Description
The UTP cab bus panel provides a low cost means of adding walk around capability to your layout. The panel has 4 RJ-12 connectors wired in parallel, two on the front and two on the rear. Your cab bus can be “daisy chained” from one panel to the next using the rear connectors. One or two cabs can then be plugged in to the front connectors.
UTP Features
The UTP cab bus panel provides a low cost means of adding walk around capability to your layout. The UTP comprises of a small printed circuit board with four RJ-12 connectors wired in parallel. Two connectors on the back are used to “daisy chain” the cable from the command station to more UTPs. The two connections on the front of the panel are used to connect to throttles and cabs. A metal panel is supplied to for mounting the UTP on edge of the layout of other convenient spot.
The Universal Throttle Panel is can be used with the (A) Cab Bus on NCE, (B) LocoNet on D igitrax and (C) Xpress bus on Lenz systems. The UTP will not work with the MRC Advance Prodigy system because it uses 8 wire cables.
Powering Option
The optional power connector allows additional power for the cab bus/LocoNet cable. This power is needed on DCC systems when the number of cabs or throttle exceed the limited power available from the command station. There can also be a problem with voltage drop on long cables. The telephone type of cable is used between UTPs is a light wire (#26 or #28 gauge wire). The wire size is OK for the signals but may cause a problem for power on long runs of 30 feet or more. Number 28 wire has a resistance of just under 2 ohms in 30 feet. For the current to flow both ways that’s 4 ohms. It would not take too many cabs plugged in to develop a high voltage drop. This is why added power is needed on long runs or systems with many cabs operating at one time.
Problems may show up as intermittent cab trouble when using many cabs or cabs at the end of long cable runs. Power can be added with a TTE-XNCE wall plug-in type power supply. This 12 V DC 1 amp unit has the correct plug for the back of the UTP.
Optional LED
There are a number of different wiring options for the optional LED. The LED can be installed as a status indication and /or provide an easy way to locate the UTP in a darken layout room.. The LED can be used to indicate power on the cab bus/Loconet cable. If connected to the rails near the UTP it will indicate power on the rails. A third option is to separately power the LED.
