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Points, How To Wire Them With Block Detection/Automation


Graham Radish
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I have several electrofrog points in code80, now i also have about 8xDCC Concepts cobalt IP motors, now, how do you wire the points when using block detection? what i mean is do the points themselves become part of the block or are they wired separately? If so how?

 

The system i'm using is Digikeijs DR5000 with DR4088CS Current Sensor.

 

Cheers.

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Depends on whether you want to know if they are occupied and whether your software will accept feedbacks are on points.

 

I use iTrain and you would simply wire the points with their own individual feedback and tell the programme the feedback number.

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  • RMweb Gold

The recommendation with TC is not to include points at the end of blocks in the blocks themselves. When you set up a schedule, the train follows a series of routes, where each route is a path between two blocks, eg A and B. It does not matter if there are turnouts between the two blocks as TC is tracking the train and will expect the train to show up in B even though, according to occupancy detection, it may appear to have left A and not arrived in B. This is how I've wired my layout. I have quite complex pointwork in the station throats at each end, and it would be really difficult to include any points. Hence there are some longish, unmonitored stretches.

 

Some folk however like to keep track of everything, so they will not only monitor all their points but also fit resistor wheelsets to all their vehicles. The points won't be in blocks, or blocks in their own right, but they will have conditions in their schedules that the turnouts are not occupied, eg following a "coupling malfunction".  Personally I've not found this to be necessary. It's a lot of expense and complication for a problem that may be a rare occurrence. 

 

There should never be turnouts in the middle of blocks since that can cause real issues with brake and stop marker definitions. 

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  • RMweb Gold

Yes that's what I do.  You need IRJs both to cover isolation of the live frogs, as well as providing electrical breaks between sections for the occupancy detectors. With my Lenz system the inner rail is monitored (it's a large oval layout with the operator poition in the centre) so it's on that rail the extra IRJs are used.  The outer rail is just like a DC "common return" with all droppers connected directly to the bus.

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