What is expansion board’s plug type, to make homemade longer cable ?

[raphael]

Hi,
I would like to put 3 expansion boards at 1m, 50m and 100m from the main controller, so I need to make two 50m expansion board’s cables.
I have 3 questions :

1/ I’ve seen that those expansion cables are composed of 10 cables. Are the 10 cables necessary for each expansion board ? or can I put less cables in the extension chords as I will use only 3 boards ?

2/ What is the type of plug at the two extremities of the expansion cable ? In order I can find them somewhere on the web.

3/ Does the expansion boards need to be connected to a transformer or is the current provided through the expansion cable ?

Thanks a lot.
Have a good day.

[Ray]

1) It depends on which version of OpenSprinkler hardware you have:
– for OS 2.x and OSPi: the cable uses 8 wires
– for OS 3.x, if your controller is AC-powered, it only uses 6 wires; if DC-powered, 8 wires; if Latch, 10 wires.
Judging from your description, I assume you have OpenSprinkler 3.x. If your controller is AC-powered, then you only need 6 wires. A standard Ethernet cable has enough wires to make a custom cable.

2) I am not sure what’s the name of the plug, I know that it’s the same type as IDE cable in computer systems, but with less number of wires (IDE cable usually has 2×20 wires).

3) No, the expander does NOT need to be connected to a transformer. However, all zones on the exapnder share the same COM (common) wire, which is not part of the extension cable. So if you are thinking of having some zones 50m away from the main controller, and some more 100 meters, then those zones must also have a COM (common) wire, and that wire needs to go all the way back to the main controller. So technically your common wire also needs to be that long, in addition to the custom extension cable. On the other hand, the common wire is shared by all zones so you only need one such wire.

[raphael]

Hi,
Thank you very much for your answer.

1/ Do you have a diagram of the pins of the cable in order I can identify the ones that are used and the ones that are not ?

2/ For those who are interested in expanding expansion cables : use the keyword “10 pin IDC” to find male or female plugs on the web.

Have a nice day.

[Author]

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