The general network topology of a CBus system is very straight forward. It can be wired in any configuration you wish, whether that be a ring, star, or common bus design. You just have to ensure that the correct CBus pink Cat5 network cable is used.
Do I need to use CBus pink CAT5 cable?
The Cat5 UTP cable used for the CBus network has a number of characteristics that help optimize network communications.
- Cat5 UTP minimizes the coupling of external magnetic fields onto the cable, thus reducing interference on the CBus network.
- Its electrical characteristics include low capacitance which allows communications over long distances.
- The twisted pairs inside Cat5 UTP also provide high immunity to noise making it ideal for wiring a CBus network.
Each connection to a CBus unit uses two conductors, that is, two conductors for each positive connection to a CBus unit and two conductors for each negative connection. A connection made with two conductors has several advantages over a connection made with only one conductor: