Kato track and digital

[colprit]

Hi all, how well does Kato track deal with digital and do you have to adapt thier points so that no short circuits happen, as I am new to this model railway hobby and my friend who knows a bit more about it keeps asking me questions about the track, as I am keen to use it when I build my layout. AS he is into peco track but was quite impressed when we viewed it at a model railway event we went to recently.

[David]

With the exception of the Kato 20-605 three color signal and the Kato 20-650 operational crossing (the one with lights that activates automatically) there is nothing about Unitrack that makes it incompatible with DCC. The turnouts/switches are power routing out of the box (the #4 can have the power routing feature turned off) and all 4 tracks of the double crossover are fully isolated. The only thing to keep in mind is that with the switches, and certainly with the double crossover, is that you'll want a feeder on both sides so that power is not cut off to one track (or not supplied at all with the double crossover) because of the isolation.

 

Many people use Unitrack for DCC layouts, and the #6 switch can even be wired with an internal decoder (I forget the item #, I believe it's a Digitrax decoder) so that there are no visible wires or other pieces - both power and commands are sent through the track to the switch.

[KenS]

Many people use Unitrack for DCC layouts, and the #6 switch can even be wired with an internal decoder (I forget the item #, I believe it's a Digitrax decoder) so that there are no visible wires or other pieces - both power and commands are sent through the track to the switch.

 

I think that's only for the HO #6 switch (if you know of one for N-Scale Unitrack, I'd be interested in more info).

 

Otherwise, I agree with everything you said.  I was running a DCC train on my Unitrack last night.

 

Unitrack is rated for 3 Amps, which is fine for even several trains, and matches the output of most starter DCC sets.  You might have an issue if you used one of the big 5-Amp Command Stations and used just one feeder to send power to a dozen trains or so, but I think that would be really hard to do in practice.  As with any use of DCC with sectional track, a thick power bus and regular feeders is recommended for very large layouts (I run feeders every 4-6 feet). But for a small layout, you could use the same feeders you use for DC with no issues as long as you keep them all in phase (i.e., blue to the same rail everywhere).

[colprit]

Thanks guys I will let my friend see these posts, so that he can help me set my layout up when we start. As he is more knowledgable in these matters, as he has been doing trains from a kid.

Colin

[David]

I think that's only for the HO #6 switch (if you know of one for N-Scale Unitrack, I'd be interested in more info).

 

Some quick checking shows that people are using the DS51K1 for Kato N gauge switches.

 

Here are Digitrax's install instructions for N scale #4 and brief instructions for the #6. While mention is made of the requirements for wiring the double crossover, no instructions or information about space to fit the decoder(s) are given.

 

http://tsd.digitrax.com/index.php?a=433

 

 

Also there is this post showing more detailed pictures of a #6 install (albet he admits he should have shortened the wire). Both sources seem to show that it's pretty easy to fit the decoder in the unused space of the #6 (the area of track after it diverges), while the #4 is a tight fit into the area where the external connector usually goes.

 

http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showpost.php?p=384929&postcount=19

 

Since you have to be a member to see photos/attachments, I've reposted copies here.

[KenS]

Now that is cool.  I'd wondered why Digitrax had bothered with the DS51K1 when the DS64 had better specs and a similar cost if you had four turnouts.  I'd never seen a reference to installing it in the track itself, but it turns out Digitrax has an article on it in their knowledge base. I'm surprised they don't mention this capability on the product page or in the instruction brochure that comes with the decoder.

[westfalen]

Down the bottom of this page are some more photos showing decoder installation in turnouts. http://www.katomodels.com/hobby/customshop/jouhou/decoder_sheet1.shtml Kato's custom shop in japan sells turnouts with decoders installed, the Tokyo shop had some No.6's for, I think, 7000-8000 yen.

 

We run DCC on our all Unitrack T-TRAK modules with no problems at all.