I love my DMXCat E, but I have a few grumbles about it.  Two of them go hand in hand.  The battery drains quickly and it doesn’t accept POE to charge itself. Seriously- WHY in the age of POE isn’t every manufacturer including the ability to charge from it?  But there’s an easy solution.

I won’t pretend I knew enough to find this solution, as I’ve always been a bit weak with accessories.  My friend Chris Balo was the one to tell me.  There are adapters that receive an ethernet connection and split it into ethernet and usb c.  I bought this one on Amazon for $15. 

It works exactly as promised.  The DMXCat E gets charged while it is used.  I do wish either the USB or ethernet tail was a little longer, so if you can find one with another 3-6” of wire, it’ll be best.  But it works great and solves an irritating pair of problems with a great device.

What other little piece of gear has helped solve an ongoing issue like this?  Hit me in the comments.

Featured image Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

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Mark LaPierre is a programmer in film and television based out of Albuquerque.  He grew up in live entertainment and has been a designer/programmer for musicals, concert dance, live music, circus and corporate.  Mark is a proud member of IATSE, an ETC Eos trainer and an enthusiastic trainer of many other platforms and subjects.  If you enjoy his content, please consider commenting on his posts on the website to appease the Algorithm.