Coming back to this. It doesn't work great for my 8'x4' oval with two turnouts, just my shorter 4x4 oval test layout. I'm not exactly sure why. As the layout gets bigger, voltage drop seems to be my problem. I'm running 12 gauge for the bus wire, and 18 gauge stranded for the feeders (all < 8"). No matter what I do, I can't get enough power to the tracks. The train can start, and I can control it, but it won't run very far. My fluke is showing 9.8V AC on the track (the digitrax should be putting out ~14 I think), and I plan to put my portable meter on it later to see what the peak to peak actually is.
The Digitrax system really isn't built to work with 12 gauge wiring though, so that's a problem too. The connectors just barely fit.
What other systems have people used for MTH trains in a small to medium layout, no booster? Money IS an object, but I'm willing to go a little ways to get what I want. I've got an ESP32 with Mike Dunston's SW I can use because I can put a bigger voltage brick on it to try to "solve" the voltage drop problem, assuming that's the issue. The challenge is the only control board I have is limited to 2 amps, which I think is probably cutting it a bit close. Nice thing about ESPCommandStation is that I can see the current consumption directly.
Anyone have any thoughts on either why it's not working well, or what I can do to improve? I can post a track layout later (my mac is waiting on a repair), and a picture of my drops connected if that would help.
