AxLink Cable in Australia
cheekytigerapps
Posts: 37
Hi All (and Aussie Users),
I have been having an interesting time comprehending some information that AMX Australia has been telling me which I am believing to be false.
Firstly, I asked them If it is possible to purchase a box/roll of AxLink cable for some upcoming jobs and they told me that they do not stock AxLink as it is not required and instead just use Cat5 cable.
Based on the research I have done, there is a significant difference between AxLink and Cat5, and a majority of research that i have read states that AxLink (and even Cresnet) over Cat5 will not work.
I am wondering firstly if you can use Cat5 cable.
Also I am wondering if any one knows where I can purchase AxLink cable in Australia or if their is an international retailer that will ship to Australia.
I know Liberty Cable (http://www.libertycable.com/products/Liberty-Wire-and-Cable/AXLINK-P/AMX-systems-Universal-Control-22-AWG-1-pair-shielded-and-18-AWG-2-conductor-composite-plenum-cable) sell it but they will not ship to Australia.
I have been having an interesting time comprehending some information that AMX Australia has been telling me which I am believing to be false.
Firstly, I asked them If it is possible to purchase a box/roll of AxLink cable for some upcoming jobs and they told me that they do not stock AxLink as it is not required and instead just use Cat5 cable.
Based on the research I have done, there is a significant difference between AxLink and Cat5, and a majority of research that i have read states that AxLink (and even Cresnet) over Cat5 will not work.
I am wondering firstly if you can use Cat5 cable.
Also I am wondering if any one knows where I can purchase AxLink cable in Australia or if their is an international retailer that will ship to Australia.
I know Liberty Cable (http://www.libertycable.com/products/Liberty-Wire-and-Cable/AXLINK-P/AMX-systems-Universal-Control-22-AWG-1-pair-shielded-and-18-AWG-2-conductor-composite-plenum-cable) sell it but they will not ship to Australia.
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Comments
Please read this: Axlink Wiring considerations
You can use any cable with an 18 AWG pair for power and a 22 AWG STP for data.
You can use Cat5 although it is 24 AWG unshielded so the maximum distance is reduced from 3000 feet to 1000 feet.
I do not wire Cat5 for Axlink as the document shows, I wire the following:
- Blue White pair into AXP
- Blue into AXM
- Orange White, Green White and Brown White into 12VDC
- Orange, Green and Brown into Ground
I wire this way because it that is the way CBus and Clipsal recommend and it gives 3 conductors for power rather than just 2.
The document also recommends Belden 8102 or Liberty but no specific cable is mentioned.
I used to use Belden years ago but in the last decade it has nearly always been Cat5e because it is so cheap and you can pull plenty of Cat5e cables before the design is complete then use them for whatever is required.
You can buy Belden cable from RS and Elemnent 14 (Farnell) or call them direct, they have an office in Melbourne.
I had some issues in rooms where there are 4+ keypads on the AxLink bus. In those rooms I initially had the keypads daisy-chained, with a total run of around 45m. Changing the topology to star (which reduced the individual runs to each keypad) fixed the issue. I suspect voltage drop was to blame.
We follow this convention:
Pwr = Brown & BrownStripe
Gnd = Green & GreenStripe
Data+ (AXM) = Blue
Data- (AXP) = BlueStripe
Unused = Orange & OrangeStripe
Other tips:
1) Use multi-strand Cat cable. The solid-core conductors will sometimes snap off at the phoenix connectors. I'm not saying solid-core won't work, but multi-strand will save potential headaches.
2) Follow the Cat rules with radius-of-turn (minimum x8 diam, IIRC). Don't kink the cable tight and then straighten it out again.
The folk at AMX Australia give good advice. They have decades of practical knowledge.
Yours,
Roger McLean
Swinburne University.
You can use Lutron Green wire. It's the exact same thing.
http://www.libertycable.com/products/Liberty-Wire-and-Cable/LUTRON-GRN/OEM-systems-lighting-control-for-Lutron-Universal-Control-GRX-CBL-346S-equal-cable
The whole AWG thing has the less than experienced sales drones at the wholesale distributors in Australia constantly scratching their heads, I've found comparison charts before but can't remember where!!
Just contact Middys or L&H and ask for 4 or 6 core security cable - If they sell Olex brand (or compatible) the part number is JSC2WT4CB (4 core 7/020) or JSC5WT4CB (4 CORE 14/020)
I will contact Middys (my favorite Elec Wholesaler) to give it a go. I am going to test a few different cables to see if there are any performance differences that are noticeable.
Stay around the 12.5pf per foot and you will be fine.