-filter voice-only phonelines running on it. During the Christmas break, I'll finally get round to wiring up the little controller boxes which'll supply a couple of hours' power to the ADSL box (actually an old Ethernet hub connecting the firewall machine's outgoing port to the ADSL box) and have a couple of status lights and a 'time about to expire' buzzer - and that too will plug in to one of the Cat5 ports. Handy stuff, this structured wiring ;-)

Stefek