Hi Marty
my first go with encoder cables I used cat6, I think from
"cables to go" or something like that. They worked well you can buy in many various lengths with rj45 ends.
about a year ago I switched to super VGA cables and sourced some 15 pin bo cards from Winford. you have 15 wires plus a shield. so you can do all encoder pins and your 5v in that one cable.
In my case one of my cables is 30ft long so I had to run a separte
2 conductor for the 5v .
In your case I expect your cables will be less than 10 ft so you may not have this issue.
good luck
Carl