Does anyone have a photo of what's inside an SB3a smart booster from NCE? I'm trying to find a way to tuck DCC equipment in a special installation that has about a 1" tall gap. The PowerCab system has the most promise, its panel can fit 1" gap, but I think I need more than 2A, I'm hoping the booster will carry me away. I have plenty of width and depth, and can ventilate it well, just not much thickness (height) to work with.
I don't have the inside board dimensions for the SB3a, JDM9, but you might be able to draw some conclusions from the following:
I would surmise that the bottom of the circuit board inside the SB3a enclosure starts at or is close to the bottom edge of the viewable panel. Other than a heat sink, any components on that circuit board will most likely NOT stand taller than the connector jacks.
You could always e-mail or call Larry Larson @ NCE on Tuesday. He can at least verify whether or not there is an internal heat sink that may protrude higher than 0.8". Also, there are no cooling vents on the redesigned SB3a enclosure as there were on the older SB3.
Lastly, if I'm understanding what you are trying to accomplish, JDM9, you won't be able to separate the internal board of the Power Cab from the enclosure. The Power Cab is the command station, booster, and throttle all rolled-up-into-one. They will need to stay together in order for you to control your locomotives. If you connector the Power Cab to the SB3a, it will automatically turn into a ProCab throttle.
Hope that helps...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
The circuit board probably starts just above the base of the unit - need a tiny bit of room underneath for any thru-hole components soldered on. You cna probably tell by pulling off the track power conector - those things are actually 2 pieces, the part attached to the circuit board and the part with the screw terminals. Also the base of the RJ jacks should be almost right at board height.
An alternative to using an SB3a, if it's just more power required and not being able to use more throttles, is something like Tam Valley's booster. They don;t stnad very tall because the heat sink is flat along the board. Plus if you are figuring on some sort of forced cooling you can easily bend the heat sink into more of a V shape to lower the height even more.
http://www.tamvalleydepot.com/products/dccpowerfrogjuicers.html
Works with any DCC system, actually.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Sounds like you want to completely remove the electronics which can void the warranty. I have to assume you are not concerned about that issue.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Correct, I'm not worried about warranties.
I'll have to check out the Tam Valley booster, that looks exactly like what I need.
Just how much do you plan to actually run on this layout? The PowerCab alone can easily handle 2-3 locos, probably more depending on the make and the motor draw.
I think more than that. I plan to have lighted passenger cars, I have Walther's El Capitan coming in the mail, I think they are LED, but I've found no spec as to their power draw.
Without the SB3 you can only run 1 additional throttle, regardless of current draw. Unless you get the USB interface and use JMRI and either computer throttles or an iPhone or Android with WiThrottle/Engine Driver.