Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Luke Robinson

Luke Robinson

Freshman
Jul 6, 2011
87
2
8
Philadelphia PA
www.audio-gods.com
I just placed an order for a shiny new Pro2 and I am looking into my options for the connection to the stage box. I spoke with my rep at CBI and my options involve three strands of the durable cat5 shielded cable loomed up, or the much pricier (about double) Gepco 4 channel cat 5 snake. I am debating.

My question here involves the ether-con barrel connectors. It would make sense for me on 80-90% of my gigs to have about 100-150 ft of snake, but on occasion I need 250, so if i were to purchase a 100 and a 150 run would there a problem in anyone's experience with coupling them. I ask because one person told me that they heard that sometimes the couplers cause issues with the digital snake.

Has anyone had any experience with this, and does anyone have a great supplier for bundled cat5 that they would like to share.

Thanks,
Luke
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Silas Pradetto said:
You will not want couplers or anything that's unpluggable in the middle of the audience.

Just buy the 250 and put it in a trunk in such a way that you don't have to uncoil it all if you don't need it all.
Click to expand...

I agree. 250' is very manageable.

Couplers work fine, though I never try use one if I am using over 300'.

For our Midas PRO consoles, we use solid Duracat from Rapco. We also have a four channel Ethernet snake that Whirlwind made, probably from Belden IIRC. Both work fine. The Whirlwind snake was MUCH more expensive but the outer jacket is more durable; they both will hold up to foot traffic but the snake seems like it can hold up to a door pinch.

Jason
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

By its nature a 250 foot run would be going around the audience and not through it, and the couplers would most certainly be protected inside of cable ramps. I just think that long runs like this are a PITA to maintain, and the trunk would be relatively large and nasty to deal with. I guess I am getting spoiled, at least its not 56 pair analog snake...:razz:

Think I am going to go with the 3 separate duracat style cables and loom them up, if one goes down at least I don't have to replace the whole run. may get a 100ft run and a longer 250 foot run and just have two options.
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

If they have a shielded solid core cable I'd like to know what the model is. I have seen solid core Duracat, which is NOT shielded, used at lengths up to 300'. I also have seen stranded & shielded Duraflex used for shorter runs (100'), but don't know how well it performs in longer runs. If anyone has experience using Duraflex for a digital snake at 250' or more please comment.
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Mike Pyle said:
If they have a shielded solid core cable I'd like to know what the model is. I have seen solid core Duracat, which is NOT shielded, used at lengths up to 300'. I also have seen stranded & shielded Duraflex used for shorter runs (100'), but don't know how well it performs in longer runs. If anyone has experience using Duraflex for a digital snake at 250' or more please comment.
Click to expand...

It's just CBI ultimate cat 5. Solid and shielded.

Sent from my SCH-I545
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

I'd go with the longer snake as well. I have a 200' snake with 2 upjacketed shielded Cat5, a 4 pair audio snake, and one 14/3 SJ, and it figure 8's into an EWI 22.5x30 trunk with room to spare. If you figure 8 your snake into a case, the extra length doesn't get in your way.

The Neutrik couplers have always worked fine for me, but I'd be hesitant to use them in the middle of a snake, especially if the junction is accessible by the public.

Personally, I'd probably go with individual lines over the 4 channel Gepco stuff. It's a lot easier to add/remove/replace the lines if they get damaged or your needs change. The Gepco snake is really nice, I have some of it at my day job and it works well, but it's kinda large. I just measured some, and it's .734" in diameter. It's bigger than 10/4 SO, although not nearly as heavy. Also, you'll be hard pressed to find a snake with shielded Cat5 if you need it. I'm not sure if the Pro2 needs shielded cable or not.

The Gepco stuff is a pain to strip too, but you'll hopefully only have to do it once, so that shouldn't be a big deal. If you want the extra protection that the outer jacket will provide, it might be worth it.

Random fact, with my last snake build I finally picked up some 1 1/2" wide friction tape and electrical tape. It made the looming process much faster than with the normal 3/4" tapes I'd been using. I should have done that years ago!
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Mike Pyle said:
If they have a shielded solid core cable I'd like to know what the model is. I have seen solid core Duracat, which is NOT shielded, used at lengths up to 300'. I also have seen stranded & shielded Duraflex used for shorter runs (100'), but don't know how well it performs in longer runs. If anyone has experience using Duraflex for a digital snake at 250' or more please comment.
Click to expand...


Mike -

Not sure it if is shielded or not but we have been using Duracat for our Midas PRO consoles for the last two years without complaint.

We only use the solid core and not the stranded. Still easy enough to loom and coil.

My understanding is that all Duracat manufactured since Jan 2014 (check this date for yourself) is Cat6 and not Cat5e.

I have also used the same Duracat for Dante and Cobranet on a semi regular basis. Most of the time I am using our 200' looms but I have also used our 275' loom without incident.

YMMV. It is very inexpensive. Almost in the "Try-it-and-see" price range IMO.

Jason
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Scott Helmke said:
We've got a 300' 4-line snake which we bought for a special gig. We had planned to cut it into two 150' runs, but never got around to it. 300' coils into a reasonably small trunk and isn't very heavy.
Click to expand...



Yep. CAT5 is considerably smaller and lighter than a big copper snake, so If it were me I would buy the maximum length that you can get away with (330 feet) and put that in a trunk. It will still be smaller than a big copper snake, so why not? And 330 feet will probably be less money than 2 pieces, plus couplers.

Coil it in the trunk with both ends hanging out and you only need to pull out what you need for the gig. Once it's out, stack a console or a snake head on top of the snake trunk.
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Tim Weaver said:
Yep. CAT5 is considerably smaller and lighter than a big copper snake, so If it were me I would buy the maximum length that you can get away with (330 feet) and put that in a trunk. It will still be smaller than a big copper snake, so why not? And 330 feet will probably be less money than 2 pieces, plus couplers.

Coil it in the trunk with both ends hanging out and you only need to pull out what you need for the gig. Once it's out, stack a console or a snake head on top of the snake trunk.
Click to expand...

You don't always get the full 100m with stranded that you do with solid, and don't forget the extra length of patch cables within racks and rack panels. I'd probably top out at 300' for an Ethernet snake just to be on the safe side.
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Mike Pyle said:
If they have a shielded solid core cable I'd like to know what the model is. I have seen solid core Duracat, which is NOT shielded, used at lengths up to 300'. I also have seen stranded & shielded Duraflex used for shorter runs (100'), but don't know how well it performs in longer runs. If anyone has experience using Duraflex for a digital snake at 250' or more please comment.
Click to expand...

Here is the info I have on sheilded DURACAT
C271514-100F
ETHERCON/ETHERCON CAT 5E 4P SD FOIL DATATUFF, 100 FT

I've ordered a few. Pretty sure it is stranded but it is shielded DURACAT from Rapco. Works great on the x32 family but that's all I use it for.
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Eric Lenasbunt said:
Here is the info I have on sheilded DURACAT
C271514-100F
ETHERCON/ETHERCON CAT 5E 4P SD FOIL DATATUFF, 100 FT

I've ordered a few. Pretty sure it is stranded but it is shielded DURACAT from Rapco. Works great on the x32 family but that's all I use it for.
Click to expand...

From the specs on their website, the Rapco/Horizon Duracat6 is 24 awg (.5mm) SOLID bare conductor. I have bought some and it is noticeably stiffer than the Belden 1305A Upjacketed Tactical Cat5e we are using. The Belden is 24 awg bonded pair (7x32) stranded. We limit our snake lengths to 250 feet because that is plenty long for any of our applications and it gives us breathing room in the reliability department. The Belden is flexible and easy to handle with a very tough jacket.
 
Last edited:
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Mike Pyle said:
Rapco offers solid Duracat and stranded Durapatch. The specs would indicate that both versions are unshielded.
Click to expand...

The part number I listed above is definitely shielded. I think the "datafoil" designation is what you are looking for.

Either way, been using with x32 and s16's with zero problems for over a year.

I did have to call the Rapco rep and get the part number from him. I think it is still not on the master price sheet for Rapco, at least not that I could find.
 
Re: Cat 5 snakes and couplers

Eric Lenasbunt said:
The part number I listed above is definitely shielded. I think the "datafoil" designation is what you are looking for.

Either way, been using with x32 and s16's with zero problems for over a year.

I did have to call the Rapco rep and get the part number from him. I think it is still not on the master price sheet for Rapco, at least not that I could find.
Click to expand...

I think it's a cross-over from the ProCo product line rather than originally a Rapco/Horizon assembly.
 
Top Bottom