IWB Installation

[cooper]

Hi Guys

 

I have just installed a Smart Board and the computers in this classroom are about 8mtrs away from the board.

 

So i extended the cables over the ceiling and it appeared to be working fine.

 

After installing the softwae I realised that the smart board keeps disconecting from the pc.

 

After messing about i found out it was the usb extention that was a fault tried another cable still not working, so ive put the pc next to the smart board and all working fine.

 

 

My question is.. Im getting a Smartboard installed in the school and wanted to have a PC and video player hidden around the corner but if i cant extend the USB im stuck. Does anyone know how i can achieve this.

 

Thanks

 

Cooper

[localzuk]

You can't extend usb cables too far as they have a limited transmission distance. On the old models you could overcome this by extending the serial/Rs232 side of the lead but with USB the only option is to put a powered usb hub somewhere in the middle. The max length you can have on a usb cable is 5m.

 

There are some 'active cables' which claim to maintain the signal past 5m but I have never tested one.

[SimpleSi]

Unless your running with cordless keyboards, I'd consider the ergonomics of the teachers not being able to use the keyboard easily and actually have the computer nearer than 8M from the board

 

 

regards

 

Simon

[trekmad]

We have used the following to extend the USB to 13m without a problem

 

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?sku=CS14133

[meastaugh1]

I thought the max usb length was 25m (5x5m extensions). I've only gone up to 12m with two 5m USB extension cables.

[localzuk]

The max length is 25m with powered switches in between each 5m length. Otherwise it is 5m without.

 

Note: This is the official standard lengths AFAIK, but YMMV in reality. I have found that smart boards are quite sensitive to this length.

[Norphy]

Agreed. We had several installed over the summer holidays, the ones with > 5m cable runs get very stroppy. We eventually put in active extenders which cured the problem.

 

An alternative is to look into the RS232 interface, that is a lot less dependant on cable length.

[cooper]

Thanks for all the replys, I think for a easy life i will look into an alternative method to install the system.

 

Cheers

 

Cooper