DMX RJ45 Pin Configs

[fkostyun]

I have a question to put out there / and a possible "standard" to propose - what pins are people using on the RJ45 for the DMX? I searched a bit online, and it seems that the most common (with the exception of Action Lighting) A(+) is RJ45 pin1, and B(-) is RJ45 pin 2, and ground is 7/8. Is this the standard that people are using, or is there a different one that you are using.

As far as I can tell, the proposal "standard" is as listed above, and the document is attached below.

http://www.esta.org/tsp/working_groups/CP/docs/CPmin03-2000w.pdf

Reason I am asking - is that with the renard boards, we ran into a problem where there were different pinouts in use, and ended up causing some problems for comptability, and this way we can all get on the same page early, as I am planning on creating/developing some DMX devices next year.

Also, the ESTA had some information on the testing of DMX over CAT5 cable and there results.

Also, found this: http://www.esta.org/tsp/working_groups/CP/DMXoverCat5.htm

[JEC]

For the RGB Pixels discussed elsewhere on this forum, I didn't use any of the standards out there. I was selfishly interested in cramming as much current as I (safely) could down the wire.

RGB Pixel RJ45 Pinout
----------------

1 - +12v
2 - GND
3 - +12v
4 - GND
5 - GND (XLR5-1)
6 - +12v
7 - DMX (XLR5-2)
8 - DMX (XLR5-3)

So there's a twisted pair of +12, a twisted pair of ground, a twisted pair with +12 AND ground, and a twisted pair of DMX.

For Halloween I used 50' of CAT5 to hit my first lantern, then daisy-chained 16 lanterns with 10' patch cables.

Power supply was surplus from weirdstuff.com, rated at 12V, 18 A continuous.

I also fabricated a handful of circuit boards which contain an RJ45 jack and terminals for power, ground and DMX. It's a convenient way to merge all the signals together in the CAT5 cable.

--------------------------

Edit: It would also be trivial to design a small circuit board with two RJ-45 jacks and a set of power input terminals. One jack would point toward the 'standard' (USITT) world and the other could drive pixels and inject power...

The nice thing about the standards is that you can light a massive stadium concert, using gear from dozens of manufacturers, and be assured that all the different bits will play nicely together.


John

[JEC]

The proposed standard linked to above converts a standard 5 pin XLR conector to CAT5 wiring as follows:

RJ-45 | 5 Pin XLR
-----------------
1 - 3
2 - 2
3 - 5
4 - NC (telephone pin 1)
5 - NC (telephone pin 2)
6 - 4
7 - 1
8 - NC
Shield - NC

[fkostyun]

This is also the USITT reccommended config.

http://www.usitt.org/standards/DMX512_FAQ.html#FAQ_08

[RJ]

Since the dmx plugs are wired standard I wired pin#2 from the dmx plug to #2 on cat5 amd #3 dmx pin to #3 on the rj45 also so
#2 - #2
#3 -#3

But I'm a simple kinda guy.

[DynamoBen]

This is also the USITT reccommended config.

http://www.usitt.org/standards/DMX512_FAQ.html#FAQ_08

The ESTA standard will be adopted by USITT once the process is complete. I plan to use the proposed standard for consistency.

[P. Short]

Since the dmx plugs are wired standard I wired pin#2 from the dmx plug to #2 on cat5 amd #3 dmx pin to #3 on the rj45 also so
#2 - #2
#3 -#3

But I'm a simple kinda guy.

It would be much better if the dmx signal pins 2 and 3 were on the same twisted pair in the CAT5 cable.

--

Phi

[DynamoBen]

It would be much better if the dmx signal pins 2 and 3 were on the same twisted pair in the CAT5 cable.


The primary reason why the standard is laid out the way it is is so the data pairs stay together.

[RJ]

you are correct phil but I like most people make our cables so I put the pairs where I want them. maybe I should have stayed with a standard pair layout but I didn't.

I'm not saying my way is correct I was asked to post the pin out I used since I already had a DMX layout. Since getting the cable wiring correct seems to be one of the biggest problems for most of the new people I lined it up with the xlr connectors pin out to make it as simple as I could for them.

At the time seven months ago I didn't expect compatiblity issues with other people boards as most that design here told me DMX was not the way to go and it was too expensive etc. There where no other DMX DIY boards out here yet and the standards were not set yet so I didn't have anything to follow so I did it my way.

I agree with Frank that a standard should be set and the industry standard is the way to go. Thats one of the reasons I used dmx.

But its too late for my personel stuff I have four designs running using the pin outs I used. I would recommend that if we are to set something we do it fast so I might try to make changes and modifiy the manuals before it's too late for me to do so.

[RJ]

I want to make sure we are all on the same page. Is this the pin out for DMX over Cat5 we plan to use on DIY ?


1 white/orange data 1+
2 orange data 1-
3 white/green data 2+
6 green data 2-
4 blue Not Assigned
5 white/blue Not Assigned
7 white/brown Data Link Common for data 1
8 brown Data Link Common for data 2
Drain

Note 1: Pin numbering and color in accordance with ANSI/TIA/EIA–568 scheme T568B.
Note 2: Pin 8 should be wired as signal common even if pins 3 and 6 are NOT wired so that both conductors 7 and 8 are at equal potential.

[DynamoBen]

Yes this is the standard that we want to go with.

XLR Pin Numbers that correspond to your list
3
2
5
4
Not assigned
Not assigned
1
1