Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller€¦ · Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™...

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Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™ There are four ways to power and operate LED Scene Controllers™: 1. DCC running off the main track booster 2. DCC running off a dedicated DCC Booster 3. 12-25V AD/DC alone. (DCC disconnected) 4. 12-25V AD/DC in combination with a connection to DCC DCC current is a precious commodity on model railroads. Depending on the size of your layout and the number of Locos you run simultaneously adding additional circuits that draw current away may cause problems. Basically, with too many engines and other accessories connected to the layout, the engines will eventually run out of “juice” (amps). Many clubs have a wiring strategy that forbids running “accessories”, and this includes lighting, from the main DCC circuit. On smaller layouts this may not be a problem at all. Knowing this, we have designed the LED Scene controller to be flexible enough to fit in everyone’s power wiring needs. Model Train Technology LLC ™

Transcript of Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller€¦ · Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™...

Page 1: Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller€¦ · Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™ There are four ways to power and operate LED Scene Controllers™: 1. DCC running

Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™

There are four ways to power and operate LED Scene Controllers™:

1. DCC running off the main track booster 2. DCC running off a dedicated DCC Booster 3. 12-25V AD/DC alone. (DCC disconnected) 4. 12-25V AD/DC in combination with a connection to DCC

DCC current is a precious commodity on model railroads. Depending on the size of your layout and the number of Locos you run simultaneously adding additional circuits that draw current away may cause problems. Basically, with too many engines and other accessories connected to the layout, the engines will eventually run out of “juice” (amps). Many clubs have a wiring strategy that forbids running “accessories”, and this includes lighting, from the main DCC circuit. On smaller layouts this may not be a problem at all. Knowing this, we have designed the LED Scene controller to be flexible enough to fit in everyone’s power wiring needs.

Model Train Technology LLC ™

Page 2: Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller€¦ · Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™ There are four ways to power and operate LED Scene Controllers™: 1. DCC running

OPTION 1 If you have only a few LED Scene controllers and a modest sized layout and a hand full of locos it may be fine to connect up the controllers directly to your main booster/control unit. Each controller with 16 LED’s fully lit draws about 80ma. If you have a 5-amp booster and two or three locos, this will be fine.

OPTION 2 The DCC system architecture was designed to split the “current” from the “signal” in such a way that you can add boosters to improve the operation of multiple loco in zones on the track. To power a town or a city you can apply the same approach. Simply dedicate a single booster to power the accessories – in this case the LED Scene Controller and it’s LEDs. All the 2-wires from the controllers should be connected to a common Booster Bus that is dedicated for accessories and not connected to the track. The DCC signal then connects the boosters.

Page 3: Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller€¦ · Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™ There are four ways to power and operate LED Scene Controllers™: 1. DCC running

OPTION 3 You can power the MTT Scene Controllers with any power supply that delivers 12-25 Volts/ 1A, either DC or AC. In this Option you don’t need to be connected to DCC as long as you have previously configured the controller WITH a DCC system. All the MTT LED Scene Controllers can be configure either via CV’s (Configuration Variables) programming or via your DCC hand controller. Once you have configured the behavior and animation you want for each of the 16 pins, this information is saved in non-volatile storage on the controller chip (EEPROM). When the controller is powered on, it checks to see if it also has a DCC signal. After 20 seconds if there has been no DCC signal coming in, the board will automatically enter ANNIMATION mode. “Look Ma, no hands and no DCC”. (ok, it was late when I wrote this) You can connect this auxiliary input power to either the power inputs (DCC or the dedicated 12-25VDC/AC IN). The switch in the middle of the controller must be set to the input power side where you have the powering coming in. There are only two choices, left and right.

OPTION 4 Have the LED Scene Controller draw the current for the board and the LEDs from an auxiliary power source (12-25VDC or AC) and control the board via the DCC signal in. The Power switch in the middle of the board must be set to the Auxiliary power side (RIGHT) for this to work otherwise the power will still come from the DCC side. In this case, the controller is “listening” to the pulsed DCC signal and can read it without drawing operating current. To be precise, it uses a reaaaallly small amount of current draw – about 1ma or so. That means you could have 100 controllers connected and barely make a dent in taking current away from the Trains.

Page 4: Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller€¦ · Powering your MTT DCC LED Scene Controller™ There are four ways to power and operate LED Scene Controllers™: 1. DCC running

SLOTS Not technically a power issue, it is still worth mentioning something about Slots. All DCC systems have a certain number of slots that they maintain – one slot per loco. The LED Scene Controller uses the same slots that engines use. Therefore, you have to be thoughtful about how to allocate slots to the lighting animation and the locos. What seems to work best is to configure each controller separately by giving it a unique address out of the box. I use 88 as a habit. Then I connect the building, street lights, etc. and begin the configuration. Once I am satisfied with how it looks and runs, I use the BUILT-IN Addressing mode to change it to match the group of other controllers I previously installed – without disconnecting or moving it from the layout! Let’s say my group of existing controllers are all address 500. When I change the new controller from 88 to 500 – it just “joins the group” so to speak. Then I dial in 500 and hit F10 (Activate Animation) and all the controllers and their associated LEDs do their thing. I have roughly a dozen groups of controllers on my layout but my DCC system has 400 slots – more than enough! If you have any questions or comments, please email me @ [email protected]