Industrial

To ensure the best video resolution, it’s important to match your video extension device with a compatible grade of cable. Some multimedia extenders are not designed to transmit video across cable that’s higher than CAT5. In fact, with these extenders, the higher-grade cable may actually degrade video.

The problem is with the cable twists of CAT5e and CAT6 cables. To reduce signaling crosstalk, these higher-grade cables have tighter twists—and more of them—than CAT5 cable does. For this reason, the wire distance that an electrical signal has to travel is different for each pair. This doesn’t normally cause a problem with data, but if you’re sending higher-resolution analog video signals across long cables, you may see color separation caused by the video signals arriving at different times.

To avoid this, you could use only the lower-grade cable with the extenders. But what if you already have CAT5e or higher cable installed in your building, or you simply want the latest and greatest copper wiring? Order an extender receiver that features built-in skew compensation so it can work properly with higher cable grades at longer distances.

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Local multiplexors extend the distance between computers and terminals or printers that are connected via customer-installed or telco-supplied cable.

Like line drivers, local multiplexors extend RS-232 communications and must be used in pairs. The difference between the two is that multiplexors merge several transmissions into one transmission over a single channel; line drivers generally transmit data over a single channel.

Local multiplexors operate over ordinary twisted-pair copper cable or fiber optic cable. Copper cable is typically used within buildings while fiber optic cable is the most common choice for connecting buildings in a campus environment. For in-building connections, copper cable is widely used because it’s comparatively inexpensive and easy to install. Your building might even have unshielded twisted-pair cable already in place.

The twisted-pair copper cable used for local multiplexors is run throughout buildings from the wallplates of each office or work area to a central wiring closet within the building. Wiring closets have centrally located punchdown blocks where all cables from the building are terminated. That way, when a connection needs to be changed or a new one needs to be made within the building, wiring can be easily rerouted on the punchdown blocks.

Selecting a local multiplexor.
When selecting a local multiplexor, keep in mind that copper-based multiplexors come in a vast array of types. You’ll find multiplexors available with RJ-11, RJ-45, or terminal block connections for your in-house wiring and with RS-232 connections for your computer equipment. All these multiplexors can be used to link a local device to a remote device within a building.