The full DMX specification only lists a 5 pin XLR connector for DMX use. Many manufactures of lower cost lighting equipment have adopted 3 pin XLR connectors instead of 5 pin connectors for cost reasons.Because there is no official standard for 3 pin XLR connectors for DMX use they can be wired up in 2 different ways, the majority of manufacturers use the following schedule: -Pin 1 GNDPin 2 Data - (cold)Pin 3 Data + (hot)There are some exceptions to this where the manufacturer has wired the fixture as follows: -Pin 1 GNDPin 2 Data + (hot)Pin 3 Data - (cold)The DMX phase reverse adaptor is a quick and simple way to swap the phase of pins 2 and 3 for connection to fixtures with reversed connections and keeping a few in your kit box is always a good idea.
The full DMX specification only lists a 5 pin XLR connector for DMX use. Many manufactures of lower cost lighting equipment have adopted 3 pin XLR connectors instead of 5 pin connectors for cost reasons.It is quite common to have to connect fixtures with both 5 pin and 3 pin connectors on the same DMX run.The 5 pin to 3 pin converter is a quick and simple way to convert between the 2 different types of DMX connector and keeping a few in your kit box is always a good idea.
Incorrect or missing termination is probably the single most common reason for faulty DMX512 systems.Fitting a terminator at the end of a DMX run (usually on the last fixture) prevents unwanted reflections causing corruption of the DMX data and glitches of the lighting.
