6029 King Stephen Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I have the Gaugemaster Prodigy 2 system and although I am more than satisfied by what it offers me, I am somewhat less chuffed with the part that seems to be the Achilles Heel of the system - the lead connecting the control box to the handset. As I don't have a permanent layout as yet, I have to make do with an oval of Hornby large radius track set out on the dining table when newly chipped locos need to be run. Consequently, the controller has to be packed away into its box when finished with. I find that I need to spend ages pulling, pushing or stretching the lead so that the handset display remains lit so that I can programme or run trains. Invariably it lights up at full stretch but as soon as I sit down the "saved" message appears and the handset goes off. Stand up and stretch the lead and everything comes on again. It would have been much better if this lead could have been of the coiled flexible type as used on large headphones. Is there any way of changing the existing lead to one that is more flexible? It is frustrating when trying to demonstrate how much better DCC is than DC when the lead is being awkward! Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 009matt Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 sounds like your clips on the end of the lead are faulty. A standard network cable from pc world et al will do the trick matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnDMJ Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Yes, it is a standard network cable available from PC World, Maplin and the like. On the connectors are springs which latch the cable into the sockets. Do not be afraid to ease those away from the plug body so that they engage with the socket to latch fully; when you plug the system together, just give a slight pull to the cable to see if it has latched propoerly! HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 If you do go for a new cable make sure it is a 'straight though' type as some leads have a cross over conection. I found the one supplied OK but not long enough to cover the 22 length of my layout, but was lucky to have a redundant network cable that is 15ft long and it works better than the one supplied. Having looked at the plugs one of mine is loose on the cable as supplied but still makes a good contact if pressed in firmly. I think if you contact Gaugemaster they will exchange it for you. regards mike g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaffsOatcake Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Poundland were knocking out CAT5E network cables for yes you guessed it a quid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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