Hi Jerry,
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To anyone who wants to try this:
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1.? Do NOT hook up any amp meter across any kind of power source whether that be a power supply, battery, booster output or across your track.? If you are lucky, all you will do is blow a fuse.? Some amp meters have some hard to find fuses or no fuse at all.? Amp meters must ALWAYS be placed in series with the output of one of the leads from your power source.
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2.? If you hook up an analog meter (across the power source for a volt meter and in series for an amp meter), be sure to use an AC meter.? A DC meter will read zero.? An AC meter will read low.
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I have several RRampmeters.? For those that don't think they can afford one, a regular digital multimeter can be used if you don't care about the exact reading.? Quite often, a relative reading is adequate.? For example, say you place your meter across your booster and it reads 6.7V.? That becomes your reference.? If you are using electronic circuit breakers or block detectors, measure at their output and that becomes your reference.? Now if you measure along your track and you get close to 6.7V, you are good.? Sometimes, you just want to know if you have voltage or not.? So while I have RRampmeters, I often just reach for the nearest handy digital multimeter.
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Allan Gartner
Wiring for DCC
