Dig-Next-2
Data cabling
Since the Dig-Next-2 has a completely new level-shifter stage this article will cover what to expect in regards to data signaling. The level-shifter stage is designed to basically “always” reach 10m/32ft of cable distance without any data integrity issues but has shown that much longer lengths can work fine too!
In theory the new level-shifter stage will perform the same as the 33R stage of the Dig-Uno/Quad/Octa when the level-shifter was set to 33R. But since it is built differently there could be some small variances in extreme scenarios.
In testing it’s shown that the new stage performs very well, even with cable lengths well beyond the recommended 10m/32ft. Here is a photo of a QuinLED Dig-COB-160 running with about 30m of bundled cable connected. In the below case it was a mix of 10 meters/32ft 18AWG and 20m 16AWG cable connected together using some WAGO clips to extend the length.
Advice to get data to go far!
The best advice that can be given is to use bundled cable as shown above. Either in the form of 3-wire cable as shown or using a seperate 2-wire cable for data+GND. The later can be beneficial when you want to use up to 14AWG power wires from the Dig-Next-2 to your LEDs, which isn’t readily available in 3-wire cable form. Next to bundled cable twisted cable can also be used although it doesn’t have any particular benefit above bundled cable.
The below image shows a 20AWG 2-wire cable connected to data and GND with 14AWG 2-wire connected for power, this is a good solution!
Too long or not working?
If you do run into issues with data not reaching your LEDs through very long cables and you’ve followed the above advice, a solution could be one of my boards from the QuinLED-Diff line-up such as a Diff-Solo or Diff-Adv! Those will have no problem getting your data to go even 100m/3200ft!