No pictures yet of my modules but I am making some progress. The Zbend gentleman who was making the harness has discontinued the manufacturing of the harnesses. Does anyone have a list of connector part numbers of the Zbend wire connector harness. I am looking for the power connecor bodies specifically. and a place to order them, ie digikey mouser etc. thanks stu
I'll dig up some pictures of mine later. What I use are: white terminal strips (available Radio Shack and surplus stores) Alpha 1869/10C cable (18 AWG, 10 conductor, no shield) standard 25 pin D solder cup D connectors you need 1 male, 1 female for an end module, 2 each female and 2 male for an "inline" module For the end module, I simplify the Male and Femal to one connection, using a wire-wrap D connector soldered to the back of a standard solder cup one. I use the 10 conductor cable as it is neat and there are 6 wires just for inner/ outer and Accessory power. Leaving 4 for the User defined connections (21-25) which I used 2 for DCC buss power. I'd be happy to mail you or anyone one of the wire-wrap style D connectors of you PayPal or mail me $3 (they $5 if you try to buy one, I got a deal on them)
Hi Stu, Welcome! I've got the complete list from Bill Kronenberger somewhere, since I was toying with the idea of picking up making the cables. But I have not yet decided whether I am enough of a glutton for punishment to do this. Since I have two small children at home now, I probably will not do this in the near future, but am talking with someone about another possibility. Bill provided a great service for us Z-Bend trackers, but it took a LOT of work to make it happen. Randy Smidt
Stu, Here are the pix of my cable style: (note the single D in the left photo and the double D for an end module on the right). D-25 male or female Solder cup are $0.60 each, new, at Halted Specialties, the surplus electronic store around the corner. I can send you the long lead wire-wraps if you want but I would appreciate $3 per to cover costs. The cable I use I got from R&D Electronics at $1.29/ft. Bill's 18 gauge Zip cord (clear with copper/tine wires) or classic red/black zipcord is available too. Halted's is MUCH better than Radio Craps. The white terminal strips are 16 long, I cut them in half.
Thanks for the feedback. I will pursue the cable kits when they are available. Next question where do you put feeders for the trackpower, in n scale I droped a feeder almost every piece of flex track. How often do you put feeders on z flex track, every piece? every other, one per module ?????
Stu, 1 feeder every three feet or so is a good rule of thumb. Plus or minus a little is OK, ie. 1 per four feet on a four foot long module. I've seen up to about 20' of modules run off of track power alone, but you can notice the trainsslowing as they move farther from the power. Randy
