joemci Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 I am having a little problem getting my Panasonic plasmas to work via Serial over Cat5E. I can get them to work if I bring the HTC to the room, but running it from the media closet to the TV's over longer distances over Cat5E will not work.The distance is probably about 100 feet. Any thoughts?Thanks.Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvs Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 Hope this helps.Maximum cable lengthsCable length is one of the most discussed items in RS232 world. The standard has a clear answer, the maximum cable length is 50 feet, or the cable length equal to a capacitance of 2500 pF. The latter rule is often forgotten. This means that using a cable with low capacitance allows you to span longer distances without going beyond the limitations of the standard. If for example UTP CAT-5 cable is used with a typical capacitance of 17 pF/ft, the maximum allowed cable length is 147 feet. The cable length mentioned in the standard allows maximum communication speed to occur. If speed is reduced by a factor 2 or 4, the maximum length increases dramatically. Texas Instruments has done some practical experiments years ago at different baud rates to test the maximum allowed cable lengths. Keep in mind, that the RS232 standard was originally developed for 20 kbps. By halving the maximum communication speed, the allowed cable length increases a factor ten! RS232 cable length according to Texas Instruments Baud rate Maximum cable length (ft) 19200 50 9600 500 4800 1000 2400 3000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 3, 2007 Author Share Posted March 3, 2007 Thanks, I saw that on a web site as well, but have no idea why my plasma is not working with C4 as it should work with a long cable since the baud rate is 9600, not 19,200 as is the limit for 50 feet.Anyone have any ideas as to how to get it to work?Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 I doubt the problem you are having is with the distance... I would try reversing pin 2 and 3 on one end of the cable making it a null modem cable. Many times devices may need that. Otherwise check your driver. Where did u get the driver from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slemay Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 I agree with Dan... typicaly people like to hook TX to TX and RX to RX... well - transmit (TX) should be hooked to the receive (RX) on the other end and vice-versa. So try flipping the cables should solve your problem. Can't have two people talk at the same time... doesn't work well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Some devices take straight through cables because the manufacturer specifies... I find it to be 50/50 (unfortunately).. Thats the only thing about working with a device serial for the first time, you never really know if your going to get it to work.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 5, 2007 Author Share Posted March 5, 2007 Thanks. I've tried reversing the TX and RX, but still no luck. The driver is from Control4. I just can't figure out why it will work with a short cable but not with a longer one if cable length is not an issue.I think I will terminate both ends of the cable with RJ45's and then get the converters to DB9. Maybe that will do it!I have seen devices that claim to allow rs232 over long lengths of CAT5, so maybe if all selse fails I will try one of those! I need to find something that works since I have 5 of the same plasmas throughout the house and it would be a shame to control them via IR.Has anyone had any issues (or success) with the Panasonic commercial plasma drivers?Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 5, 2007 Author Share Posted March 5, 2007 I think I solved the problem. I purchased the RJ45 to RS232 converters and used those and it still did not work. I then unplugged the media controller they were hooked to and plugged it back in and waited. Once it reset the RS-232 worked.Very strange that it takes a re-set as if I move the location of the Sony DVD changer from one serial port to another it does not need a reset.At least it works now!Thanks for the help.Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Thats awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 10, 2007 Author Share Posted March 10, 2007 Ok, crazy problems keep coming up with Rs-232 control of these Plasmas. I got one working and it was working reliably for a few days (attached on serial output 1) Then I added another to the same media controller - Serial output 3. I re-set the system and waited about 10 minutes. This is not the Zigbee server. Now, neither TV works via serial. I changed nothing on the first one, didn't even touch the wiring.Ok, I then removed the second Plasma and removed it in the connections on the software so I could go back to the original configuration and now the first plasma still does not work.What is going on here? Anyone from C4 have any idea?Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Re-Identify the MC to the system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 Thanks, I will try that. Should I re-identify all MC's and HTC's to the system? I have it hooked to MC #2 (slave). I have the main one as well and 3 HTC's, or is it just the one that I have the plasma serial output on?Any idea why this happens? I have not had to re-set any of the controllers when adding other serial drivers. It just appears odd that the only ones I am having a problem with are the plasmas.Thanks again for everyone's help!Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 just re-identify the one that isn't working... also check the network status section Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 Thanks. Tried it, does not work still.I am at a loss as to why this would happen as I didn't even touch the cable, just added another plasma to another serial output and it died. now I can't even get it back working after I removed the other one. Driver stayed the same as well.All of my other serial devices (2 autopatch switchers, alarm, dvd switcher, HK receiver) all work fine. I just can not figure out why these plasmas will not work.Any more ideas? Please!Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 I have never been able to successfully get Panasonic Plasmas to work with Rs232.... i would love to see the driver you are using that you got it to work with at one time...I've never been successful at them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Well doesn't that suck! It was working with the driver that Control4 put out, but I don't know how I got it working because I had a hell of a time getting it to work.The only thing I can think of is that the cable length has something to do with it. I will once again bring a HTC out of my rack up to my office where I have the easiest accesable plasma and connect a short cable to it and see if that works. I guess if that does not work I will make an IR driver and open up the case and hide the ir emitter. That is not my first choice as input #2, which is composite in (for Navigator) has an A and B setting, so if you hit the 4 buton while the Navigator scene is on it will go to input 2B (Svideo). I will just have to add another command in there to have it switch first to say PC input then INput 2 so it will then never go to input 2B.I wish I could get this stupid thing figured out! Unfortunately, I already have 3 commercial panasonic plasmas, so I really don't want to scrap them and go with something else just for serial commands.Thanks again. I will let you know what happens.Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Hey Joe... Good luck... please let me know your findings as we integrate very frequently with Panasonic Commercial Panels... I can send you the IR driver we generally use if you like. It doesn't do everything but it switches inputs perfectly (including the A/B) Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Thanks Dan. After hearing that you have had problems with the Panasonic drivers I decided last night to create my own with as few functions as possible. For some reason my dumbed down version was able to get the TV's working. I only have Power On, Power Off, Composite, PC and Component Inputs as controls, but that is really all I need. I will probably add aspect ratios, but otherwise it works on the two plasmas I set up.I have no idea why the ones C4 created do not work. They have way too many input choices that do no belong on the commercial version, but otherwise it looks to me like the codes they used where the same that I used.Anyways, let me know if you want to take a look at what I created. It really is a very simple driver, but at least it works!Thanks again for all your help!Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I would love to see it. Can you post it on the site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joemci Posted March 14, 2007 Author Share Posted March 14, 2007 Sure, here it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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