Extension for Relay Box?

[Neogenesis]

Hello,

Sorry for the the questions as of late, but I'm a potential buyer thinking though how I would lay the system out before I actually pull the trigger.

My setup:
180g display tank upstairs
125g sump in the basement
40g frag tank in the basement
20g frag tank in the basement

My question is this. I would like to keep the controller in my fish room in the basement with 1 relay box to run equipment down there, but will eventually like another under the display tank to dim lights run pumps etc etc approx 30ft away.

Is this possible with this controller and what cable would be used to do it, and what is the approx cost associated with it if it's not a "industry" standard cable. By that I mean a standard db9 or something similar.

Thanks,

Scott

[rimai]

You can extend the communication cable pretty easy. It is a SVGA type of cable. The only requirement is that they have to have all 14 pins connected from one side to another. Some cheaper or less quality version of SVGA cable only carry some and not all 14.

[Neogenesis]

Now that I've got my RA, and looking at my installation a bit more, I'm wondering if there may be a easier and cheaper solution to hooking up a remote relay box. Could I use a VGA to Screw terminal adapter, and then use CAT5 to run the 40 feet or so to my DT upstairs, then converting back to VGA? It would be a lot easier to pull CAT5 vs a VGA cable.

I'm just not sure if the signal would travel that far, and if Cat 5 can handle the voltages.

Thoughts?

Scott

[rimai]

Are you talking on the main relay box or an expansion relay box?

[Neogenesis]

I'm talking about the vga connection between the relay expansion module and the relay expansion box.

Thanks,

Scott

[rimai]

If you use cat5, you will only be able to control 7 sockets.
Cat5 only has 8 wires. You can extend the ground and 7 sockets, but you will need to crimp or solder your own svga connector in each end.

[Neogenesis]

I was actually going to pull 2 lines so I have full control, and use a VGA to screw terminal adapter, no crimping or soldering needed. But I'm glad to hear that it is possible. Something like this, but with the correct gender. http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/D ... -/83-12821

[rimai]

Yeah, you can do that
That would work just fine.

[binder]

The possibilities appear to be "endless" with this controller. I'm always amazed at the new things people come up with. This just makes me even more happy to be a contributor to this kick a$$ controller.

[Mike S]

I'm trying to move my second relay about 15 feet from the relay expansion box. I picked up this vga cable which has 15 pins but it doesn't work http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DG ... UTF8&psc=1. I swapped back to the original cable and confirmed that the relay box is working fine. I noticed in this thread that the recommendation is for a svga cable. Is there any difference? Trying to determine if I have a bad cable or the wrong cable. Thanks.

[rimai]

It's a svga or vga... It doesn't matter.
As long as the cable has all 15 pins inside.
Some cables are manufactured with less wires to cut in cost.

[Mike S]

Thanks Roberto, it has 15 pins so it's probably just a bad cable. I'll look for another one.

[rimai]

They are all going to have 15pins... Internally, some of those pins may be connected together or not even connected at all.
The cable we need is the cable that will have all pins connected. Unfortunately there is no visual clue to tell if the cable has all wires or not.

[Mike S]

Does the cable need to have 14 or 15 pins? I noticed on page 1 that you said 14 pins. I got another cable today and although it was advertised as 15 pins it only had 14. I tried it anyway and to my surprise all of the ports were on. Success... Not so fast. I then tried to toggle the ports using the android app and a few of them wouldn't toggle on and off. Could that be caused by the missing pin? These are ports that control some of my t5 lamps. I'm waiting to see if they go off in an hour.

[Mike S]

So the lights on the two ports that I couldnt toggle off with the android app have been turning on and off with the light cycle. There is something odd going on. Although ports 2 & 4 on the expansion relay wont toggle off when they are scheduled to be on through the light cycle, I can toggle them on and off once the light cycle turns them off. To compound the strange behaviour they both turn on and off together. In other words if I toggle port 2, port 4 also switches and the reverse holds true. Confused yet? Could this be an issue with 14 pin cable?

All four ports (1 - 4) are also turning off at the same time even though I set up two to come on 30 minutes sooner than the others. I needed to double check my code on that one.

[Sacohen]

As Roberto said in the 2 posts previous to yours, it needs to be a 15 pin cable. If yours is 14 pins as you say here..

Could this be an issue with 14 pin cable? .

That is probably your problem.

Get a true 15 pin cable that has 15 wires all the way thru and you should be fine.

[Mike S]

Thanks the reason im asking is because it was stated in earlier in this post that 14 pins were needed but then later that it was 15. I'd like to try to pin (no pun intended) down the problem before I blow another $20 on a cable. My next step will be to hunt down the connectors to make on myself.

[lnevo]

I think it was an error. 15 pins. Should be advertised as SVGA not VGA.

Does it work right with stock cable?

[rimai]

Here is the thing.... Pin 9 is unconnected. That's why we only use 14 pins.
But there are some other cables too that although have all 14 pins connected, they also cut corners and solder some of them together because they assume that the cable is going to carry signals with the same potential, so they connect all GND wires together.
I think the problem you are seeing is that some of your wires are connected together internally.
One way to know for sure is to use a meter to test each pin for conductivity...

[Mike S]

I havent corfirmed that it will toggle those ports with the stock cable. I just confirmed that they powered up when I had the issue with the first cable. Good idea ill try the stock cable this weekend to help troubleshoot it. Thanks!