@amtrack5899 posted:This may be a foolish question but why 30 feet of wire?
Why anyone with a ... nevermind. 
Just kidding, it isn't like it's something that springs to mind. It seems that the DCS signal is more likely to get distorted if the output of the TIU to the locomotive being programmed is just a few feet. So, and especially for PS/3, MTH at their lab had a 30 foot coil of twisted pair feeding the test bench for programming sound files. They also used pure DC to power the board/locomotive that was under test. Both of these helped with speedy loads, so I do the same thing on my bench, and it is more reliable and faster than using short wires and AC on the locomotive or board.
