My BDL168 arrived last week and after one trip over the long weekend to Tahoe and one business trip to the East Coast later, I am excited to start wiring it. The BDL168 is going to take a lot of work! Lots of thick wire to keep track of.
I am hoping my track plan will only need 1 BDL168. I am not separating switch plants from mainline blocks and leaving yards and stubs undetected.
I am excited and seriously hoping for a few free hours this weekend.
NP.
Wow talk about wiring the BDL. It took hous before I could see the first block occupied indication ... Crimping the Loconet, feeding ground sync, 16x18 gauge wires coming out before I could install the board in its position, 12V DC supply, oh my !!
But hats off to Digitrax. It works the first time, no fiddling required.
Looking at the manual for the BDL 168, it appears that you can directly power rails from the device. Are there limits on the length of these wires?
The manual says:
The zone common connections to the booster should be as short as possible and relatively heavy gauge, since they are common to all four detectors in the zone. For example, a 12AWG zone connection to the boost- er should be less than 10 feet for best performance.
Slowly building a layout since 2007!
ok ,it looks like I might get to ask a question about the 168. I bought mine off e-bay but when it came it was the only thing in the box . Probably dumb question and haven't tried going to deitrax tect.how much stuff do I need to get to start wireing it up?there is several other questions I have but will wait to ask thank you for time .
slow train Ed
When I wired my layout I made my bus connections on a swing down board:
When I added the BDL168, I removed the jumper on the Rail A terminal strip and connected the BDL168 there. The detection section wires are light, but they are very short:
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
slow train Ed .how much stuff do I need to get to start wireing it up?
.how much stuff do I need to get to start wireing it up?
Wow Dave your wiring is neat. I did do a swing down board for my SE8C but realized I am afraid to swing it up and left it in the released position ... So many wires. So I just installed on a plywood sheet screwed to the benchwork. Still working on labels.
Re: What you need, wow yes a lot of heavy wire but also Loconet and I think a way to connect the Loconet to a computer, assuming you are planning to use the BDL168 for signalling.