A question about wire type and etc. for Hagstrom Encoder . . .

[Randall]

I'm at the beginning of building a console using a Hagstrom Ke72 and some switches. What gauge of wire (18, 22 etc.) and type (i.e, solid copper or stranded) should I use? I didn't see any suggestion with the encoder information.Thanks.Randall

[Guest MikePowell]

Randall,There is a lot of latitude in wire selection. It's nice to have stranded wire because it will flex more before breaking. Up to a point smaller wire is more convenient to work with. Heavy gauge stuff tends to grown to large bundles as you wire a lot of connections. For signal runs, I typically use something like 24 gauge stranded. Having different colors can be a big help. If you don't want to buy a large selection of individual spools of wire, buy 50 or 100 feet of multi-conductor cable, and strip the outer jacket off. Generally the individual conductors follow a color code to identify wires or wire pairs.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

[Randall]

Thanks, Mike. Great idea about the multi-wire cable.Randall

[Guest PoRrEkE]

I use flatcable. Very handy to put connectors anywhere you want. Though if you chose multi-wire cable (like printer cable e.g.) you could use male & female 25pin connectors and just solder the wires. These connectors are usually a lot less expencive.