I just read a thread regarding where to get basic electrical items. It was cable & toggle switches. The source was Radio Shack. After shaking my head since that would be one of the last places I would go due to price and poor selection, I decided to provide a list of sites where one can get almost anything they need without paying through the nose. Working retail for a number of years many years ago, including RS, I can tell you that is not where to go. Neither is Home Depot (I shop there all the time, but not for any of this), Lowes or any other hardware like store. Yes, they are usually convenient, but you will pay for it. Have said that, I also have worked for an electronics manufacture and have dealt with many mail order companies purchasing components, wire, cable & special components over the years. What I look for, depending on my needs are companies that buy up overstock and discontinued items are a fraction of the original cost. This is usually a large savings, but the selection varies and is not intensive. The first group of links fits into this category; http://www.mpja.com/ http://www.allelectronics.com/ https://www.bgmicro.com/login.aspx The next category is bulk wire. Copper is not cheap, cabling costs have risen considerable in the past 10 years. What I look for is stranded speaker wire with thinner, clear insulation for most wiring jobs unless I need single conductor and a specific color. I also like using 20 gauge, but it is harder to find. 18 & 22 are very coming, 20 is not. It';s a compromise between the two when you need more than 22 which is small and 18 which might be somewhat bulky depending on the application; http://www.cablewholesale.com/shop/bulk-cable.htm http://www.waytekwire.com/wps/portal/en/products Next are individual electronic components. Transistors, capacitors, diodes, IC's, etc. The two main players are Mouser & Digikey. Both are huge supply houses for just about anything electronic; http://www.mouser.com/search/default.aspx http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en http://www.onlinecomponents.com/productsearch.aspx Lastly, here are other sources that carry a assortment of items; http://www.web-tronics.com/electronic-parts-and-general-supplies http://nteinc.com/ Please note, many of these sites also carry other items that cross over into the other categories. I tried to group them together as best as possible. Also note, while some might be great at one line of products, they might be the opposite at another. If anyone can add to the list, please do so.
A good source for bulk wire is www.powerwerx.com They also have Anderson Powerpoles and other wiring accessories.
I recognized the name, but after looking through the site I see two things: 1. Very expensive, 2. Higher quality for lab and/or bench applications. I would say overkill for this hobby.
Thanks for the links to these supply places. I am sure it will help many. One thing that I have trouble finding is small hook up wire for decoder (DCC) installs. The wire size I need is #30 AWG stranded. ( or smaller) Digitrax has a wire kit that has this size but I find the wire too stiff in most cases. TCS has wire in the 30, 32 and 36 wire sizes. The 36 is only available in black. The other (30 and 32) comes in several colors. The Tsunami decoders from SoundTraxx have a very nice wire but SoundTraxx does not offer it as a product that they sell. The TSU-750 series decoders us a very small wire. I would like to find a supplier for that wire.
Litchfield Station is where I get all this stuff from. They have the required #30 wire in the DCC colors used. Do a Google search for the place. I would rather not offend The Powers That Be here with a link. I have bought the DCC color code shrink tube from Traintek, LLC at a local train show. I use that for solder splicing two DCC wires together. I have read something about posting links for companies here. Rich Rich
allelectronics has wire in 20 AWG size in several colors as well as 6 wire flat telephone cable for loconet use.
Yes they are. There are many items , electrical/electronic, that are used in model railroading if you know what you are looking for. I have ordered from some of those companies. Again, all the OP has to do is seach for Litchfield Station and Traintek LLC. There must be a dozen or more on line DCC suppliers for #30 wire as well as many more DCC items. For HO or N scale, #20 is much to large a diameter for DCC wiring in locos. Decoders come with #30 wire leads. The below fellow has a lot of good DCC info. Take time to carefully look though his site and save the link to Favorites. http://www.mrdccu.com/ Rich
Point is they don't sell model railroad equipment. Stating wire is model RR related, you might of add it's most everything else related. Drop the OT subject.
Videobruce, the link for the Powerpoles IS madel railroad related, at those are required by N-trak for connections between modules. Just because a site doesn't sell only Model RR items, doesn't mean it isn't a valuable site for finding things useful for the hobby. Alan
Ok, lets remove the word "related" and substitute "stores". My point was the links are not model railroad shops in response to the statement about "not posting links here". That was the purpose of your statement wasn't it?
