[injvstice]

I am hacking away at a project where I need to carry two signals on a cat5. Is there a product I can use to split a cat5 in half, and have the two halves still have a jacket? This helps me crimp the connectors to the two halves.

I hope this makes sense. I can do it now, but the connectors hang precariously from the two thin wires I scooped up for each half.

I cannot use something like a balun, since I want to pick which wires pair with which. My cat5s do not currently have connectors, but I could add them if needed.

 

[rjniles]

Use heat shrink tubing.

 

[injvstice]

Thanks, that would work in a pinch. It still looks a little ugly (especially near the Y joint), but if it's the best I can do, I will do it. I was hoping for a passive Y splitter for a CAT5. I'm not running ethernet over it, so it would work for me.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[ddawg16]

Google is your friend....type in Cat5 Splitter

Here is just one example

http://www.officedepot.com/a/produc...N9ZisoYpiQ93lLjcCVTg-lk3_Hkjfyjr9YBoCutfw_wcB

 

[injvstice]

Thanks. That won't work for me, since the box is too bulky (I need possibly 10 of them in one location). I was hoping I can find something that splits a CAT5 into two bare cables. Or something like a generic Y connector with at least 4 wires and no specific connectors at either end.

That box would've worked better if it split to two male cables, bulk aside, then I can chop off the connectors. Yes, I could plug in a cable into both outputs, but the unnecessary female connectors add bulk.

I will go with the shrinkwrap approach, thank you.

 

[rjniles]

If you use the shrink tubing: Remove the CAT5 sheath, split into the 2 pair groupings. Use 2 pieces of shrink, 1 on each group. Slip another piece of shrink to cover both and the wye joint.

 

[Msradell]

You can also get heat shrink tubing in many colors so you could match or contrast the outer sheath cover of your cat5 cable. You can also easily identify the difference between the 2 pairs you pull off the end.