Can some tell if the Digitrax UT4 throttle has to be tethered to the command station while running trains or will it work if I unplug it from the command station.
Billy 21
So to work in a different location on the layout I would need a separate plug in connected to the main bus wire.
How long is cable connected to the throttle and can you buy them in different lengths?
Thanks billy 21
I buy the six conductor modular telephone cords with RJ12 jacks for my loconet. There have been some concerns expresed about reversing wires in these commercial phone cords, however the ones that I have purchased have all six wires run straight through the cord without corssing over. I have had a loconet with wireless (UR-91) and computer control (MS-100) running for over ten years and have not had a problem. To expand your network from your Digitrax Zepher you need to set up a loconet throttle network by dasiy chaining UP5/UP3/UR90/UR91 together. I have 1', 3', 12', 15', 25' and 50' phone cords connecting my loconet. I have a modular layout and have re-configured the loconet many times.
I have purchased these loconet (six wire phone cords) at Walmart, Home Depot, Mennards and Office Depot.
Jim, Modeling the Kansas City Southern Lines in HO scale.
billy21So to work in a different location on the layout I would need a separate plug in connected to the main bus wire.
You can add one or more UP5 plug in panels. Connect it to the Zephyr with a 6 condctor cord.
billy21How long is cable connected to the throttle and can you buy them in different lengths?
It's a coiled cord that extends to 6 or 7 feet. You can extend the cord with a 6 conductor extension cord. I've seen them at Walmart and occasionally at Radio Shack.
All UT4's are infrared equipped as well. You wuld ned a UR90 infrared receiver. With the UR90, UT4 will operate via infrared while disconnected.
billy21 So to work in a different location on the layout I would need a separate plug in connected to the main bus wire. How long is cable connected to the throttle and can you buy them in different lengths? Thanks billy 21
The cable that comes with it isn't real long - maybe 5-6' coiled - but you can buy extensions at anyplace that sells phone stuff. I got mine at the local home center. Same cords are used to connect the panels to set up a 2nd or 3rd plug-in location. You can daisy chain them - run one cord from the Zephyr to plug-in panel 1, then run a cord from panel 1 to panel 2 etc. (I think they recommend not doing more than 4 in a row??)
You could just buy a really long cord for the UT-4 and plug it directly into the Zephyr I guess - but that would technically be a 'tethered throttle' rather than a walk-around...and give you something to trip over. Probably better to keep the cord short and set up multiple plug-in panels.
jamnest I buy the six conductor modular telephone cords with RJ12 jacks for my loconet. There have been some concerns expresed about reversing wires in these commercial phone cords, however the ones that I have purchased have all six wires run straight through the cord without corssing over. I have had a loconet with wireless (UR-91) and computer control (MS-100) running for over ten years and have not had a problem. To expand your network from your Digitrax Zepher you need to set up a loconet throttle network by dasiy chaining UP5/UP3/UR90/UR91 together. I have 1', 3', 12', 15', 25' and 50' phone cords connecting my loconet. I have a modular layout and have re-configured the loconet many times. I have purchased these loconet (six wire phone cords) at Walmart, Home Depot, Mennards and Office Depot.
If you got phoen cords from Walmart they are defintiely NOT straight through - you aren't looking at the ends the right way. Hold them both with the tab down, with the cable exiting the bottom and the conenctions up - they will not have the same colors in the same order. That's a crossed over phone cord.
That said - if the only downstream items are throttles and a computer interface, it will work just fine either way. Plugging in a throttle ties the two Loconet connections together, the groudns are already tied together at the UP5, and the throttles just use Railsync for power. Where it DOES become a problem is a downstream booster - but you have yours sitting right next to the command station - btw where's the loconet cable for that one? I see you have the Rail A and Rail B reversed on the DB150 compared to the DCS100. Soem DB150's were wired backwards from the factory, but using a crossed 'phone' cord instead of a 'data' cord will also require you to flip the Rail A and Rail B connections because the Railsyn, the actual DCC signal the booster amplifies, is reversed. The other place having the proper cables would matter is if you used Transponding, since the timing of the signal sent back from the decoder involves using Railsync.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I look for the crossed phone cords. Each time I go to Walmart they appear to have a diffrent brand of six wire phone cord. Some are crossed and some are not. A simple fix is to cut one end off and attach a new modular RJ12 plug on the end with the wires uncrossed.
That's just what I did. Cut the Walmart cord somewhere in the middle and made 2 out of 1. I currently have a box full of 6 wire phone cords I snagged at work when we got rid of our phone system that I will use to make probably enough Loconet cables to last me a lifetime.