Using stereo headphone jacks for Digitrax

[Anonymous]

The option would be the big and durable european phone jacks, it is the same thing as you already have as far as function and capability is concered, exept these are big and sturdy, and contrary to the audio jacks, you wouldnt short out the controler, which im sure is a good thing. You can probably find american jack to european jack converters at a big electronics store, and for a reasonable price. That should probably be your best bet as far as i can tell.

[Seamonster]

Try a 3-pin XLR connector, also known as a microphone connector. They're like a DIN connector on steroids--heavy metal case, thick pins, nice and big, they lock in place, don't short when inserting them and are almost indestructable. They come in both panel mount and cable mount, and both styles come in both sexes--male and female (either pins or sockets). I wired a DCC layout with them for someone who wanted the sturdiest connectors he could get and they worked just fine.

[rrinker]

Digitrax actually offered that as an option at one point, but does not recommend doing it anymore. The shorting issue is one. Plus you WILL need a good battery in every throttle.
Most people seem to not have a problem wih the RJ plugs. ANd even if one does have the tab break off, you just cut it off and crimp on a fresh one, less than 5 minute job.

--Randy

[rlbeetle]

The only thing about changing the connector is you can't use it on another system. I carry my throttle over to a friends house so we can run more trains.

[GMTRacing]

Rob,
I agree there may be a problem with momentary shorting when plugging in or perhaps someone not getting the plug "home". how about a 6 prong trailer plug? A bit big perhaps, but you'd never break it. Just a thought. Regards,J.R.

[Anonymous]

The Stereo jacks would probably work fine, but there are so big, i would try the mini jacks.

[CBQ_Guy]

How about the old time "Jones" plugs? Here's a link to a picture of what I'm talking about.:

http://www.flashbacksales.co.uk/acatalog/6_pin__Jones__Plugs.html

They're pretty rugged.

[bcammack]

DIN is a good idea with the caveat that you have to orient it correctly to plug it in. From that standpoint they're a little fragile as the pins can get bent up if someone tries to insert it forcefully without due care in orienting it correctly.

1/4" phone plug: The proper terminology is "Ring", "Tip", and "Sleeve". A 2 conductor plug is just Tip and Sleeve (a guitar cord, for instance). A 3 conductor plug is Tip, Ring, Sleeve (headphone cord). Yes, they do short momentarily when you plug them in, so that makes them bad for a data bus.

The RJ-12 is alright from one standpoint and that is it is cheap and easily replaced. I think that is why it has favor in this application. A more robust alternative might be the RJ-45 connector used in Cat-5 networking. They're bout fifty cents apiece and the crimper is relatively cheap. An upside with the 45 is that you can get all sorts of nice hoods for them to reduce/eliminate hooking the release catch on things and breaking it off.

[Anonymous]

If you ant to avoid shorts adn still have the advantages of the mirrored connectors but want a solid plug rather than the flimsy RJ12 have you thought about 6 pin DIN plugs?

As solid as you like and with a better grip on the socket than a stereo jack I'd have thought they'd be perfect. It's what I have on my DC layout and what I would change the plugs to if I don't go for wireless DCC

[Anonymous]

A 1/4" stereo phono jack would have 3 conductors - L, R, and ground.

It must be stereo, though.

Rob

[Anonymous]

Hi Rob,

I don't know too much about Digitrax - am just learning at the local club. Butone question I have for you is where do you connect the third wire? I always thought that stero jacks only had two wires? Some of the newer "all-in-one" jacks have left and right audio, plus video for a total of three, but I have only ever seen this in a "mini-plug" (i.e. 1/8"). Any thoughts?

Andrew

[mvlandsw]

There is a momentary short between the contacts when inserting or removing the jacks from the sockets. This causes trouble in some other throttles. I don't know if it would bother Digitrax.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a good idea, if it works. I don't like those little plugs either. Have you asked for an opinion from Digitraxx? They might just say "no" on general principles. I will be watching to see if anyone smarter than me answers your question.

[robengland]

Instead of plugging in hand-held throttles with those dinky fragile little RJ12s, why not use nice big robust widely-available stereo headphone jacks?

"LocoNet can actually run on just 2 or 3 wires.... In a 6 wire flat configuration, as crimped onto a RJ12 6 pin style plug, the left 3 wires are effectively a mirror image of the right 3 wires. This allows you to daisy-chain outlets without worrying about whether the cables are reversing or non-reversing."

Seems to me one could connect wires 1,2,and 3 to a stereo jack and it would work fine.

There will be an increased susceptability to RF interference, but over the length of the cord on a DT300 it may not matter??? And the payoff would be unbreakable throttle jacks.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone tried it? Anyone just using three wires for LocoNet?