I'm getting to the point of wiring up some modules with the intent of having block and interlocking signal functions up and running one day, and am looking into some options for detection and driving the signals.
In the future, when more modules are built, there will be a pair of busy mainlines modeled with blocks about two miles long. It's relatively uncompressed, so in real terms the blocks will be about 25' each. There will also be several interlockings. Partly due to cost, and partly due to the desire to keep the demands on the DCC system down once all the traffic is running, I am looking at Arduinos for the signal logic. I'm also looking at detector options that are reasonably priced but don't require me to assemble everything from scratch.
What looks like a good option is to use RRCirKits coils and BOD boards for detection (less $$ and not proprietary to a DCC system), so I have a couple of questions for folks that may have experience with this.
1. Do the BOD boards care what they are outputting to - i.e., do they have to feed into a DCC signalling system, or will the output work for Arduino boards?
2. Given the length of the blocks, I am planning to use a 14 ga. detection bus with the feeder drops every 3' or so, with the intent of having one detector per bus. Is this likely to work to pick up current in any feeder, up to 25' away?
Thanks for any help!
Angela
