Sensor wiring length

Submitted by lars_the_bear on Mon, 02/29/2016 - 20:47

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Hi folks

Is there some guidance on how long at most the wiring between the Ultraborg and the ultrasonic sensors should be? The cables supplied by PiBorg are about 7 inches long, and they will stretch; but for tidy cable routing they could do with being a bit longer -- 12 inches or so should do. Are there any problems with bundling these cables up with data or power cables?

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

piborg's picture

piborg

Tue, 03/01/2016 - 10:23

I think 12 inches will work fine, I am sure you can go longer than that without much chance of issues.

The basic problem with using longer cables is the amount of noise you get.
All of these get worse with length:

  • Noise picked up from neighbouring cables
  • Background noise from the cable behaving as an antenna
  • Loss of signal power due to increased distance

Bundling with power cables delivering DC power will not cause any major issues since they are a constant voltage.

Bundling with data cables may induce some cross-talk, this is where neighbouring cables 'see' data from each other.
At 12 inches I think the effect will be minimal, but if you do have trouble with the sensors try isolating them from each other to see if it helps.

lars_the_bear

Tue, 03/01/2016 - 12:21

Thanks.

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