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Firewire / RJ45 Patch Bay cable
I recently picked up an old Laird Telemedia LTW-8XFW IEEE 1394 Firewire Patch Bay unit that accepts 6-pin Firewire connections at the rear from media devices and computers, and allows patching at the front with RJ45 cables.
The planned set-up was to route media devices like a Sony GV-D1000 recorder and use it as a converter unit to send analogue SD video to Premiere CS5 on an i7 PC, but the Laird requires a specific RJ45 cable.
Ocean Matrix had their own patch bay variant, and both manufacturers stated their units will not work with standard Cat 5 cables. I haven’t been able to find any documentation that specifies what cable does work – I’ve tried Cat 5E and Cat 6 with no connectivity between the computer and media devices – and both Laird and Ocean Media sold proprietary cables, but didn’t specify what made them unique.
I understand this is an unusual set-up with older gear, but wonder if anyone’s used either the Laird or Ocean Matrix patch bays in the past, and knows what RJ45 cables will work.
Thanks for your time!
Mark R. Hasan
https://www.bigheadamusements.com -
5 Replies
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If I had to take a guess, the typical networking cable may not be set up as a pin-to-pin match as the 568A 10baseT standard didn’t even utilize half the wires so many premade cables didn’t even have them.
You may have to make (or have someone make) you cables that are a full 8 wire straight through configuration. I’d have one made and check it to see if it works first though…
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Video Producer at I-CAR -
Thanks, Tim. The Laird models – the 8 and 16 patch bay units – often show up on Ebay, but rarely have the cables. Makes sense that it must have been some custom wiring that was used, and was never detailed in the product brochures.
If I get a cable made and it works, I’ll be sure to post an update so others in similar situations have a solution.
Cheers, and thanks for the info!
Mark R. Hasan
https://www.bigheadamusements.com -
The missing piece of info maybe that the RJ-45 patch cables need to be crossover cables which are wired differently than straight through. You’ll find the info here:
https://www.home-network-help.com/straight.html
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I would be careful with crossover cables.
They have very specific uses, even in networking. (The only time I’ve seen one used is when creating a peer-to-peer connection between two computers without a hub.)
Since 6 pin FW carries power and getting a 6 pin FW cable plugged in with the connection rotated 180 degrees will fry a 4 pin FW connection on a camera…I’m not certain I’d try a crossover cable before at least trying a straight through pin-out cable.
It’s hard to believe that there is no data on these cables so you could avoid having to guess at it…
TimK,
Director, Consultant
Video Producer at I-CAR -
Hi Tim and Larry –
My Cat 5, 5e and 6 cables are straight cables, with none having any luck.
From what I’ve been reading, with crossover cables, there’s two pairs of wires that are flipped, each dealing with sending & receiving data between two like-minded devices, whereas rollover cables are flipped 180 degrees and are used in more unique applications.
I’ll do some more fishing, and will see if what’s now Laird Telemedia may have some info. Will post their response. Cheers, and many thanks for your suggestions & caveats.
Mark R. Hasan
https://www.bigheadamusements.com
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