Hi All,
I'm going to install 5 Digitrax UP5 ports around my layout, the question I have is this, the instructions say that I need to use the RJ12 cord, for my DCC signal, I have only seen RJ11's is there a difference between the two cords???? they both have the 6 plug that I need, Thanks for the help.
Take care , Trainsrme
The difference between RJ11 and RJ12 is the number of contacts. RJ11 have 4 pins and RJ12 have 6 pins. You need to use RJ12 for digitrax things. I make my own using 6 wire phone cable and RJ12 crimps and a crimper. I buy the crimps at my local electronics store/home depot.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
Thanks for the info, there's a Home Depot down the street from my house,
RJ-12 is not actually an official designation, so you might not find anything labeled RJ-12. RJ-12 is sort of a convention to describe an RJ-11 (which IS a standard designation) that has all 6 conductors instead of just 4. Physical size of the ends is identical, but if you look carefully at them, you will see the one has just 4 gold conductors (the middle 4) and the other has all 6 places. You want the ones with all 6 places. Home Depot does have them, I got mine there. You also want flat wire with 6 conductors, ofetn known as "flat satin" cable. And don;t cheap out on the crimpers, a good metal set from Ideal or Klein will set you back more than the cheap plastic kind, but also will be easier to get good crimps with since they press down straight instead of at an angle like plier jaws, and also have a ratched and release mechanism to the proper force is applied and you know when you've completed the crimp.
Last of all, follow the illustration in the Digitrax manual carefully to make sure you crimp the ends on in the proper arrangement. Digitrax cables use the 'data' arrangement not 'voice'. The flat satin cable typically has a raised rib along one sde that you can see and feel, along with the color coded individual wires inside. It doesn;t really matter for the purposes of running UP5 panels, but if you make cables with the 'phone' arrangement and later add a device where it does matter, such as a second booster or a BDL168, it will drive you crazy trying to figure out why it's not working correctly all because of a reversed cable somewhere in the chain. Best to just make them all the right way and not have to worry about it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Because Loconet is symmetrical, standard 6 wire phone cables will work for most Digitrax devises, and that can fool you into thinking they are a ready substitute. However any device that needs to be in the same phase as the command station needs to be connected with a data cable.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/MT-267/7-MOD-MOD-CABLE-FOR-DATA/1.html
They are easy to make, or readily available from computer sources. The difference is that Telephone cables are wired with pin one at one end connected to pin six at the other. Data cables are wired pin one to pin one.
You can cut one end off a telephone cable and turn it over, using a new jack, of course. Or you can just buy data cables. If you use even one telephone cable the day will come when you go crazy trying to remember which one it is and where it is installed.
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/CMP-6/6-PIN-CRIMP-ON-MODULAR-PLUG-RJ-12/1.html
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Vet Because Loconet is symmetrical, standard 6 wire phone cables will work for most Digitrax devises, and that can fool you into thinking they are a ready substitute. However any device that needs to be in the same phase as the command station needs to be connected with a data cable. http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/MT-267/7-MOD-MOD-CABLE-FOR-DATA/1.html They are easy to make, or readily available from computer sources. The difference is that Telephone cables are wired with pin one at one end connected to pin six at the other. Data cables are wired pin one to pin one. You can cut one end off a telephone cable and turn it over, using a new jack, of course. Or you can just buy data cables. If you use even one telephone cable the day will come when you go crazy trying to remember which one it is and where it is installed. http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/CMP-6/6-PIN-CRIMP-ON-MODULAR-PLUG-RJ-12/1.html
that's where I got all mine from, they also have 15 and 25 footers as well as the 7 footers, and with their 7 dollar flat rate for standard shipping I generally find all kinds of other goodies to get as well.
Great prices on HDMI cables, too.
Monoprice is another good supplier of all sorts of pre-made cables. I get all my HDMI, network, and opticla audio cables from them. Even my ethernet switch. They have data-wire 6p6c RJ12 cables in any desired length.