No biggy, just connect all the feeders from the side that is not fed to the BDL together, it's like the gap isn't even there on that rail.
DPDT would work, one center would be the detection common, the opposite terminal at the center would be the feed from the BDL. The two terminals at one end would go to the track feeds for that staging track. The other two would have a 10K resistor across them.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks Randy. Makes sense.
I neglected to mention that when I put these tracks in place, I gapped both rails so I had any option I needed, including the dreaded DPDT toggle for both rails, which I considered overkill.
- Mark
The power off shows as occupied option is for all 16 sections on the BDL. It's not per output. So when track power is cut off, all 16 sections show occupied when that option is enabled.
For individual tracks, use a SPDT toggle. Line from the BDL goes tot he center terminal. One side goes to the feeders for that track. The other side gets a 10K resistor and then connects to the common side bus (the side that does not go through the BDL). This way, with the switch thrown one direction, the tracks are powered and detected. Throw it the other way, and the 10K resistor 'short' is the same as a resistor wheelset in the detection zone and will trigger the detector, while at the same time, power is cut off to the rails.
I (finally) put down the track for a lower level staging yard with 7 tracks. I'm ready to run feeders. I'm using a Digitrax system and will run these through a BDL-168 (actually an older 162) so I can monitor which tracks are occupied if I am on the other side of the room staring at the JMRI display. The catch is I want to be able to cut power to the staging tracks when the associated trains are not part of the operating equation.
My guess is the best configuration is to wire SP on-off pushbuttons/toggles between the common bus and the rail for each staging track and leave the wire between the BDL-162 and its rails "unmolested." Is that correct.
The BDL-162/168 has a setting to show a detection section occupied if there is no power, a feature I would like to take advantage of (after all, if the power to that staging track is off, it is as useful as if it were occupied).
Unforuntately, nothing I have seen discusses wiring an on/off switch with a block occupancy detector in the loop.