RS485 Hub??

[pmcpa]

Anyone have a good source for an RS485 Hub? I know there was talk of a DIY one, last year....

Here's what I'm doing, I have Controllers Left Side, and Controllers Right Side. Right now Rs485 goes to left, then loops back thru the house, to the right side. Would be much easier to have the hub in the basement, right after the PC, and split it. Thoughts?

[oldcqr]

I'm not sure you can do that. Controllers eat channels sequentially, so they need to be in a straight line (daisy chained).

Instead, why not go with another Serial Port, and another RS232 to RS485? on the computer? You'd then have 2 separate networks, and the serial port/rs485 adapter are usually cheaper than a hub. Run 1 network to one side, the other to the other.

[pmcpa]

AL boxes don't care what order they are plugged in, so I don't think that is an issue.

Thought about the dual adapters.... LSP has a hard enough time working with one... trying not to anger it

[oldcqr]

AH.. Sorry.. AL equipment. I thought we were talking about DIY stuff.
AH.. Sorry.. LSP software. I thought we were talking about Vixen.

:rolleyes:

[pmcpa]

Yes... Vixen might be in my future very soon.

[dirknerkle]

if you need only two separate lines, you can use an inexpensive 8-line telephone "Y" adapter off of an RJ45 jack. Then take one line out the left side, and the other out the right side. You'd have to use start address firmware on the right side so that the first controller over there starts with the proper channel, after which the daisy chain takes care of it from there.

[pmcpa]

that would work, I've heard there are some issues with that.

I would also like status lights on it.... that way I can see data while troubleshooting in the basement, where I can't see the lights!

[dirknerkle]

that would work, I've heard there are some issues with that.

I would also like status lights on it.... that way I can see data while troubleshooting in the basement, where I can't see the lights!

Why not take the serial section off of an SS board, tie it to 5vdc power and a couple LEDs and use that to regenerate the RS485 signal to the wire? Ought to be a piece of cake. You'd just make two of them -- one for the left side of the house; one for the right.

[pmcpa]

true.... never thought of that!

[ErnieHorning]

Why not take the serial section off of an SS board...Definitely the DIY way. Anything becomes a hammer if you hold it right.

[wwwgator]

PMCPA is correct, the boxes dont care what order they are in, as long as the start adddress are set correctly, and yes, you can overlap addresses.
(example: box 1 ch1-16 , box 2 ch 10-26 the last six on box one (not used) react the same as the first 6 on box 2 hence no wasted channels)

here is a pdf I got from another site

hope this helps,

[dirknerkle]

Here's an RS-485 repeater I made a couple years ago based on the Renard SS controller's serial I/O section. It'll take RS232 or RS485, has JP1 and JP2, just like the SS board... uses a terminal block instead of a DB9 for RS232 input (I got lazy). PCB file is in Express PCB format. Requires +5vdc It shouldn't be too hard to add a couple LEDs to this for your status indicators... but you're on your own...

[Matt_Edwards]

DMX splitters are really useful for just your sort of application. with one universe last year, I still used 2 splitters to make cabling easier.

If you use the cct attached by wwwgator, just make sure it is close to the RS485 port and not a lot of other items connected to the splitter input. I haven't had an issue with it, some complained it would cause problems under certain circumstances.

[michaelc]

Why not just use RPM's DMX splitter? I added one and it works great. I branch off to a LOR network and 2 RENARD DMX networks using a single USB-DMX dongle (also RPM's).

http://www.shop.martinxmas.com/product.php?id_product=16
http://www.shop.martinxmas.com/product.php?id_product=42

or just the RS485 splitter:
http://www.doityourselfchristmas.com/wiki/index.php?title=RS485_Splitter

the other possibility that I'll be using next year is the E1.31 to DMX bridge
http://www.shop.martinxmas.com/product.php?id_product=43

Depending on your configuration, I think any/all of these could be used.

[mschell]

The only issue with using either RPM's or RJ's DMX splitter is that they expect the data lines of the RS485 to be on pins 1 and 2. Renard and LOR expect the data to be on pins 4 and 5 of the RJ45 (but reversed between LOR and Renard).

As long as you build your cables correctly, all this should work.

And as has been mentioned already, AL and LOR have the ability to address their boards with switches, and don't care if the line is split or sequential. Renard, by default, without start address firmware, is sensitive to how you connect them together. Therefore, if you use wireless or a splitter, you need to be sure you use start address firmware or separate dongles/transmitters.