at theboundary.What you reallyneed is a cautionor approach
signal, if thepassing siding is freeand the turnout is set to
allowyou tomove into the siding.
Here iswherea lot of data crunchingand systemplanning
comes intoplay. Thisusuallymeans a computer and software
andblockdetectors and signal controlmodules and feedback
from the turnout controllers and lotsofwireand...
Whew! It canbedaunting. This level of discussion couldbe its
owneBook. I’mgoing to justmentiona coupleof things that
areout there. Be ready todevotea lot of timeother resources
to takea system from the signal
animation
level to the signal
automation
level.
Personally, I don’t see the returnon investment. Butmany
folks do. But then I onlymodel railroadswithdark territory
(no signals).
Digitraxhasmanycomponentsofasignal system
signaldecoders; signalheads, cablesandoccupancydetectors.
However,oneshould take to
heartanoteon theirwebsite:
“A
computer
and
thirdparty
software
arenecessary to
realize the full featurepoten-
tialof theSE8C.”So,while it
sounds likeacompletesystem,
itwill requirea fairamountof
additionaltimeandexpense
toachieve the resultsyouare
probablyseeking.
The JMRI softwarehas a
module thatwill allowyou to
control your layout andauto-
mateall your signals.
9: Digitrax SD8CSignal
Decoder board. Photo
courtesy of Digitrax.
9
10: SignalMan board fromRR-CirKits to interface
between a computer and your on-layout signals. Photo
courtesy RR-CirKits.
10
Oneof thedriving forcesbehind JMRI isDickBronson. Through
hisRR-CirKits company
heprovidesmanyof the
interfacemodules, like theSignalMan (10) thatworkwith the
JMRI softwareand theDigitrax LocoNet communications sys-
tem. RR-CirKits is anewMRHadvertiser, asof thismonth.
If you found this columnhelpful, please clickon theReader
Feedback linkhereand rate it awesome. Please join in the con-
versation that invariablydevelops thereabout the topicspre-
sented in the column. Shareyour experiences. Thanks. Check
backnextmonth. Until then, Iwishyougreenboards, or clear
signals,whichever youprefer to consider.
DCC ImpulsesColumn - 7
Reader
Feedback
(click here)
MRH-Apr2014
