dschroeder83Saw this on eBay...any thoughts or is it an unnecessary thing on a small N scale layout?
No, not necessary at all, most N scalers wouldn't even know what it is, let alone use one. Just buy a good quality power pack.
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About the same thing could be accomplished with pairs of diodes and a rotary switch. 'max' position would connect the inpout and output directly, for each step lower a pair of diodes anti-parallel with each other is added tot he path - maybe 2 pairs for each step. Final 'low' gear would have 14 pairs of diodes, 9.8V drop with no power loss, so full throttle of say 16 volts no load would be only 6.2 volts.
Enough poles and wire the switch right and you basically need 2 pairs per step - each lower step would include that step's pair PLUS any in a lower step.
Wouldn't cost anywhere near $70 either.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Well, perhaps it has advantages if you have a power transformer but no throttle, but I don't see how this would offer any advantages over using an MRC power pack. From the description it seem to just be another throttle.