this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2025
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Hi,

I am thinking about the best way to transmit 5 single ended signals from one board to another as well as ground and 2 power rails. I was thinking cat5e cable with a standard rj45 plug but as cat5e is twisted pair I'm concerned about crosstalk.

The cable between the two boards would be a maximum of 50cm. 3 of the signals are addresses for a multiplexer that would change at a maximum speed of 2ms per change. One of the other signals is a 20khz pwm signal. The final signal is a zc detector for mains so max Freq of 100/120hz.

There may be high current switches at ac line frequency (50/60hz) near by.

Would single ended transmission with cat5e cable be okay for this or would I need differential signalling? If I need differential signalling, what sort of cable/connector could I use?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

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[–] dgriffith@aussie.zone 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Would be fine. Maybe a few decoupling/buffering capacitors at the sink end just to help things along, depends if your device has its own supply regulator and etc onboard. A high and low value pair in parallel would be good (eg 100uF electrolytic and 100nF ceramic).