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Connector Panel - Routing Connections


Thomas_

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Is there a way to connect two connector panels together?  IE. I have a system I am working on currently, I have connector panels in the performing space, that will come back and connect to a connector panel in the rack in the AV closet.  If I have equipment I can drop the connector panel connections on the connector lines, but in this case many of these are not intended to always have equipment connected.  So I have an example below where I am trying to lay out the infrastructure for the building (Performing Arts Venue).  I will have panels at FoH, Monitor World, either side of the Balcony, etc.  At any given time one or two of these positions may be used.  All of these connections are going back to the AV closet, where the Cat6 connections especially are going to a panel, which would then be patched directly into a switch.

 

Right now if I try to draw a line between the CTP connectors, I get an error of no output socket found, even if the connector is an output (Which also begs the question of how IO connectors like RJ45s are handled?)

 

Is this a matter of CTP not being correct and I should be using a term panel?  My reading of the help was that was intended primarily for the rear of portable racks for instance.  I tried Term panels as well without luck.  In fact the only thing that seemed to allow for outgoing connections was a jackfield, which definitely isn't what I am doing here.  Literally just want to document that two CTP panels connected to each other, number the wires used for this, and on the other side of the second of a pair, show the patch into the switch.  No input into the first of these in most cases.

 

Thanks

 

        Thomas Vecchione

Screen Shot 2021-06-28 at 11.48.55 PM.png

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So no idea what changed, but it suddenly started working.  I spent a good hour trying different combinations to get it to work, so something seems to have been preventing it from working, but not idea what.  So if anyone has any ideas of a common mistake that would cause that I would love to hear it.

 

Related to this though, there is no option to select an IO port for a CTP connector, but obviously some things like RJ45 really should be.  I could probably argue most of them should be if not all by default, as they will be passing through data/signal.  What is the thinking on this?

 

         Thomas

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi @Thomas_

 

The mostly likely reason for the "not working" thing is snaps. If your sockets are off the grid and you have snap-to-grid on only then the tools miss the point. You can enable snap-to-object or align to grid using Cmd- (command or ctrl and the minus sign key) or the Align to Grid menu command.

 

CTP connectors are a bit special because they chassis connectors. Everywhere else in ConnectCAD we only talk about the cable connector. So a chassis connector can be of two types plug or socket. The sockets have the special X orientation which allows them to accept an incoming connection on the left and source an outgoing connection to the right. So on a schematic one side of the socket has bare wire ends on the cable ( going to the back of the chassis connector) and the other has a normal cable connector. We use the types IN and OUT to distinguish these.

 

That's the thinking.

 

Hope I've helped.

 

Conrad

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12 hours ago, Conrad Preen said:

So on a schematic one side of the socket has bare wire ends on the cable ( going to the back of the chassis connector) and the other has a normal cable connector. We use the types IN and OUT to distinguish these.

 

So it does help, though doesn't address things like passthrough connectors that could be a part of a CTP, for instance RJ45/8P8C connectors like this can be common in network racks, where it takes an 8P8C plug on both sides to pass the socket through rather than having a punchdown on either side (Or term, or soldered connection, etc.)

 

But it does explain the thinking a bit at least, and the expected workflow.  It is a good thought, not sure I agree completely with it, but at least I understand it.

 

        Thomas

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Dear @Thomas_

 

First of all, you are not limited to the devices we provide. You can easily create your own and you can edit the standard devices to create what you want. What you describe with a pass-thru connector is a term panel where you have a cable connector on both sides. Check out how these are configured and maybe that will be a solution for you?

 

Conrad

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On 6/30/2021 at 12:30 PM, Conrad Preen said:

First of all, you are not limited to the devices we provide. You can easily create your own and you can edit the standard devices to create what you want. What you describe with a pass-thru connector is a term panel where you have a cable connector on both sides. Check out how these are configured and maybe that will be a solution for you?

 

Understood thank you, that may better explain the difference of a CTP and a TERM panel to me (Wasn't really clear from the description).  So a Term panel then is a panel with pass-through connectors, or is that only a small part of it?  And how would one built a panel with both pass through and otherwise?

 

Where should I look for more information on creating custom sockets/devices for this?  Is that going to be the same as a typical socket for equipment or otherwise?

 

         Thomas

Edited by Thomas_
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