Just got one in for a project that's going in in a few weeks. I didn't read that it used cat5 and that the cat 5 has a limit of 30'. I don't have cat5 going to the location and it is probably 100'. I do however have a a cable that consists of 12 bundles of 22/2.

Does anyone know if this distance limit is only because of the cat 5? Can I come out of the power supply directly to the 22/2 (or doubled up 22/2) and then rig it at the end of the iPort?


Thanks

I would never recommend that.

"But"

I can say I have seen it done using 16/2 without any problems. 

Install the Balanced Audio and RS-232 Circuit Card and run it 500 feet..

[Link: iportmusic.com]

Page 13

Just saying

CI

Pretty sure hes talking about the ipad dock.... It just needs power...... There are no balanced boards or audio outputs....

Just saying.....

Thats what i'm talkin about.

What I really need to do is hook it up and measure what the voltage is out of the main power board, hook it up to 100' of cat 5 vs 30' of cat 5 and see what i have, I assume that the distance is directly related to the voltage drop of DC over a distance of cat 5.

Whoops...IPAD yep....didnt read it very carefully...

Nevermind....

You can always compensate for voltage drop across the line. I dont know off hand what voltage the dock uses, but ohms law is pretty consistent. Just use a higher voltage power supply to compensate if theres too much loss.

Remember that you have to have the iPad connected and lit up using the most power that it can in order to measure the voltage drop. Have the WiFi on uploading something, the screen as bright as possible, and I don't know what else, to draw maximum current.

Two or three pairs of the 22/2 should do it, but regardless, you'll have to try it out.

What, other than operating or recharging DC voltage, goes in or out of that dock?

All it does is charge. It uses the brown pairs of the cat 5, thats all.

Well, not really. You've got a definition of its maximum CAT5 distance. You should, right now, look up on the internet and download a chart of wire gauges so you can, any time, open that on your job laptop and figure this stuff out. Such a chart will show size, diameter, cross sectional area, but most importantly ohms per thousand feet. That chart should be near your chart of TV channel frequencies....


That part is totally right on. But I'll do the figgerin' for ya because I have had a file in my \Tech Info directory for about five years that tells me:

24 gauge wire (you DO have to know that CAT5 is 24 gauge) has a resistance of 25.67 ohms per 1000 feet.
22 gauge has 16.14 ohms per thousand feet.
You can run 22 gauge 25.67/16.14 = 1.59 times as far as 24 gauge wire.

The maximum 24 gauge run is 30 feet. One 22 gauge can go 47.7 feet. Doubling up the 22 gauge, you can go 95.4 feet. Tripling up, you can go 143 feet.

Now, you may wonder why I'm dealing with resistance but ignoring the fact that there are two conductors, one for hot, one for not. Well, since there are two conductors of 24 gauge or two conductors of 22 gauge, we can compare lengths directly. We're not interested in the actual resistance of the wire, just the comparative lengths based on the comparative resistances per thousand feet.

Bothering to figure out the exact resistance is similar to what one really anal technician of mine once did. I handed him a short stub of 2x4 that I was using as a spacer and told him that I needed another piece of wood that long. He measured its length to the 32nd of an inch, wrote it down, then measured out that distance on another piece of wood. All he needed to do was put one piece of wood on top of the other and scribe a line along the edge. Don't calculate or measure things that don't matter.

Novel idea, call tech support.

Ken at iPort said its only a matter of wire gauge that affects the distance. He said that 18ga will let me go 100 ft.

Thanks all.

Did anyone try this more then 30ft?

Came across a client where ALL they have is two cat5 at the location. Its about 100ft to rack end.