Power Supplies I'm so confused

[Anonymous]

I am a novice just starting out. There are so many choices in power supplies. the only artical I have ever found on the topic was in Garden railroad last year. And I thikn I'm even more confused. I own a Lionel GP-9 engine, which has a bulit in sound card, but requires full wave rectified unfilted DC power. how do you find a power supply with this? Maybe I sould not worry about this 'Feature' and just pick up a good supply. right now my 'G' scale layout will only be 150', but I do plan to add to that. Any suggestions where I can get some info and get smarter? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Check out Modelrec.com. (Model Rectifier) They can probably help you out.

[nfmisso]

Okay; we are talking large scale here; stay away from MRC, they do not make anything with sufficient power. I suggest Aristocraft;

http://www.trainworld.com/aristocraft/aristocraft_powerpacks_and_rc.html

specifically 55450 or 55461. These will work well for you for an extremely long time. If in the future you decide to go to DCC, the power supply will still be useful.

Nigel

[BR60103]

Full wave rectified, unfiltered DC sounds like the traditional powerpack (Transformer + bridge rectifier) rather than one of the transistor controls or DCC. I don't know why "unfiltered" is specified.
The alternative to Full wave is Half wave aka Pulse power which you get using only 1 diode for a rectifier instead of 4.
See if your library has any books on wiring or electrics for model railroads.
--David

[Anonymous]

I have used a MRC TrainPower 6200 with my LGB Garden train with good success. A basic rectifier with good power and control. This unit also powered my Aristocraft Christmas G scale layout without a problem. The unit is now providing power for an Atlas DCC Command Control in the lower power setting. It has been a reliable device for over 5 years now.

[Anonymous]

If you are familiar with electricity the best catalog you can have is one from Newark. They are the biggest distributor I know of. If you know what you need you can find it there and will be able to build your own. If not you will find that the folks on this forum do know. Take their advice to heart.
John