Hi Chris.
Part of my process was to research as much about signal issues as possible. Coincidentally, it was an OGR article about your club in an 8/9 2011 issue, that was a wealth of knowledge. The author made it very clear about how the TMCC signal propagates, and what it will & wont do. This, and me struggling to keep up with some of Dale’s technical writing on trainfacts, had me installing one end of the ground plane loop directly to the earth ground circuit of household AC. Also not to have the ground plane loop connect to itself, or cross over itself, came up on many discussions.
Interesting was the fact that N.J. Highrailers had early on discovered that motive power can be quite cantankerous, with some locomotives refusing to play nicely even after ground planes, copper foil, and antennas reworked inside the engines. I’ve already noticed this as my ABA century sharknose set breezes through the layout effortlessly, and the C420 will buck, blink, and stop in several areas. This engine is receiving a copper rod antenna upgrade today, just to hedge my bets.
Thanks!
Tom
