Crosland

If the meters are calibrated, they are calibrated. The diodes more or less cancel out. Perhaps a drawing will help. The voltage applied to the RR will be two diode drops less than the supply. The voltmeter will read two diode drops less than the supply, i.e. the voltage applied to the RR. There will be some inaccuracy due to the much lower current flowing through the voltmeter but it wouldn't be hard to bias the current through the lower bridge to even things out.

I think I suggested that on Sunday! You can do something similar for the ammeter.

An inch or two of thinner wire to adapt to the terminals (as thick as the terminals allow)will be fine. Its all about voltage drop, which will be negligible on such a short length.

For the ammeter, connect the ~ pins of a bridge rectifier in the feed to the rolling road and connect the meter across the + and - terminals. Current will always flow the same direction through the meter, regardless of the supply polarity. The voltage to the rolling road will be reduced by two diode drops. For the voltmeter use another bridge rectifier with the ~ terminals connected to the feed and return of the rolling road. Connect the meter across the + and - terminals. Again, you will need to allow for two diode voltage drops when measuring the voltage.

Or strip less of the insulation and crimp it in the end of the railjoiner.

Yes you will often get away with it, in a similar way that many people get away without following best wiring practices for DCC. The real problem is that people see the advice to "add" or "subtract" and read across to other bits in CV29 which might already be set. Adding or subtracting will then cause a carry or borrow into the more significant bits, messing up other settings. That's when the fun really starts and is, I suspect, the source of other peoples issues with setting CV29.

That's why the advice to "add 1" was corrected. If you use CV29 as it is intended there will be no problems.

OK, The SPROG will generally cope with stay-alives but if they are very high capacitance and have no charge current limit the DCC signal may be upset for a short period. Sorry about that.

For LEDs it does (or, less likely, some form of semiconductor current limit). If there is nothing to limit the current through a LED then the current will be a lot higher. Until the magic smoke escapes.

How big are the stay alives?

Or the soldering iron got a bit close when making the modification. The screw terminals look rusty!

In programmer mode or command station mode? That's absolutely necessary in programmer mode, otherwise you will program every loco.

Is the Z21 the type of system that disables the layout when using the programming track, or does it allow you to continue running on the main layout whilst programming? If the former then the Z21 is faulty. If the latter, it's very strange, but may still be a Z21 fault is programming somehow influences the main track signal.

Surely "Rule 1 Penny" applies here

I've had similar with parcels going the other way. Up and down the west coast for a week until it was finally delivered. At the time I put it down to the pandemic.

It sounds like the PSX trip level is too high and the power cab is tripping first which takes out all of the zones. Is there a visual indication that the PSX have all "tripped", rather than just lost their input? Does the power cab indicate it has tripped? Conversely if you short the tracks together in the disconnected zone does it cause any tripping? If so, your zones are not as isolated as you think.

The offset pickup problem may be an issue if the boosters do not have common 0V connection. Digitrax call this "home ground". RFS mentioned this in an earlier post about Lenz systems. It should be explained in the documentation for each system. In some setups the problem will be masked by the power supplies creating a common through the mains earth. Do not create a common connection between booster outputs.

Analog controllers of any sort or vintage are totally inappropriate for powering a SPROG!

They only apply to business sellers.

I think Dell were the main culprits for using a third pin. I don't know if they still do. Most makes, IME, still use a 2-pin connection between the charger and the laptop, those that have not switched to USB-C, that is.

4D Modelshop have acrylic in 1 and 2 mm. It can be laser cut unless they use a special technique.

A 3F kit would be good.

Something you can realistically achieve I have made too many false starts interrupted by work, house moves, etc, ..., that a simple length of track on a plank with no turnouts would be better than what I have achieved so far

Hmmm My Antex looks even easier, Simply slide on/slide off. Some do have a circlip but you can still get them off without moving it. In my old day job, MetCal were the ones used for precision work but they tend to be in the "if you need to ask the price, you can't afford it" bracket

I thought my my concern was clearly stated. The service agent for Lenz was implying that he battery was rechargeable. If that were the case, replacing it with a non-rechargeable would be a bad idea. It now seems A&H are just plain wrong.