Just wanted to share the layout schematic I’m using to keep track of all of the Turnout DCC address, Block address, and Signal addresses.

Tried a few troubleshooting tips, but nothing seemed to help. So I boxed up the throttle and it’ll be on it’s way to Digitrax tomorrow for repair.

Not sure what’s going on yet, but 99% of the time my DT400 looks like this when power up the system. I fired off an email to Digitrax about it.

In other good news, I got my new RJ11 jacks the other day and they work great! I’ve already placed an order for the full 16 needed.

Just a minor one though really.

Last night I hooked up the first turnout to the punchdown block in the new wiring panel, went to throw a switch and….nothing. So, the troubleshooting began.

I eventually discovered that Controller Board #1 wasn’t even getting any current to the punchdown block, while Board #2 was. The difference between the two is the wiring used. For Board #1 I used the cable from RJ11 telephone cable I have, while Board #2 I used 26AWG wire I bought in individual spools.

Turns out the Telephone cable wiring has this plastic type shielding on it, and when punched down in the block all it does it get smooshed, instead of getting pierced and making contact like the other wire did.

My initial thought was to simply replace the telephone wire with another kind 4-pair wire that will punchdown correctly. I also have to replace the wiring from Board #1 to the punchdown block as well. To do this (easily) I have to remove the panel from the wall.

That’s when I started thinking. If I have to remove this panel later on *after* I punchdown all these turnout cables, it’s going to be a major PITA because when you punchdown a wire, it trims it. So there isn’t a lot of slack for multiple removals and punchdowns. Not to mention it takes a while to punchdown 64 tiny wires.

So… my new solution?

I’m going to remove the punchdown blocks and replace them with 16 RJ11-Keystone jacks. I’ll wire the boards directly to RJ11 jacks inside a dual-jack housing, this way I can simply plug in a turnout like I was plugging in a phone. This will make connections a lot easier to deal with, especially if I need to remove the panel in the future.

Before I go all gung-ho with this idea, I only ordered one set to test this out. I’ll be using my “good” cable for the Board to jack connection, and then the regular telephone cable for the panel-jack to turnout-jack connection. This should work out pretty well.

Just to give an idea of where this is actually going.

I first mounted a 1×4 to the wall studs underneath the helix, then screwed in some 1/4″ screws into that. The panel then simply hangs on those two screws. It actually touches the floor, so the mounting screws primarily just keep it attached to the wall without having to support all the weight.

The space to the right of the panel will be where Panel #2 goes eventually. This one will house SIGM20 boards for Signal Operations, and a CTI Sentry board or two for photocell sensors (these will be used for automatic train operations)

Â

Last night I decided to go ahead and return my wireless Digitrax DT-400r throttle and receiver.

It all started when I went to program my new AC4400CW. Yes, you need to plug that little 5″ cable to program too. But the kicker was after programming and wanting to run the engine a little, the battery is the DT400r died! The problem is you can’t turn off the throttle. You have to yank the battery everytime. It does go into a sleep mode, but that still sucks down the battery apparently.

So it’ll be returned to MBK’s, and I already have a new regular DT400 and panel on order from Fifer Hobby.

So in my readup of the DT400R, I came across this in theDT400 manual:

DT400/R’s are shipped from the factory with tetherless release disabled. This prevents you from accidentally touching the LOCO Key and entering address selection while you are running your throttle in tetherless mode. DT400 can be set up to allow locos to be released from the throttle when it is in tetherless mode (IR or radio) by setting DT400 Option #3 according to the following table.

Now when I read “ touching the LOCO Key and entering address selection”, I mis-understood and assumed it meant you couldn’t release and select a locomotive while tethered, but you can disable this option to allow the feature. Well… I was wrong.

As I found out, the DT400R wireless throttle only supports one way communication, from throttle to booster. Grabbing a Loco address requires 2-way communication. So you can *release* the locomotive from the throttle while tetherless, but you can’t get it back (or select another one) unless you plug the throttle into a loconet panel.

Needless to say I’m pretty bummed to learn of this *after* I bought one, but I think I’ll stick it out to see just how much it bugs me and how often I find myself plugging into a panel. If it’s enough, I may sell the radio version and just go with a standard wired one.

Last week a sold a bunch of old HO scale stuff on ebay so I splurged a little and got a radio equipped DT400 throttle and receiver.

Just wanted to give a brief look at how my tortoise turnouts are being hooked up. I’m using 4-conductor RJ-11 cable, aka telephone cable, and some RJ-11 Surface Mount boxes. I picked up a 1,000 foot roll of RJ-11 cable at cyberguys.com. I probably won’t need 1,000 feet, but it was cheap

So first I solder up my 4 leads to the tortoise boards. Yellow to Pin 1 and Black to Pin 8. These wires control the motor itself. The red wire goes to pin 4, which is a constant voltage input for the internal switch. The Green wire is then connected to either Pin 2 or 3 depending on orientation. Pin 2 and 3 complete a circuit with pin 4, so it’s hooked up to ensure that when the turnout is closed, the internal switch is closed accordingly. This will provide real feedback of the turnout position back to the DCC system for future use.

Once installed, an RJ-11 cable is run from the surface mount box to the wiring cabinet where it’ll be connected to the punchdown block (and to the DAC10).

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that I will also now add three wires to ping 5, 6, and 7. These wire will be used for powering the turnout frog if I ever decide to do so. This way all I have to do is tap wires in without having to removing the turnout.

I’m close to finishing up the first of two wiring panels. This panel will house the BDL168, two DAC10’s, and the Digitrax Zephyr unit. The 2nd one will eventually house the SIGM20 models that’ll control signals.