where can you purchase the items to make a loco net cable?

[casmmr]

I tried the search and came up with nothing on this topic of where to purchase loco net items, rj-12 connectors, male and female, 6 wire cable, and the crimping tool to strip the wire and crimp the rj12 jack.  Where can you purchase these items?  thanks, Craig

[Philip H]

Some electronics stores - like Radio Shack - will have them.  Larger cities will often have electronics parts warehouses that stock them.  You can also look for places like Habitat for Humanity Restores - their selection varies because they resell donated supplies, but Lee Weldon set up much of the control bus on his old WM line from Restore supplies.

[John]

Home Depot .. Lowes ..

get a real good crimper

[LKOrailroad]

Digi-Key https://www.digikey.com/

Mouser http://www.mouser.com/

[casmmr]

I have been in Lowes and Home Depot, no rj-12, only rj-11; and no female receptacles; and no 6 wire cable.  I know people have said you can get the items there, but, not in the stores close to me. 

[mmyers]

Home depot sells the plugs. Can't say for Lowes as after a couple of bad experiences, I refuse to shop there. The plugs at Home Depot are by Ideal and have RJ11 printed on the package because they can be used as the more common RJ11 configuration. Just make sure the package says 6P6C (6 pin, 6 conductor) because they also have 6P4C jacks. RJ12 needs 6 conductors. RJ11 only needs 4 and that is where the confusion happens. The RJ designation refers to how the cable is assembled. So a 4 conductor RJ11 can be made using 6 conductor parts or 4 conductor parts. For RJ12 you need the 6 conductors
I've never seen six wire flat satin cable at Home Depot.
Radio Shack sells a 25 foot extension cable that is 6 wire. You will need to cut one end off and crimp a new jack on so it is "data" style.
I've also seen six wire female jacks and cables at Wallmart. The cables are telco style and would need one plug cut off and a new one crimped on data style.
Buy a good pair of crimpers. Stay away from the cheap plastic ones. They are not even worth the little bit paid for them.

Digikey and Mouser also have all of the parts needed and may be cheaper depending on the quantity needed.
Litchfield Station sells parts and cables too. http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php?cat=323

Martin Myers

[Ian MacMillan]

I have been in Lowes and Home Depot, no rj-12, only rj-11; and no female receptacles; and no 6 wire cable.  I know people have said you can get the items there, but, not in the stores close to me.

We do carry limited amounts of 24/6 cable. But it rarely stays in stock and is not an online stock item for us.

Like Martin said, we do stock the female faceplates that you need.

[basementcalling]

Saw this on the MB Klein website. Ws wondering the same thing, as I am about ready to start hooking up my DCC system and have done nothing more than take a throttle from someone else before this, so I had similar questions.

Sure I will have many more as I wade into the deep end of the DCC pool. Several types of plugs and cabling listed on this page at MB Klein. Which exactly are essential, I don't know.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/DCC-Sound-Power-s/862.htm

No idea if this is a decent buy or not.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Digitrax-LocoNet-Cable-Marker-Kit-p/dig-lncmk.htm

[mmyers]

Price is just a little high but unless you are going into the cable business, not outrageous. Didn't know Digitrax was selling this stuff. Baynesville electronics nearby gets $4 a piece for those cable connectors.

Martin Myers

[Rich Businger]

Digitrax sells LocoNet cables and the supplies to make your own.


Rich

[reinhardtjh]

Monoprice for cheap cabling parts www.monoprice.com

  RJ12 - 6p6c stranded wire plugs - $1.78 (for 50)

  6-conductor flat silver satin cable (1000ft - enough for 3 people for a lifetime) - $36.06

  6p6c inline straight through connector - $0.29 each

  RJ11/12/45 crimper tool - None that were decent.  Look at your local places for a good one.

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Digitrax sells LocoNet cables and the supplies to make your own.


Rich

Yes they do. $50 you get a set with 50' of wire and everything else you need. I am waiting on stock so I can see how good the crimper is. They are back ordered at Digitrax at the moment.

http://www.digitrax.com/news/2013/11/15/loconet-cable-product-line-added/