@StevefromPA posted:First, as someone who also uses realtrax, I’m going to assume you’re using a lot of 30 inch sections and soldering track sections at the Center tab and/or wires connecting the center rail from section to section(after scraping off the black coating underneath)- time consuming yes but it really helps with the signal
regarding isolating districts: with DCS the TIU channel signal and power are intertwined b/c the DCS signal goes through the Center rail. So when isolating, you should consider both power and if you are using another TIU channel.
Instead of using the realtrax isolated section, I’d use a normal small straight but regardless is you use the Realtrax Isolated track piece the following approach works just as well. let’s assume you have two loops and they are connected by two Switches with the isolated track in between and you haven’t removed ANY wires from the isolated section . Also, even with the advice above implemented(I.e. soldering to decrease the number of track sections)- having that many sections would be too much for a single channel to transmit its signal. Thus, you should isolate the loops both in terms of POWER and CHANNEL output. Fixed 1 is powered by one handle of your Z4000 and Fixed 2 by the other handle. Use separate power for the switches. For that isolated section, bend the Center tab back on ONE side and put electrical tape over it to be safe, then hook it up between the switches. By doing this, you’ll have isolated the power sources from each other AND because you kept all wires in place and only blocked that section off on one end, it will continue to safely receive power from the other Z4000 handle. This eliminates both a dead spot in terms of power and signal. Further, you’re keeping the DCS channel outputs from overlapping as the Center rail is only physically connected to one of your loops.
On the other hand, you don’t always have to do the above. I advise it only when you have 10 to 12 SEPARAtE sections of track(aka- 3 straight sections just put together are 3 separate sections, but if you solder the tabs between each section and run a wire on the middle rail between each section- you now have a single section of track).
Further flying in the face of everything I just said, on my main loop I have a switch going to an industrial yard area that has three Spurs. The yard is it’s own district(I guess?- it’s controlled by 2 toggle switches from the terminal board) but is on the same TIU channel and gets its power from the same 180w brick. It just doesn’t always need to be on
hope that helps
First - Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm sure this is so super simple that I'm being an idiot.
The Z4000 is basically two transformers. I've seperated the total track footage about 50 / 50 between two terminal blocks.
I want to power terminal block one from TIU fixed output one and Z4000 Track one // terminal block two from TIU fixed output two and Z4000 Track two.
Does there need to be isolation between the two sections powered by terminal block one and two or not? If so is it total isolation? or just the center rail?
