Digital Snake Recommendations

[robbocurry]

Hi folks,
I know this is the GLD portion of the site but since the GLD has been around a little longer than the QU, there might be more people with the info I need;)
I’m looking for a 50m snake to connect my QU24 to my soon to arrive AR2412. Your recommendations and personal experience regarding quality and reliability would be a great help:)
Thanks in anticipation!
Rob

[dcongdon]

We have been very happy with Rapco DURACAT-xNN cables. We have several 300ft duraCat with ethercon connectors on Hannay reels. Great price, very flexible, and so far very durable.

Daniel

[BobWitte]

We had issues with the A&H 120 meter cables. I shortened them by 100 feet and they worked great. so the 80 Meter ones would be fine.

We also used Duracat for a situation where the cable stayed installed and it worked great also.

The ProSoundWeb has some info too:

[BobWitte]

Hmm here is the link. I must of done something wrong in my last message:

https://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,145484.0.html

[Eddy_current]

I have been using 80m of Van Damme Tourcat CAT 5e flexible stranded cable with no problems on my GLD and QU-16 with AR2412. I got the cable from CPC (100m for £133 ish) along with some Ethercon connectors and a cheap reel from Amazon.

Dave.

[robbocurry]

Thanks for the info so far guys:)
I’ve been soldering and making leads for over 30yrs now but I’ve never made up a cable like this. I hadn’t actually thought about making my own, I’d need to buy an ethercon and check some online stuff regarding the shielding etc.
Tbh I gawped at the prices of some of the cables, I can’t justify (in my head) a cat5 cable the price of a mixer!!

[Detonator]

Robbocurry –

Something like this…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/like/290723483314?lpid=82

[robbocurry]

Thanks guys for your advice:)
I’ve been reading about various stranded cables giving problems over 75m, so I emailed this seller asking for a 60m setup and this is what he’s offering – looks good to me at £144 delivered:)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111304177957

BTW Detonator, I have one of those kits already for a Cat5/HDMI interface I never got around to building!

[BobWitte]

Putting on an Ethercon with shielded cable and stranded conductors has been a bit of a challenge for me at first (and still is). Getting those wires in the correct area for the crimp is tricky. Takes patience. The shielded cable with stranded wire makes it a bigger challenge then solid wire…

Anyways, the first one was a mess but worked. The second one I made looks great. I will redo my first one someday soon.

Proper tools are cheap and easy to work with.

[robbocurry]

That was a good link you listed Bob, I spent a few hours trawling it instead of working, playing catchup now:/
I’ll probably make up a few shorter leads myself, it would be good practice in case I need a spare or repair at a gig!
I’d assumed the stranded cables were the best option as they’d be more resilient to handling. Having read all that I have, they seem to be the second choice to solid cores. I guess I’ll have to take the plunge on one or the other……

[Anonymous]

Great reading, thanks! I have only just moved into using cat cable instead of those huge analogue multi scenario’s.
I recently used 3 QU desks and simply bought 3 x 50 lengths of Cat6. Taped them together as a temporary means.
So do I need to be careful about anything here as these cat 6 cables are from the local electronic store..? Any advice would be very helpful. They are stranded…
Thanks. I hope to hear from you.

davyd

[bob274]

For our digital snake I bought a Cat6a shielded STP cable from Monoprice. 100ft for $28. Then I bought some Neutrik Ethercon ends (for preassembled cables) for a few bucks. Carefully cut off the rubber boots from the cable and installed the ends. Whala! Fully shielded Ethercon cable, 100ft for about $40. Better quality than most others.

[ahjeff]

The best RJ45 plugs I’ve used for making my own cables are these ones:

https://uk.farnell.com/hrs-hirose/tm11ap-88p-61/connector-modular-rj45-plug-8p8c/dp/2300426

They are used on a lot of the pre-made EtherCon reels you can buy. One issue with them is that you can’t crimp them in the normal way; you need either the Hirose tool (expensive), or you can use a normal tool backwards (insert the assembly from the other side, which might require modification of the tool).

Cheers

– Jeff, A&H

[robbocurry]

Thanks for the link Jeff, will get some ordered now;)
In the interim I bought an empty cable drum from CPC and a 30m VanDamme Tourcat STP cable for £60 delivered from here:
https://www.surebuyz.com/CustomleadZ/LDZ-0075.html

I didn’t want to spend too much until I got a chance to try Tourcat for myself. I used it Tuesday and Wednesday night for the first time and it worked perfectly. The cable drum from CPC is just ok, it was cheap enough but a bit stiff. CPC displayed a black reel but sent me a yellow one, maybe for health and safety reasons for low light visibility;)

Might buy some Cat6 cable like Bob has suggested for a cheap and cheerful backup.
If I get a 60m cable I think I’ll be covered for all eventualities, the source and type still to be determined.

Once again, thanks for your help and suggestions guys:)

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