There's likely a better way to do this, but yeah, "works for me" is my motto. 😂

Nice!

LOL. Glad that worked for you!

Haha. I wanna see them! :)

I have learned since this video that stranded conductors require more time to build 😂 Good skill to have tho. It’s nice to be able to make your own custom cables.

Haha Thanks! Read through the comments. Someone else uses the removed sheath to do the same thing. I'll need to try that one, but then I can't use my drill. 😂

Thanks Teddy!

LOL. Yeah, another learning curve. Once you've done a few hundred, you get the hang of it.

Yeah, tried that. Got mad. Threw stuff. Said bad things. Developed my method. Much happier now. 😂

Also, cut them on the diagonal, so that the first one on one side is longest, with the shortest on the other side. That way you're only fussing with one wire at a time.

Thanks! Someone else mentioned that. I just cut the darn thing off. I'll try it next time I build one although someone else said I'm removing too much in the first place so gotta try that too. :)

Thanks!

Thanks! You might be able to make a cool prop out of the old ones. 😂

Thanks!

FYI, there's probably a better technique than this (more efficient anyway), but it works for me and keeps me from throwing things in anger. 😂

@@CanispaterChristmas that’s all a guy can ask for

Good luck! Lemme know how it goes.

Do it properly and use solid cable for the runs between keystone jacks. Buy patch cords as making your own these days is a waste of time and effort.

LOL!

@@CanispaterChristmas Wish I hadn't bought bulk non-pass through connections! OH well I only do it for myself, not as a business!

Haha. Some of the comments have tips for those.

@@CanispaterChristmas Thanks.

LOL! Thanks! Professionals have told me this isn't the way to do it, but it works for me.

Thanks! Great advice!

Agreed with all the above. Stranded wire allows the plug prongs to go between the wires when crimping. With solid wire, it depends on the connectors. Some state they support both solid and stranded wire and use a different crimping tooth pattern. If they are built for stranded, then they may be hit or miss on the solid wire, or may even break the wire. Also, CAT6 does not always have that inner spline, but it helps to avoid kinks. The spline separates the wires for reduced crosstalk, but I believe they are able to keep crosstalk within spec without it by twisting the entire set of 8 wires as a whole in addition to the pairs being twisted. True that CAT6 supports the same speed as 5e but it has 2.5x the bandwidth potential.

WOW! That seems painful! I think I’d prefer attaching alligator clamps to my manb00bs and cranking it up to max. 😂

@@CanispaterChristmas passthrough ones are for cheaters.

LOL! Hey, whatever gets the job done. 😂

Pass-thru is so kew. Don't know if I even made cables before then. lol

👍

Thanks Ian!

I mounted my box to a piece of half-inch PVC and hammered a piece of rebar into the ground. Just needs to be off the ground a little so rain won’t get into it.

I don't have one. The cables generally work or they don't. This is not necessarily the "correct" way to do it, but it works for me 99% of the time. Pro cable builders will say I'm doing it wrong. Others make fun of me for using pass-thru shells. Pfft. 😂

Haha. Tis that time of year! :)

Thanks! Well, there's a lot of factors involved in all that. I use unshielded CAT5e because that's what I started with and it still works for my display - the lights blink when they are supposed to. I tend to build with the best that I can afford at the time. I don't know that CAT6 would perform any better right now, but may in the future. I also think outdoor cable would last longer. Then again, you may change your entire display and need new cables anyway. Probably not the answer you were looking for. 😂

I'll try it, but then I can't use my drill. 😂 Interesting. Not disagreeing, but all my CAT6 has a core. None of my CAT5 has one. I may have some plenum cable I can check, but can't remember if that was CAT5 or 6.

@@CanispaterChristmas I have never seen any Ethernet cable, CAT5 or 6 that wasn't solid copper. However, I believe there is some cheap stuff that's copper plated aluminum.

Not sure I totally understand your question but yes, the standard should be followed for success.

I'm not familiar with them, but from what I read, they are more for people that don't want to spend time messing with lights. 😂 I have a set of lights around my garage I forgot to take down, but they still work so I would lean toward the "not worth it" column, but that's totally a personal decision. I don't know if someone has hacked them to work with our stuff - it's probably more of a question for the Facebook forum. I guess it also depends on how much sun you get where you are. Strong sunlight tends to yellow the pixels we use. They still work fine, but develop a haze/cloudiness in the epoxy (people have left their lights out all year in the hobby too and the trim may help protect them a little). I accidentally left a string out for a year and we get intense sun here. They yellowed, but I still use them. It really depends on what you want to do and if you think playing with lights is something you'd enjoy. There is a steep learning curve to what we do, but we can usually talk people through it and once you get the hang of it, adding to it next year is much easier.

I generally use the largest wire I have on hand, but it really boils down to how many pixels you are feeding and can the wiring handle it. On an F16 where pixels are concentrated, I'd go with the largest wire the controller accepts which I believe is 10awg. In all cases, keep the power supply wires as short as possible (a foot or less) to keep voltage drop at a minimum. Differential receivers can have their own power supply too, but there are only 4-ports to deal with. You will get a feel for this with experience, but anytime you add something, I'd check the power supply wires a few times during the first show to make sure they aren't overheating. Also, check everything after the first show to make sure nothing melted. You can do that the next day when there is light out. There are current-handling wire gauge charts online that should help. Rule-of-thumb is to use 0.06 amps per pixel for 100% white to estimate what the max current draw could be, but check your pixel specs (or measure them) to see what they actually pull.

@@CanispaterChristmas Thank you very much for clearing this up for me .

Hope it helps.

kzfaq.info

That one?

Too many tools? Is that even possible? 😂 No doubt this is an inefficient way to do it, but it has cut down on my frustrations and gives me excellent results. If you can have someone video you making one close up & post it to KZfaq, I’d be happy to link to it in the description.

@@CanispaterChristmas I'll see what I can do, I just recently had my leg amputated, so right now I'm in the healing process. As soon as I can get back on my feet I will see about making a video for you.

Wow! Sorry to hear about the leg Chris. Heal quickly my friend.

@@CanispaterChristmas Thank you, I hope it goes quickly.

@@CanispaterChristmas One tool you forgot to mention is a continuity tester, which tells you if the connections are good.

LOL! No, but I have a troubleshooting method. If it doesn't work, I'll try it on something that does. 😂

@@CanispaterChristmas 🤣🤣

Mr. GooglePants doesn't know that one. 😂

haha