I was considering using 8 conductor ethernet wire to make up my own network cables with female DB9's on the ends. The ethernet cable has 8 conductors and the cable has 9 pins, but I notice that pins 2 and 3 are both grounds. Is it permissible to jumper pin 2 to pin 3 inside the DB9 and not use discreet wires to both? The servo cables will only use the 2 twisted data pairs since I am aware that they get power, ground, and AP disconnect through separate wires, not in the connectors, due to power draw.
Ethernet cable isn't really suitable for this application.
1. The individual strands are considerably smaller than the 22 AWG that we recommend for SkyView Network cables.
2. It's not Tefzel, and therefore potentially hazardous due to emitting toxic fumes if there's a cockpit fire or the cables themselves short out (potentially being overloaded - see #1).
3. The individual Ethernet wires are single, solid wires (not braided from many smaller, individual strands), and will get very brittle and break easily in a high-vibration environment such as a plane. You'd have to take a lot of care to isolate things well enough to make the use of Ethernet cable reliable.
We specify an Ethernet cable running between two SkyView Displays (SV-ETHERNET-3CC), but...
1. It's running Ethernet, no power
2. It's made of material that, if burned, doesn't emit toxic fumes.