Thank you for the tips. I have 5 2ft cables and 3 more longer ones for less than $10. A friend had a crimper.
wrv
Well, it's the Loconet cables that ARE the normal 'data' plug arrangment. It's phones that are flipped. The confusion comes in when you trace the wire colors and realize that the plugs on each end have to be flipped to make the actual pin connections to be straight through and not crossed.
That whole "laying it out flat" shown inthe pictures might work for really short cables, but there ar ebetter ways to get it right. Most flat wire has a ridge along one side of it, so you can use that. One plug shoudl have the tab facing the ridge side, the other end shoudl have the tab facing away fromt he ridge side. Or you can look at the colors of the individual wires. A proper Loconet cable will have the colors in the same orde,r if you hold both connectors side by side facing the same way, either tabs towards you or tabs away. One common mnemonic is "white on right" although which color is on the right side isn't as important as having the SAME color on the right side of both connectors.
ANd other than certian items which require a specific phase, like boosters and the BDL168 block detectors - it really doesn't matter. The ground and actual Loconet connectiosn are actually mirrored on the center 4 wires. Only the Railsync signal on the outer two wires has an actual phase or polarity. Using a telephoen-type cable from the command station to a booster will result isn the Rail A and Rail B outputs of the booster being reversed from the command station's output. And sicne the BDL168 relies on the railsync signal to time transponding, this won;t work with a flipped cable. But theottles only use the railsync for power (if your UP5's don;t have power supplies) and there are diodes to rectify that so polarity doesn't matter. And the DS64 only looks to the Loconet signal and ignores railsync, so it doesn't matter there, either.
However, it is best to always make the cables the proper way, that way if you move them aroudn you don;t suddenly have strange behavior and wonder why, not remembering that 4 years ago you made this cable and it was a phone not a data cable.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Richard is correct unless you get the ones I mentioned in my post, which are already 'straight wired'.
All Electronics catalog numbers are: 7' - MT363; 15' - MT-366 and 25' - MT-369
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
It is not Cat 5 cable, it is not computer networking cable. It is 6 conductor telephone cable and when I called Digitrax a year ago they sent me to All Electronics http://www.allelectronics.com/ It has a REF # of 1514027 on the tag.
I got 100 feet of it plus the plug ends, already had the cutter/crimper. Don't forget to reverse the plugs when you make up the cable. If you buy one which you think is already made up, you will need to cut one end off and reverse it, unless from Digitrax.
I have plugs from different vendors of the years. Some of them are slightly too large and need to be filed down to fit easily into the receptacles.
Richard
They are regular MJ-12 6 pin modular cables but must be wired straight through for data applications, not telephone which are cross wired. I get mine from Allied Electronics and they are very cheap, about $1.25 -$2.20 depending on which length you want. They only sell in a 3 lengths; 7', 15' and 25' but that ususally works out for my needs. Shipping is about $7 so I ususally put a larger order in and get a few other electronic items I can always use (and they have good prices). They are listed under 'Telephone Cables' in their catalog index.
www.allelectronics.com
Are they not just regular CAT-5 cables? If so, you get them at Staples. Yes I do make my own net cables, but then I run a computer network.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Although there are a few places that will sell you LocoNet cables, folks generally make their own.
It's quick, easy, usually cheaper (once you get past the initial cost of the crimper) and far more convenient than having to order one, or run out and buy one if you can even find them locally.
Google "making loconet cables" (without the quotes), there are lots of tutorials, including videos, that show how it's done.
I am adding the DS64 Quad Stationary Decoder to my SEBXD Super Empire Builder Xtra Duplex Radio Equipped starter set. The DS64 did not come with a locoNet cable. I can't find a LocoNet cable on digitrax website. Any suggestions. Do I need to make my own. Where can I get one. Am i missing something.
Thanks in advance