Digitrax Question


T

trainman111

New Member
Hello, i am new on this forum.

i Am currently building a modern day BNSF N scale layout.

24 feet by 14 feet.

the layout has 2 reverse loops.

i have the digitrax Zephyr, and about 10 DCC equipped KATO BNSF locomotives.

i want to begin having operating sessions on the layout.

its got 5 passing/sidings, staging yard, operating yard, industries ect. can aquire up to about 6 or 7 operators.

i was wondering what i need to give the zephyr more power. a power supply? or a booster?

i need the to reverse loops to have auto reverse as well. what would i use for that?

I have 6 UT4 wireless throttles, and a UR90 wireless receiver.

any help appreciated, thanks
 
Hello, and welcome. You would probably do okay with one other booster, say in the 2-3 amp range. But if your other users are likely to be running lash-ups of 3-5 engines and pull 50 or more cars, it may not be enough. In that case, a total of three power districts should suffice, one powered by the Zephyr and the other two powered by their own boosters. It might be helpful to further break down the boosted districts into a couple of subs and have them short managed via 12 volt tail-light bulbs wired in series into one of the two leads of each sub-bus. Something to think about.

As for auto-reversing, I use Tony's Train Exchange PSX-AR, a marvelous device. Can't say enough about it...although it wasn't what I would call inexpensive. Ideally, one of them would suffice to manage two reversing loops, but it may not be a practical thing to do. If you could be sure that only one loop would ever be used at a given point in time, then I'd say wire it in to control both of them. But you will have multiple operators who are likely to make you regret the decision....even once.
 
I use the DB 150 because I use the Ol' Clunk, the Super Empire Builder. It powers my whole layout easily because I am a lone operator. I did divide the layout into four "districts", but only by using a sub-bus and wiring the tail light bulbs into each sub-bus. When an engine shorts, the bulb lights and I know where to look. Meanwhile, the rest of the layout continues to stay powered.

The 5 amps is mighty appealing, but it would probably be wasted powering a single district. I'd even say definitely wasted. As I said previously, try for three districts and get smaller boosters in the 2-3 amp range.

Perhaps I haven't followed your thought process when you propose the DB150. Could you help me out?
 
im not too sure if you know what im talkinga bout either.

what im trying to say is i have the 2.5 amp Zephyr, im trying to look for more power to power my layout, because i will have 6-7 man operating sessions, 2-3 through freights on the road at once, a yard master, staging boss, and 2-3 locals on the road at once.

im trying to look for more power that i can just simply plug right into the already wired zephyr, and then just begin running trains once its plugged in.

is that possible?

or do i need to wire the booster to the layout as well?
 
You can just plug a booster into your existing Zephyr. You can use the NCE Smart Booster at http://dcchobbysupply.com/zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=184 and a power supply that plugs into your Zephyr at http://dcchobbysupply.com/zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=193. That will give you a total of 3 amps for about $100. For your N scale layout, I'll bet 3 amps will handle it, especially since you're unlikely to be running all your consists at once.

For your auto reverse issue, I'd get the PSX-AR at http://dcchobbysupply.com/zcart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=372. It functons both as an automatic reverse loop detector, circuit breaker, and switch machine activator. The big advantage to the DCC Specialties unit is that it senses the reverse loop and will automtically align the switches to take the train in the right direction through the loop with no operator intervention.
 
The NCE smartbooster is a solution but I had bad luck with them. First one died in 1 day and couldnt' handle more than 1 engine. Second one totally died in 2 months. I now run the NCE Power Pro and love it.
I believe that they say runs with any system and is 5 amps http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJFZ3 I've seen them around but don't have any info on how good they are.
 
thanks for the tips UP2CSX.

but one thing about the Auto reverser. im looking for a more simple way. i just want to put some ground throws at the one switch that i have there, and then when the operator is coming, the dispatcher will tell him what way to go. ill attach a picture. and then the electricity is automatically reversed. or is an auto reverser even needed if the operator will flip/align the ground throw himself?


the picture attached:
the blue is a backdrop, black is the benchwork outline, red is the tracks, and the yellow is the walls of the room.

as you can see, the red goes around the ouside of the pininsula through the backdrop and then reconnects. The pininsula is about 11.5 feet long.

there is also a siding that comes off the main, and ends about halfway up the pininsula. the siding is about 12 feet long.

the place where the track reconnects to the reverse loop does not connect to the siding in any way, it reconnects to the mainline right after the siding turnout.

will i need an auto reverser? what exactly does an auto reverser do? does it reverse the electricity? or does it reverse the turnout auto matically? as i said above, my operators can do the turnout switching on there own, will i still need an auto reverser?

thanks
 
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