Prodigy Advance

The cord for the PA is an 8 conductor.The 2000 used a standard phone line cord. You can use Cat5 or 6 cable. I purchased 3 in different colors that are 14 ft. They work but are still a little stiff.Nice thing about them is they have cable reliefs and a boot that covers the latch lever.

UNCLE YESTERDAY WAS TODAY IS TOMORROW WILL BE

I'm not familiar with some of the terms - is Cat5 or 6 cable the "coiled" type?

I take it you were able to buy the three cables with connectors already installed? Where did you get them?

Frank

CatX refers to the data carrying capacity of the cable, which IIRC depends on shielding and length.

Am Tue, 08 Feb 2005 11:47:52 -0500 schrieb Wolf Kirchmeir:

Simply spoken it´s the speed how fast data can travel. Cat5 is used for

100MBit Ethernet, Cat6 vor GigaBit Ethernet. Both use the same connectors. Please don´t shoot at me - this description is technical not really correct. I hope it hels anyway....

Micha

Cat 1 through 5, specifies a number of twists per inch.

So if I pick the copper atoms carefully I can get electricity to travel faster over the wire? WOW!!! What a breakthrough.

Paul

You also have to align them correctly! =8^]

Am Tue, 08 Feb 2005 14:41:16 -0600 schrieb Paul Newhouse:

*loool*

So, please provide an explanation about the difference between Cat5 and Cat

6 (and when to use either of them) that can be understood by someone, who is not a network administrator but normal User with no experience in networking .... ;-)

Micha

Who's having trouble with faster electricity on copper?

Am Tue, 08 Feb 2005 15:29:42 -0600 schrieb Paul Newhouse:

Don´t know.... ;-)

MH

It's hardly a problem - if it goes faster it has more kinetic energy and so you need less volume to turn the little wheels etc!

If you want to know more about pushing 'trons around, read what Richard P. Feynman had to say about it.

I'm not a 'tron guy, but I found the reading riveting

Most of the improvements between 5 & 5e hand to do with the connectors and FEX/NEX (Far End and Near End Xtalk). Cat 6 was more improvment in the connectors and improved quality control on the manufactur of the cable and assembly.

Some very subtle stuff to reduce noise for an improved signalling rate ... with the same speed electrons.

Use what the device recommends, if you want the best performance.

Paul

Frank, I have already been looking for a coiled cord for my PA system as well and so far not had any luck. I'm sure someone out there makes an 8 wire coiled cord but we just have not found them yet. I too have used a standard straight thru network cable to extend my reach and those cables are a lot more soft and flexible then the original MRC cable. It will have to do until I find the proper cord. I see a lot of talk about CAT5, CAT6 but as far as we are concerned with our model railroading applications it does not make any difference. You can use the older CAT3 if you want. All it refers to is the ability for the cable carry a higher frequency signal with little or no loss. The higher the CAT number the less loss and of course the more expensive. If you happen to run across this elusive 8 wire coiled cord please let me know. PeteC

Have you tried Radio Shack? I know, many stores have few electronic parts any more but it's worth a try.

Pete,

Since you're the only one who actually answered my question (man, can subjects go off-topic here or what?), if you find one, I hope you will post a general announcement here. I have tried to get MRC to respond, with no success, and since they are the only source of supply for certain networking components, this does not bode well for folks who are looking at the PA...

Frank

As the one person put it the difference between 5&6 are the cables ability to handle data transfer.I do not know what the transfer rate is for the PA but I figure the better the cable the better it is for everything. The price difference between 5&6 is only a few dollars. I have not seen a coiled version of these cables.Probably due to the increased length. Radio Shack carries these cables but if you want them in color they will have to be special ordered.They come in 3,7,14 and 25 foot lengths.The store by me only stocked 14' in blue and grey.

UNCLE YESTERDAY WAS TODAY IS TOMORROW WILL BE

The suffix to the Category denotes the standard's generation, hence the current generation in process is CAT 7. All are UTP cables (Unshielded Twisted Pair) and designed to terminate with RJ-45 connectors. There are pair requirements for each category.

You can buy bulk cable reels at home depot or lowe's. Short cable pieces are called patch cables, that are available at computer stores. Patch cables come in two configurations: straight through and crossover. I suspect that straight through cabling is the norm for model railroading.

CAT3 cable is what the phone system used/uses and terminates in RJ-11 connectors. The coiled phone cables you see in the telephone section in almost every store are CAT3 cables. In new and recent commercial construction all telecom wiring has been done in CAT5, although CAT5e and CAT6 are becoming more prominent as data speeds increase and the need to avoid crosstalk at the terminations becomes more critical. There are dual use wall connectors that will accept either the 2 pair RJ-11 connector or the 4 pair RJ-45 connector and maintain correct polarity and color coding. The more accurately the signal cancelling twist is maintained inside the cable sheath and the connector insulating cover and through the conector itself less attenuation (or signal loss) occurs over the length of the wire run. So if you're multiplexing signals on a wire the cleaner the passthrough at a connection, the more accurately the signal will be received by the intended device. So far all the CATX cables are backwards compatible, so using the better cabling will at least ensure adequate if not enhanced performance.

Bob

Am Tue, 08 Feb 2005 17:10:50 -0600 schrieb Paul Newhouse:

Then why discuss Cat5, Cat6 or Cat7? For your DCC-connections telephone cable is good enough.... ;-)