Very encouraging.? Thanks Karst and Vinny.? A rapidly flashing red light made me wonder if the board was slowly melting before my eyes.? I figure the board can blink all it wants if that means it is happy. LOL.

I'm excitedly awaiting the new WiFi module to "update/convert" my DR5000.? IPH reports it and some other nice YaMoRC tidbits are already shipped to me. It's awesome to see US/Canadian distribution underway.? Get ready to have to mail out lots of labels for DR5000 to YaMoRC command station conversions Karst! .? ;-)

UPS just told me that they delivered to a guy called MATTHEWS :)

I have three DR4088LN-OPTO.
The red flashing LED is normal to indicate that any of the channels is "active".
Depending whether your sensor is setup to be active high or active low will dictate whether the red LED flashes when it is on or off.
Some sensors allow you to configure it to be active low or active high.
To me, this LED indication is only helpful when there is only 1 channel connected because if ANY channel is active the LED will flash.
In other words, if one channel stays active while another channel is switching on/off the LED will not really provide any useful indication.
I hope this helps.

one hundred percent normal ;)?

?

The LED flashes whenever data is being produced by the module ( or any upstream module ). It "counts" active inputs.

It seems to me your Sensor works inverted => Active when sensor is not triggered and vice versa.

Greets,

Karst

?

I would think that the current of the short is being shared between the two boosters. Since you measured this to be under 6 amps, neither booster trips. You could block off the section of track containing the turnout and put the turnout on booster 7.

Bob

I have an identical setup on my layout except I have DCC concepts digital ip instead of tortoises. ?I’ll check it out when I get chance. ?Although I’m not sure what a Zorra is…?
Adam

I've got a DR4088LN-Opto successfully connected to an infrared sensor (or so I think!).? The sensor correctly reports to iTrain when the IR beam is blocked.

There is a small red light on the DR4088LN-OPTO that flashes like mad.? So madly that I wonder if the box is happy or angry.? The manual says the red light will flash to indicate S88 traffic (I don't have an S88 lead connected) or to indicate "activity."
What's interesting is that the red light flashes like mad when the sensor is not activated.?? Trigger the sensor and the red light stops flashing (and iTrain reports getting an occupancy signal.)

I can't find any DR4088LN-OPTO posts.? Does anyone know if what I'm observing is normal??

Hi Brian

I should have added that on the diagram the black lines diagonal to the track left of the turnout represent the gaps that are cut in the track to isolate the power districts.? So the frog is only connected to booster 1 and is isolated from booster 7 by the gaps/cuts in the track.? The power to the frog is controlled by one of the SPDT switches in the Tortoise that moves the points.? If the switch is set against you, the phase of the frog will be opposite of the rail your loco is on as you come up the hill from Quarry (assuming my diagram is correct).

All of the switches on the layout (over 250 of them) are power routing.? Generally if you try to run through a switch that is set against you, the DB5033 booster will show a short and the power is off in the power district controlled by the DB5033 that is showing a short (as expected).? Based on testing this is the only place on the layout where a we don't get a short when we try to run through a switch that is set against us - the big difference here is we are crossing between power districts in this case.?

My best guess without knowing the capabilities of the DR5033 to sense phase problems is that neither booster 1 or 7 see the out of phase as a short, and hence don't shut down.? If anyone has more knowledge in this scenario and can share it would be helpful.

The layout was converted from DC to DCC 3 years ago.? No one recalls seeing the problem we now have a Zorra until about 3 weeks ago - it has probably been there for the full 3 years, just not as visible.? Now every loco approaching Zorra with a switch set against it stops dead.? We would have run hundreds if not thousands of trains through here over the last 3 years and I find it hard to believe we had the switch set correctly every time until 3 weeks ago. There have been no wiring changes in this are for the full 3 years.

Thank you to everyone for any insight or suggestions you can provide.

Jay Lennox, Toronto.

Jay,

Not an answer but a question, why are you feeding the frog (green wire) from both booster 1 and booster 7? I would have though the frog should have only have power from one booster, probably booster 1 as per the drawing.

Cheers

Brian

Brian Anderson

Hi

I quickly created a diagram of the described situation this morning.? The top picture represents a train coming on the lower track toward the switch that is set against it, and the lower picture is for a train on the upper track.? When the wheels of the loco bridge the gap between the orange and green bus wires (see red circle), I think this is causing an out of phase condition.? This does not cause either booster to see a short (no red LED).? Both boosters show the green and yellow LEDS brightly lit.? Based on your experience are the boosters behaving correctly?? Comments and ideas welcome.

Jay Lennox, Toronto

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Hi

I have been trying to figure out good wording for the question for a few days.? It is a little complicated to describe the track configuration and what is going on, but I will try here an see what questions everyone has.

We have two adjacent power districts, each powered by a DR5033 - booster #7 and booster #1.? Seems simple enough until you add the fact that at the junction of these two power districts there is a power routing turnout which is part of the booster #1 power district. The switch is oriented such that the diverging tracks run to the booster #7 power district (and the points end of the switch is oriented toward booster #1).

If we have a train that is running from booster power district #7 toward power district #1 AND the switch is set properly (i.e. it is not against you) the train will run through just fine.??However, if the switch is set against you, the train will stop.? There is no short on booster #7, nor on booster #1 - both show a solid green LED and a solid yellow LED.? But no red LEDs.

Further we measured the voltage and amps using our?RRamp-AmpMeter at booster #7.? Voltage looks good - 13.5 volts.? Before the train tries to cross the power district boundary, it is drawing 1.35 amps? (it is a consist of 3 locos and 10 lights passenger cars). As soon as the first engine truck wheel bridges the power district boundary the amps begin to climb quickly to 5.35 amps before we push the loco back to stop the bridging of the power districts.

Based on what we were able to measure, it would appear that the DR5033 boosters do not see this as a short.? Further it looks like power is being drawn from both boosters allowing us to exceed significantly the 3 amp out put of the individual power supplies - it is almost like they are being added.

I have 'mapped' the power feeds from the boosters as I know that having the boosters out of phase is often a problem between adjacent power districts. We use green and orange wire for our power bus wires, so I will use these colours to describe what I found.? If the switch is set against the train, the stock rail (outside rail) from boosters #7 is connected to the green bus wire, and the stock rail from booster #1 is also connected to green. With the switch set against us, the frog is also connected to the green bus wire from booster #1.? However the rail (inside rail) from booster #7 that leads to the frog is connected to the orange wire from booster #7.? ?When the wheel bridges green to orange at the rail cut, I believe this becomes an out of phase problem.

Questions:

1. Should the DR5033 be able to detect this out of phase problem and should it short, shutdown, or what? Does anyone have any experience with this?
2. Are we really in an out of phase condition when the green and orange are bridged?

I know that a picture would help.? I will try to create one tomorrow and and I assume that it can be attached by selecting the 'paper clip' and uploading a PDF.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Jay Lennox, Toronto

Yes James, Zoom is very good App and would be my go to also.

Since this is a no cost forum to the members, it would be an out of pocket expense for me.

Cost for any Zoom type room App for more than 2 members and longer than 40 minutes would be needed.

Want to have some online Q&A, tutorials and interviews in the future.

Whereby is $70.00 per year.
Zoom is $140.00 per year.

I don't know what another zoom type rooms cost.


--
Dennis Cherry
Owner/Moderator

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Si quieres enviar a Espa?a, orden de DCCtrainautomation en el Reino Unido (https://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/), o Modellbahnshoppe Lippe en DE (https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com).? Será más barato, y probablemente más rápido (especialmente si usted ordena de DE como usted no tiene problemas de aduanas.

If you want to ship to Spain, order from DCCtrainautomation in the UK (https://www.dcctrainautomation.co.uk/), or Modellbahnshoppe Lippe in DE (https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com). It will be cheaper, and probably faster (especially if you order from DE as you don't have customs problems.

Sincere condolences Karst.? Been through that and it's tough.

When I ordered mine this morning there were 48, so going fast!

That worked thanks

I would think that it would be better to order from a UK or European store if you want delivery to Spain. It Should cost less overall.

Bob