Unison USAP long distance

I use to do this all the time. AMX makes devices to do this, but so do several rather cheap online retailers. I even built one from parts once. Price here isn't so much the issue, as you will probably not make up the cost difference between running 8471 for an AV station compared to 9729 or equiv for Serial. (Use a real shielded serial cable like 9729).

Have a look at bb-elec.com. they have several cheap and easy solutions for 485, 422, Ethernet, and even some more odd ball ideas. Remember termination if you go 485..

Keep in mind there are design differences to when AV stations are good and USAP is better. When an AV station is placed in a config it is part of the ROOM just like a station, or in a section just like a station. The same property restrictions apply. Whereas USAP can control everything and is not a member of any room. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but important to consider when adding this functionality.  Also, an AV station allows the light manager programmer to control the access to the Unison system, whereby USAP allows free access to the remote system. There are several other pros and cons, but that’s the gist.

Best of luck.

I use to do this all the time. AMX makes devices to do this, but so do several rather cheap online retailers. I even built one from parts once. Price here isn't so much the issue, as you will probably not make up the cost difference between running 8471 for an AV station compared to 9729 or equiv for Serial. (Use a real shielded serial cable like 9729).

Have a look at bb-elec.com. they have several cheap and easy solutions for 485, 422, Ethernet, and even some more odd ball ideas. Remember termination if you go 485..

Keep in mind there are design differences to when AV stations are good and USAP is better. When an AV station is placed in a config it is part of the ROOM just like a station, or in a section just like a station. The same property restrictions apply. Whereas USAP can control everything and is not a member of any room. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but important to consider when adding this functionality.  Also, an AV station allows the light manager programmer to control the access to the Unison system, whereby USAP allows free access to the remote system. There are several other pros and cons, but that’s the gist.

Best of luck.

Converting to RS485 and back is probably going to be your best bet.  Any such converter will work just fine as they're mostly too simple to screw up.

Cat5 wire would be an option, though by itself it probably doesn't give enough extra length.  I would also still recommend either shielded cable or installing it in a grounded metal conduit.  RS232 is an unbalanced signal, which can make it more susceptible to electrical interference.  Converting to RS485 helps with that a bit, but I still prefer shielded wire. 

This website has some good information on RS232, including a section on cable length. 

Keep in mind too that there are a lot of ways you could do this that would be almost correct.  For example, that website says that Cat5 wire should be okay up to 147'.  You could round that up to 150' for your application and it would probably work while you're testing it, but it may not be reliable long-term.  You definitely want to aim on the side of being overly cautious.