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Brian,

May seem ironic, but the best place for the wiring information is
www.wiringfordcc.com which is the name of this group!

In a nutshell, your 14ga bus and 18-20ga feeders is good, if HO or smaller.
Maybe even "O", but probably not a larger scale. Both rails need their own
separate bus wire. Those 2 bus wires then attach to the DCC Booster.

There has been much talk about termination of DCC busses that are longer
than 30'. Since you mention a 40' long layout, placing the booster in the
center, and having the bus feed 20' or so out in each direction, you should
be able to avoid this 30' distance number. If it's easier to wire more in a
line, then you can always add a terminator at the end if you ever have
troubles. All that is covered in great detail on the www.wiringfordcc.com
web site.

Depending on how many modules you have with the terminal strips, you may
want to consider power districts. Then if you have a short, it will only
affect that module instead of the whole layout. If you wire a run from the
booster to each module now, you could always expand and upgrade to power
districts if/when the need arises.

That should get you started!

Bob Scheffler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRICOM Design
www.dcctester.com Test all the bits and packets on your DCC Rails!

Have not purchased a DCC system yet and have never wired a model
railroad but have completed my benchwork and ready to start wiring.
Do i wire both rails or just one? Is it clear on the back of the DCC
controller/unit? I assume same for feeder wires?

Also, I have a small modular layout, around the walls about 40' long.
Do I do homerun wiring to each 8' module from the DCC unit or will one
40' bus suffice? I am using 14awg wire for bus and 18-20 for feeders
but that is flexible. each module has terminal screws.

Is there a diagram of a basic wiring plan.

TIA,
Brian

Whoops, I got a little overzealous w/ diodes in FIG 8.
Updated file is now posted.
DonV

Don thanks very much for the time & effort you gave to my question.
I feel i can now follow the example you provided & finish wiring to my
Tortoise machines.

Jim

I wasn't sure what you are calling a scissor crossing.

To wire a Walthers double crossover, go here:




To wire a Peco Electrofrog crossing, go here:




I hope one of these does it for you.

Allan

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the WiringForDCC
group.

File : /SW MACHINE CONTROLS/SLO-MOS.doc
Uploaded by : donevol <dvollrath@...>
Description : Tortoise toggle & rotary switches & LEDs

You can access this file at the URL:


To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:


Regards,

donevol <dvollrath@...>

I am building a model of Great Shefford, on of the stations on the
Lambourn Valley Railway set in the mid 30's. One of the main features
of this station was the scissor crossing which allowed access to the
horse-loading platform.

My question is how do I wire up the scissor. As I have read, the ZTC
instruction book but am still not sure.

Thanks.

Jim, the MR item, July 2002 was only for multiple toggle switches. Not all that good for yard throat control. I don't remember the date of the one I was thinking of but I'll dig out my notes on the application and post it in the files section.

Yes you can have more than one rotary switch to select the yard throat route...but only one at a time. I'll add that to my posted file also.

Don Volrath

Thanks for the info certainly makes sense to use more contacts on the one switch checked the price at Digi-Key site. Do you have the date on the article you refer to.
Is it possible to have 2 rotary switches connected to control the tortoise machines from 2 locations.

Jim McMahon

I'll look up the MR reference, but if you have an 11 track staging yard why not use a single 11 position rotary switch with diode matrix and pull-up resistors to select 1 of 11 possible routes? This scheme is also shown in MR a couple of years back. See Digi-Key p/n EG1952-ND for the rotary switch I use.
DonV

Sorry, I ment Rail Command, not Command 2000. From the same company
that make Easy DCC.

Ivar



--- In WiringForDCC@..., "Todd Schacherl" <todds@z...>
wrote:

If you are talking about the MRC Command 2000, that is DCC so

switching to

another DCC system is going to be no different. Other than features of
course.

Todd

Yahoo! Groups Links

If you are talking about the MRC Command 2000, that is DCC so switching to
another DCC system is going to be no different. Other than features of
course.

Todd

Hi!

I'm new to the forum. I'm 59 year, and live in Norway, having an US
type Model railroad. I have used Command control since the CTC16 in
the
1980's.
I use Command 2000 now, but have planned to change to Easy DCC this
summer. Then I can by my dekoders much cheaper here in Norway.
I'm using Bruce Chubb's C/MRI and a PC, to drive my Dispatcher panel,
signals and swithes on the rairoad.
My railroad use 2 boosters, (cut in both rails between them)and my
detectors use about 30 blocks (cut in 1 rails). All my ground wiring
(both for trains and C/MRI) are connected together.
Does anyone know if I have to rewire my railroad?. Are DCC so very
different fram Command 2000?

Ivar Aas

I will be useing Bi-polar DC & Radio Shack 2 pole 6 position rotary
switches with diodes on 10 turnouts to 11 track hidden staging yard.
Armadillo & Western Diode Matrix for stall motors shows what i can do
but i would like to operate the 10 tortoise from 2 positions as shown
useing DPDT switches in Model Railroader July 2002 Page 74 but
substitute rotary switches.
Is someone able to tell me if this is possible to do & supply a wiring
diagram.
Any help would be appreciated.
This is on my DIGITRAX DCC layout in progress.

Jim McMahon

--- In WiringForDCC@..., "wirefordcc"
<wire4dcc_admin@c...> wrote:

thank you very much, it all makes sense now. you guys and gals are

great, and i love this site!

Steve,

Hook your reverse loop to your AD520. Then feed your AD520 from

your

main bus or booster.

We have had a few occassions where people have wired their reverse
section controller, such as your AD520, to their reverse loop AND

also

wired their main bus to the reverse loop. When the reverse

section

controller tries to reverse, this wiring arrangement shorts out

the

main bus. Never attach your main bus to the reverse loop.

Go to this URL:

This is a reverse loop using a relay to reverse the loop. Just
imagine your AD520 in place of the relay. Notice that the wiring

of

the main bus is different colors than that used to feed the

reverse

loop. In this drawing, do not attach the blue and magenta colored
main bus to the green and red reverse loop.

Agreed. However, I see 12 VDC and 12 VRMS as potentially very different
inputs, depending upon how the booster deals with the input. If a rectifier
bridge and filter cap, even if small, are used, then the 12VRMS will result
in 15-16 VDC in, vs 12VDC from a 12 V power pack. So I think we need to
know more about what the booster does with AC vs DC input power. The real
proof is if we run 5A of load on the DCC bus with different voltage inputs,
AC and DC, and measure how long it takes for the DCS100 to shut down in
disgust. (big grin - try this with caution, folks, it's not smart to let
the magic smoke out of the DCS100).

However, I'm not generally in favor of running into walls just to make sure
they are solid, nor would I run a booster at full rated load just to check
dissipation. If the rail voltage we eventually have is high enough for
full-throttle satisfaction, so be it.
Thanks again
Blair

Even if you branch off your main bus with more 14 AWG, one joint
isn't going to hurt you. My main bus passes through several screw
terminals before the power arrives to the track. Bottom line, if
you can pass the quarter short-circuit test, you are good to go.

I wouldn't think whether you used a DC or an AC source would
matter. If a device can operate on AC, then if you use a DC supply,
it will still pass through the same circuitry inside the booster as
if you used AC - generating the same amount of heat. We will have
to see if anyone else knows any differently. What I think is
important is that your source, whether AC or DC, not put a voltage
that is significantly higher than the anticipated track voltage.
The differential will certainly be dissapated as wasted heat in the
booster. If you use the PS2012 for example, don't set it to G-scale
and then run your boosters set to HO.

I think you are fine with your plan on Loconet jacks. Even if you
have friends come over, I think most people have gone wireless.
Everyone I know in my area has done so. Besides, if you have enough
throttles to provide to your operators, you don't have to worry
about people coming over with a non-wireless throttle.

Having the jacks near the yards and such is good for two reasons.
1. So you can assign engines. 2. There appears to be a slight
delay when using wireless. So some of us do our switching plugged
in to a jack.

Allan
See individual responses below. By the way, thank you both for the effort
put into your website, which I've been following for at least two years now,
and for this new group. Just pulling this together so I could ask some
questions has served to both focus my thinking on the bus issues, and
address some misgivings I had.

Regarding PS2012: I prefer to have a power source with each
booster/command station. Given the cost of individual power sources
and the PS2012, there really isn't a cost advantage either way. The
PS20212 surprises me as a product because I thought Digitrax was one
of the manufacturers that advised against using a common power source
for their boosters.

They've said in their manual that this is because each booster should have
it's own current protection device, which seems to be why they also include
a Y-adapter (including current limiters) to feed multiple boosters from the
PS2012. Anyway, I'm in your camp for other reasons; home-kitting
half-a-dozen 5-Amp boxes with transformers, fuzes, switches, idiot lights,
and suitable connection means is a no-brainer, and then I know what I've
got, and it's modular; not to mention ease of repair.

Note that the Digitrax command station and
boosters can be powered by AC sources. DC is not required.

yep. And transformers are cheap. I've never seen a schematic for a DCC
booster, but I presume the first input element is a bridge rectifier (this
permits use of either polarity of DC as well as AC for feed - maximizes
robustness); if so, putting a bridge in the transformer chassis would be
redundant unless the transformer chosen is high enough in voltage that we
want to shed a few watts OUTSIDE the booster. BUT, do boosters run cooler
with DC rather than AC input? Does anyone know? It doesn't seem reasonable
from a transformer-diode-filter cap type of power supply point of view, but
I presume they're using switching technology given the size of the box for a
DCS100, so I don't know if there are differences in efficiency between
sinusoid AC and smooth DC input.

Loconet plugs: The only reason to have more Loconet plugs is if
someone comes over to operate that doesn't have wireless capability.

Okay, hadn't considered that, but it's my layout. If I'm willing to
relegate visitors to yard ops unless they bring a radio throttle, that's my
choice.

Loconet: There is no practical restriction as to how long your
Loconet can be. You can run it anywhere, anyway you want to.

Feeder length: Feeder lengths of 24" is not advised, but if you can
pass the short test (see )
you can do it. You might want to consider branching off your main bus
with more 14 AWG sub buses to get shorter feeder lengths.

Okay, theory discussion follows. Is it better to put a joint in the
high-current main bus, or a bit more length in the
feeders? Thinking about it, the resistance of a copper-solder-copper joint
has just got to be up there in the same league as several feet of smaller
gauge wire. So unless I'm off-base, and I haven't actually checked this
with the a milli-ohmmeter, it would actually not really matter which way I
went. The primary concern is the coin test, and that's up to me to try. As
far as I'm concerned, any branch in the main bus is at least as much of
concern as multiple feeders, because the main bus joint will see a larger
proportion of the total current being delivered to the loads.

Blair Smith
Deep River, Ontario, Canada.
Where there's still 18" of snow in the bush, and a good month for model
railroading before the yardwork begins.

Steve,

Hook your reverse loop to your AD520. Then feed your AD520 from your
main bus or booster.

We have had a few occassions where people have wired their reverse
section controller, such as your AD520, to their reverse loop AND also
wired their main bus to the reverse loop. When the reverse section
controller tries to reverse, this wiring arrangement shorts out the
main bus. Never attach your main bus to the reverse loop.

Go to this URL:

This is a reverse loop using a relay to reverse the loop. Just
imagine your AD520 in place of the relay. Notice that the wiring of
the main bus is different colors than that used to feed the reverse
loop. In this drawing, do not attach the blue and magenta colored
main bus to the green and red reverse loop.

hello everyone, i was reading allans site and i noticed he says (Do
not connect your main bus to your reversing section in any way. Your
reversing section must only be connected to your reverse section
controller, reversing relay, or reversing switch.) what exactly does
this mean? how can i hook up my reverse loop to my MRC AD520 without
attaching anything to my main bus? im really confused, can someone
explain this to me please? thanks!
steve