I've come up with an area of my layout where controlling the turnouts with DCC is going to be better than using a control panel. The critical pieces are 2 Tortoises and 4 Atlas twin-coils.
The Digitrax site makes it sound like their 2 and 4 unit decoders can handle either machine, but all must be the same. The Lenz unit can also handle either machine, but the description doesn't say if one can mix and match.
So, does anyone know?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The Lenz ones can;t really, atleast if you are thinking about the LS-150. The LS-150 doesn;t have a true 'always on' output for eg a Tortoise - it just has a configurable hold time on the output. And, as discovered on a friend's layout, during that hold time, the LS-150 will not act on any additional commands. They are about the most inexpensive option for twin coil switch motors though.
The DS-64 DOES work well with either type, also even the Kato polarity reverse coil type. And it is configurable on a per-output basis, so you can set up a DS-64 to drive 2 Tortoises and 2 twin coils.
Another option, NCE Switch-It for the Tortoises (conveniently drives two) and the DS-64 for the 4 twin coil motors.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker The DS-64 DOES work well with either type, also even the Kato polarity reverse coil type. And it is configurable on a per-output basis, so you can set up a DS-64 to drive 2 Tortoises and 2 twin coils. Another option, NCE Switch-It for the Tortoises (conveniently drives two) and the DS-64 for the 4 twin coil motors. --Randy
In my experience I must disagree with Randy on the DS-64's. They are not configurable on a per-output basis. They can only be used for all tortoises or all twin-coils, not a mixture. This is stated on page 6 of the DS-64 manual. The manual can be found here on Digitrax's website.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
You're right, they aren't mix and match, my bad. It's all or nothing. Still, to avoid having 2 unused outputs hanging around, using a DS64 for the 4 solenoids and an NCE Switch-It for the Tortoises is probably the easiest.
Sounds like a plan. Thanks, gentlemen.