Has anyone tried the Digikey connectors for the Tortoise machines? It’s a 10 pin connector that fits the Tortoise so you don’t have to hard wire it and aids in troubleshooting. It’s at Digikey.com and the part # is EDC-306100-ND or EDC-306200-ND.
I personally have not. I can tell you what I did on my layout which is inexpensive and gives you the versatility to moving wires without re-soldering. I first start with a piece of Cat 5 cable. (Used for connecting a computer to the Internet/Network) The cable has 8 wires which are color coded. (Orange, Orange/White, Green, Green/White, etc…) I soldered the wires in order on the 8 “pins” on the Tortoise. I took the other end of the cable, which is no more than a foot long, and attached it to an 8 connection barrier strip. Radio Shack has them; however, I got mine on line from All Electronics for $2.00 a piece. Radio Shack wants $4.00 for theirs. Anyway, connect the wires to the screws in the order they come off of the Tortoise. Mount the barrier strip close to the switch machine and you can hook up wires for signals or LED’s on your control panel and by doing this you are assured easy trouble shooting at a low cost.
I wired mine exactly the same as WyeMe instead of using a card edge connector. I’m not familiar with the Digi-Key connector you reference, but be aware that card edge connectors come in different sizes as far as the contact spacing is measured, and the Tortoise allegedly uses a non-standard spacing. I have also heard of connectors slipping off if they are not the correct type because the Tortoise printed circuit board is thinner than a normal computer motherboard or other devices that use card edge connectors.
Someone sells card edge connectors made specifically for use with the Tortoise, but I don’t recall who.
I bought 8 pin edge connectors made for the Tortoise from Parkade Hobbies…
Jim
Back in July last year I posted this. They probably still have the connectors in stock. I ordered a bunch and all my Tortoises have been working just fine.
Card edge connectors that mate with Tortoise switch machines. $1.45 From
The place is Electronic Surplus, Inc
8756 Munson road
Mentor OH 44060.
It’s a ten pin connector but it will work just fine. They have 894 in stock.
I purchased my edge connectors from www.allelectronics.com If memory serves me correctly which it usually doesn’t they were som ewhere around $1.00/ea. but that was a while a go
I guess I took the expensive approach - I buy my connectors for $3 a pop from Tony’s Trains.