I keep flip flopping on how to control five tortoise for a double crossover and yard inlet. Cost is not a big issue but I hate to buy more capability than needed. I am leaning toward the Digitrax DS74 for the crossover but that leaves the yard inlet with a single stationary decoder for control. The layout is controlled with a Digitrax system. These will be the only DCC controlled/with feedback turnouts in the area. Maybe a DS74 for the crossovers with a hare for the yard inlet? Any thoughts and/or suggestions?
Maybe a DS74 for the double crossovers and a DS52 for the inlet plus the yard lead turnout? The yard lead turnout would always be toward the lead/tail track unless dispatch has given the go ahead to enter the mainline.
You can drive all four double crossover tortoises from one DS74 output, though that does get close to it's limit (70 ma per output, 4 tortoises is about 60-64 ma). If that's too close for comfort, you could add a resistor to slightly limit the current and the tortoises would still work fine. You could also drive two per output which would give plenty of leeway and still leave two open outputs available for the yard inlet.
Thanks Robert. Two per output would be nice as the turnouts would run in sets of two anyway. I think I will get the DS74 and go from there.
Wabbits have a good reputation for working well with one caveat (common to any DCC-controlled switch throwers.) If you run a locomotive afoul on a switch thrown the other way, and it shorts out the track DCC, but that DCC is also controlling your switches, you can't use DCC to throw the switch and clear the fouling locomotive. If you use a booster for track (locomotive) power, and the main system DCC output controls the switches and the booster for the track bus, then if the track bus shorts, only the track bus goes down, and you still have the ability to throw a switch to potentially clear the short.
