JD_Reith posted:...I am still going to go the simple electrical method as A everything is here but the wall wart, and B once completed this will run at the layout back in Ohio at my dad's and in the long run I see the simple solution being less stress for him to manager (or me to diagnose with him over the phone should something go wrong).
Right! The troubleshooting aspect of the old-school "relay logic" approach is a consideration. The low-cost eBay (or Amazon) relay modules include LED indicators for each relay to show when active. These indicators can be very helpful to see what's going on (or what's NOT going on) for remote troubleshooting.
Of course you can add LED indicators and include a few extra programming instructions on an Arduino to expose the state or phase of the sequence. But you have to remember to do so in the first place. Sometimes the joy of seeing something work can mask the need to include maintenance or troubleshooting features.
