DCC feed cabling from a distant CS

[Markku]

I was wondering if there is some practical limit or advice about locating the central station not besides the track.

I won't have an insulated shed that could house the sensitive electronics (CS, power supply) so I'm thinking about having the CS (with its internal booster) and its power supply in some kind of carrying box. The box could then be brought in and out. The box would be brought from inside to the terrace to connect to mains power, and it would have some 5-10 meter two-wire cable (with banana plugs or something) that would be connected to the track, there would be a small interface box with the banana plug sockets inside.

Will the length of the DCC feed cable be an issue for the DCC signal quality or something like that? Obviously the wire diameter and quality needs to be sufficient anyway.

I have ordered the ML-Train or MD mXion MZSpro central station set with WiFi and the WLANMouse handset. Let's see how it goes.

 

[phils2um]

5 to 10 m will not be a problem. My CS is in the house with about 25m leads to the track. It's just an extension of your track that trains can't run on! But, make sure you use at least 12 awg (2.0mm dia.) wire to keep the voltage drop to a minimum.

 

[dunnyrail]

When I was still into track power my layout was set up with various sections. These were Isolated from each other and had a feed at each end to give good supply. The furthest distance from the CS was some 80 feet away with no problems encountered with signal from the CS. A friend of mine had a little longer run than that again with no issues. We used normal Speaker Wire as a power supply and again it worked well. I tended to prefer the Black with ine side having a white stripe so that you can orientate the wire to the correct track.

 

[Markku]

I see not all banana plugs accept more than 1.5mm2 (16 AWG) wire, but was able to found also 2.5mm2 (14 AWG) compatible plugs. (Hirschmann BSB 20 K for my own memo...)

 

[phils2um]

I'm using 4 conductor 12 awg stranded speaker wire as my main power leads. The leads are connected to banana jacks mounted in a low-voltage wall mount electric box shown in the first photo. The connection between my two boosters and the banana jacks is actually 1.5mm2 LGB 51233 wire just over 1m in length. I found speaker wire banana plugs available from big box electronics stores that work fine. I tried a couple different styles shown in the second and third photos. I settled on the the ones with the plastic shell just to minimize the chance of an accidental short. I soldered the wires to the plug bodies. The plugs in the second photo will accept wire up to 6mm in diameter (3 awg or 28mm2) through the side!



And a bonus photo of Ge 2/4 No. 221 heading a mixed goods at twilight:

 

[Greg Elmassian]

I've found that you can remove the setscrews, and drill out the wire hole a bit and accommodate 10 gauge stranded with dual bananna plugs.

(My old NCE 10 amp system shown, but the stack of bananna plugs is the point, 10 gauge)

 

[GAP]

I've found that you can remove the setscrews, and drill out the wire hole a bit and accommodate 10 gauge stranded with dual bananna plugs.

(My old NCE 10 amp system shown, but the stack of bananna plugs is the point, 10 gauge)

Greg,
What is the gauge of the red and white wires going from "track" plug to the banana plugs?

 

[Greg Elmassian]

too dang small!

I think it is 16 gauge, an unfortunate limitation of the connector on the NCE, but since it is only for a short distance, does not make a difference. All you are trying to do is reduce voltage drop.

The voltage drop is controlled by the resistance of the wire, 1 foot of smaller gauge is nothing compared to 40-50 foot... clearly 40 to 50 times less significant. Later I was able to use all 4 pins in the track connector and double up the wire.

My Zimo system is has much heavier gauge capable connectors.

Greg