I have a Digitrax Zephyr and I would like to install 4 or 5 handheld throttle plugin receptacles in the benchwork around my layout. What is the name of the flat cable and the receptacles and where is the best place to buy them?
JaRRell
I suggest Radio Shack or some othe electron parts house close to you. The cable can be brought flat or round. I think it is CAT-5 cable you are looking for. You will need a cheap tool to make the connections. If you have a VOM meter, be sure to OHM out the connector to connector pins to ensure connection. Just looking at the plug doesn’t mean a good connection.
Jarrell,
The loconet cable is 6 wire flat telephone cable. You can buy the cable in bulk from any home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowes. They also sell 6 pin modular jacks and crimping tools so you can make your cables as long or a short as you want. They have to be made as a straight thru connection. If you don’t want to make them yourself, Litchfield station has then pre-made.
You can indeed make your own “LocoNet” cables with RJ 12 wire, connectors and a crimping tool…Or you can even hard wire phone jack receptacles, doing away with the plugs all together .
On the other hand, for slightly more money (and a lot less headache) you can get LocoNet cables of custom length and Digitrax UP-5’s making for a faster, very professional looking and trouble free “daisy chain” of throttle receptacles.
If you do hard wire, or even crimp the plugs on, be sure to keep in mind that the two pair of three wires need to be consistent…It’s easy to crimp the plug on backwards / opposed from end of cable to end of cable.
Even if you make your own cables, the UP-5 is relatively inexpensive, looks great, and works extremely well.
Check out www.LoysToys.com
Cable and connectors are cheap. The crimp tool can be expensive. Check Home Depot, Radio Shack and other for the price of the crimper. You may find it would be cheaper in the long run to just buy the cable.
If you choose to buy the cable and make your own, be sure to check the polarity of the cables, i.e. make sure you wire exactly as the vendor does, i.e. look at the colors in the plastic plug, see what color is on what pin, notice were the latching clip is and wire the colors as the vendor supplied cable.
I do not believe you require CAT5 cable. This cable is for high speed, low volatge data transmission about a thousand time faster than DCC packets.
I hope this helps.[:)]
Much obliged for the info on the cables and receptacles. My layout isn’t that big so I think I only need about 6 receptacles. In wiring this, do you do it like you do your main buss wire under the layout? Let’s say your the Zephyr is place about in the middle of the layout, see photo below…
Do you run one continuous cable under the benchwork, or two in the different directions… or what?
Thanks for the help!
JaRRell
You can branch it out in multiple directions (think tree branches). Just don’t loop it back on itself.
Steve
It is true that you can make them your self. However one error and all the money saved is out the window with frustration and possible injured equipment. My LHS custom makes them for me, and his profit has not come close to the price of the crimping tool alone.
My dad always said, the cheapest way usually costs the most.
Jusy daisy chain the cables. From the back of the Zephyr you have 2 loconet connectors. Go from each of them to the next UP5 panel in each direction. On the back of the UP5’s there are 2 connectors as well. Connect the cable from the Zephyr into one and then on to the next UP5 from the other. When you get to the last panel in each direction, just stop. If in the future you plan to add a booster, wireless reciever or any other loconet device just link them into the daisychain where you need them. This is the beauty of loconet.
Thanks Steve, I understand it better.
Art, my LHS bit the dust last year so I’d have to order it online, but that’s ok. With your hobby shop, what did you do… just tell them about how long you wanted each section of cable between receptacles?
Simon, that was a good description. I have and frequently use the Digitrax radio throttle and reciever so I guess I can plug it into the loconet, once made, anywhere I want. If nothing else it would be convenient to not have to walk back to where the radio reciever is located to plug in when you want to acquire/unacquire a locomotive.
Thanks all for the lessons.
JaRRell
Exactly. If you have a UR91 (Radio panel) connected to your Zephyr then you already have a small loconet setup. Just add on the other panels. You can place the UR91 anywhere that is convienient for reception. Place the UP5 panels in logical places like yards and engine terminals, and you will then have your plug ins where you need them.
I told him how long, and he cut it and checked it while I waited. He had all th eparts and the good tool. It took less time than doing it myself, including getting to the LHS. I can’t imagine doing that myself, unless I had a HUGE club layout with 50 outlets.
Putting together flat phone wires has got to be one of the easiest things in the world to do. Easier than soldering feeders to track without damaging anything, and definitely easier than installing a decoder. The GOOD crimpers (the metal ones, not the plastic ones) have stops that sort of force you to strip the wire correctly (just the outer jacket is stripped, not the individual wires) and you just slide the wire in the plug and squeeze the handle. If you aren’t plugging in any additional boosters downstream you don’t even have to be careful which way you put the plugs on the wire - but heaven help you if you DO go back later and add a booster, the flipped cable will have you tearing your hair out. Flat able is easiy to work with and hard to mess up. Plus the nice crimper that does the 6p plugs also does 4p ones if you need to ake a long phone cord around the house. Don’t be afraid - and by cutting them to the EXACT length you don’t have any excess to bundle up somewhere. It’s also handy to have the crimper and ends if someone ever breaks the plug on the end of your throttle cord. Instead of sending it back to Digitrax for repair, you can fix it in 10 seconds.
–Randy
CatV and RJ 45 jacks are for 4 paired cable used for internet applications. The RJ 12 is for three pair cable and should be used for your application. Flat or round is a personal preference. Round is usually cheaper, flat is usually more flexable, in the thin direction.
Randy, this crimper must be a special tool made for working with this particular type of cable… right? I think one of the guys in my club has one and has used it alot. I may talk to him before I start buying things. Right now I’m leaning more to what Simon is talking about… I forget the model number… the panels made by Digitrax… for simplicity sake if not the cheapest.
Thanks again to everyone who responded to this.
JaRRell
Yes, the crimper is a bit of a specialty tool. Radio Shack has two, or used to. In the phone section where they sell the proper ends, they have a cheapy plastic one. Don’t bother. Over in the computer section is where I found the nice METAL one I have.
Regardless if you make the cables yourself - you still need the UP5 panels. Some peopel cheap out and use regular phone jacks - that might work fine if you operate alone and don;t have a bunch of throttles, but if you start plugging in more throttles, pretty soon there’s not enough power ont he Loconet to run them all and wierd things start happening. The UP5 is designed to support 3 power sources: direct from Loconet, from nearby track power connections, and from a wall-wart that plugs in the back. One wall-wart can power multiple UP5’s by connecting the designated terminals together.
–Randy
I bought the cable, connectors, and crimper from a local electronic store. The crimpers were $16 if I remember right. I use the UP5’s about every 8-10’.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub