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Electrical Block Detection
Paul models HO and asks:
“I am still building my 5 module layout and plan to use electrical block detection in the future. I will run DCC NCE and operate a complete loop with an isolated section for each module as well as a siding. I want to include lights to indicate if the track is occupied or not. I would appreciate any thoughts on what I’ll need to make all this happen. Thank you in advance.”
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You can contact David Fenton from megapointscontrollers.co.uk with your exact needs and hemight be able to advise you and the company ships worldwide. I have used other products from him and they are excellent. I’ve no direct experience of his block detection products but what I think you’d need are one detecter per block which then feed into a feedback module and then into a multipanel processor into which you’d connect the LEDs.
If you haven’t gone down the NCE path yet, check out Digikeijs and the DR5000 processor.
Their DR4088 is one super economical block detector. The interfacing is easy, screw terminals and the cable into the DR5000.
For an economical launch into block detection this is the way to go.
To use NCE block detection products to monitor 16 blocks starts to get expensive.
Just wait till you see the cost of transponding with NCE!
Digikeijs have that solved with their DR5088 which is about A$12 per block for 16 blocks.
(You do have to talk Loconet but that’s provided by the DR5000.)
Having been down the NCE path, I’m a bit of a convert!