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Leonard C Taft asked

Is NMEA2000 Mid cable superior to Cat5, Cat6, or Cat7 for extending RS485-USB interface?

My Cerbo-GX is quite remote from my proposed Energy Meter (EM530). The wire gauge and shielding of NMEA2000 Mid cable is superior to most Cat5 and Cat6 network cable (Cat7 shielding is good, but wire gauge is much smaller, so possible signal attenuation). Is there any down-side to using the MID NMEA cable, since RS485 only uses three (3) wires? Also, is there any harm in using Ferrite chokes to keep signal clean? And how would I know if I need to add terminal resistors or not? Thank you for any insight.

Energy Meterrs485rj45 cable
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2 Answers
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waninae39 answered ·

try some shielded cat 5/6

that is std is most security/military locations

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Leonard C Taft answered ·

Thank you waninae39. Has anyone else (Victron Managers) done testing or have other thoughts or experience? I apologize for squeezing three questions into one ask, but thoughts on Ferrite Chokes? And how to determine when terminating resisters are necessary? What gauge wires are the Victron VE.Direct to USB interface cables that would normally be used for the RS485 signal, and what type of shielding does it have? (10m is too short for me). Thank you all for any help.

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Energy Meter Selection Guide