DMX Cables can be 3-pin or 5-pin. These use the same type of data, and in the 5-pin
only pins 1, 2, and 3 are used. The cable should be a 2 conductor, shielded cable of at
least 110 ohms resistance. Microphone cable is not DMX cable.
Please refer to the diagram below:
For installations where the DMX cable has to run a long distance or is in an electrically
noisy environment, it is recommended to use a DMX terminator. This helps in preventing
corruption of the digital control signal by electrical noise and reflections. The DMX
terminator is simply an XLR plug with a 120 Ω resistor connected between pins 2 and 3,
which is then plugged into the output XLR socket of the last fixture in the chain. Please
see illustrations below:
Penn XL – GAMMA LED Vision
Page 11 of 17
