Best control module for a small layout?

It will if you dont run many passenger cars as they load the 3 amp up, it will run a short freight train fine

Got it running today. It works great, although the PROG track can be a bit confusing. My MTH trolley is zipping around my test setup cleanly reprogrammed for ID 25 and calling out stops. Thanks for the confirmation.

Glad you got up and running

Coming back to this. It doesn't work great for my 8'x4' oval with two turnouts, just my shorter 4x4 oval test layout. I'm not exactly sure why. As the layout gets bigger, voltage drop seems to be my problem. I'm running 12 gauge for the bus wire, and 18 gauge stranded for the feeders (all < 8"). No matter what I do, I can't get enough power to the tracks. The train can start, and I can control it, but it won't run very far. My fluke is showing 9.8V AC on the track (the digitrax should be putting out ~14 I think), and I plan to put my portable meter on it later to see what the peak to peak actually is.

The Digitrax system really isn't built to work with 12 gauge wiring though, so that's a problem too. The connectors just barely fit.

What other systems have people used for MTH trains in a small to medium layout, no booster? Money IS an object, but I'm willing to go a little ways to get what I want. I've got an ESP32 with Mike Dunston's SW I can use because I can put a bigger voltage brick on it to try to "solve" the voltage drop problem, assuming that's the issue. The challenge is the only control board I have is limited to 2 amps, which I think is probably cutting it a bit close. Nice thing about ESPCommandStation is that I can see the current consumption directly.

Anyone have any thoughts on either why it's not working well, or what I can do to improve? I can post a track layout later (my mac is waiting on a repair), and a picture of my drops connected if that would help.

I would recommend purchasing a digitrax db210 booster to work with your existing zephyr. It will require an external dc power supply, but the combo would be cheaper than purchasing a new command station.

what kind of track are u using i can run mth engines with about 10 frieght cars it wont pull many passinger cars though

what model is it the zepher 50,51 or 52 the 50 is only 2 and a half amps the 51 and 52 are three amps it should do the job if your track has good connections probably need to solder connection is fastrack  on larger layouts Santa fe recommendation is right and that what i use on my layout

I use Fastrack, with feeders dropped from the little underside connects (spade, clip?) for each track segment, except the turnouts. That's usually where the train dies too. However, while it's running, when it does run, the lights flicker a LOT and it may just shut down randomly anywhere on the layout. I don't think this is a current issue, but a voltage issue. Hence the willingness to try the DB210, that might be a good choice. Higher voltage, with more current, and better connectors for this setup. Ordered that from Amazon just now. I have an 18V 5 amp hobby transformer to power it. I'm also upgrading my terminal blocks, what I'm using now are small for 12 awg, and I'm going to beef up the bus to feeder connections, probably soldering them. I'm also going to clean the track extensively before the next test.

I'm not totally convinced it's not the MTH trolley. We got the Christmas trolley a few years ago, and it didn't run well with the DCS setup, same issues. At the time, I chose to switch to DCC because I knew more about it, and because the DCS app limited what you could do with their cheaper wifi explorer. Since I cut the cord, I see they allow you to upgrade the app to get the missing sounds/capabilities. C'est la vie. I did order a new Christmas engine and a few cars from MTH from their 2020 catalog, but that doesn't come for a while, so I have to wait. I'm going to see if I can find a used PS3 engine on EBay for cheap enough to use for comparison and testing. I'm also going to rebuild my little 036 circle as a small test track for experimentation.

**Edit**

It's the 52 Zephyr.

i use short pieces of wire and solder each piece of track together and the switch take the bottom off and solder the pieces of metal the have just folded over to gather that is where you lose voltage 

Ok, got the DB210 and a 20V power supply capable of 8.5 amps. I've got enough power now. I cleaned the track, and tried the Zephyr again. It got a little farther (tracks were very dirty), but still had issues. But I installed the DB210 and now it's working like a champ. I'm going to clean up some of the drops, and solder a few joints around the turnouts like you said @Doug-Sr. It still flickers a bit when it hits them. But I don't have my drops between the turnouts wired either, so that may help as well.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I didn't pay enough attention to the boosters from Digitrax as an alternative, so I didn't consider them. But that was a good fix. In hindsight, 3 rail tracks plus a power bus is a LOT of wire to power, and I can see a small solution just not working for anything even a little bigger like mine. Plus, having a newer Lenovo laptop power brick that is 20V made it possible to keep the costs down. The place that just RIF'd me may never even miss it .

one other thing is you mite want to put a circuit breaker between the 210 and the rail i would strongly recommend  that the zephyr has a very good one the 210 not as good nce makes a good one as does  dalle

One more hiccup. The layout is running great, and I will post pictures soon. Still finishing up the modeling and we haven't put the Christmas houses down yet.

A note to those paying attention. I wanted to use the DCS52 and DB210, which on their own work great. However, I tried to put a Digitrax UP5 in the middle so I could hide the DB210. The UP5 and the DCS52 DO NOT WORK TOGETHER. The problem is that the 52 sends rail sync messages over loconet, and the UP5 won't forward those. I'm debating a couple of solutions now, one is to move the 52 to a new N scale layout I'll do in my office after Christmas, and the other is to install a UP6 to do the work of the UP5, but without the nice fascia. I'm leaning towards a new throttle though, because this hobby hasn't cost me enough!

i use the digitrax 51 and up92 with the db210 and no issues

I can't find a UP92, what's that? Also, it may only be the 52. They made it both a throttle AND a command station, and as such, it does messaging that throttles do not. I don't know about the 51.

I suggested to the Digitrax support person who was helping me that they just add the ability to turn the command station capabilities off or on, to make it act like a simple throttle when that was desired.

the 51 and 52 are about the same except the 52 has a updated screen i use the 51 as the command station and a up92 is a duplex version of the up5 as i use a dt500d throttle for wireless or wired throttle

So, the official word from Digitrax support is that the UP5 will not forward command station traffic, nor will the UP90. It's confusing, as I opened roughly the same issue 2x, the first time they said it should work, and send back the unit. The second time, they were very clear, the DCS52 does not work with the UP5, and that the UP5 will only work with Throttles.

Investigating I think I can confirm most of what they said as I was able to verify the 52 and the 210 were exchanging messages (NET LED flickering on the 210), but I could not turn on power to the track. This roughly echo's what the service response said would happen. The two *could* talk, but because the 52 does not get a railsync response, it will not attempt to enable power to the track. You can plug the 52 into the second port on the back of the UP5 though, and that does work, because railsync isn't blocked between those two connections.

Overall, I'm sad, but I'll get over it. The 52 will make a great N scale controller for a my planned 4x6 layout in my office, and I got a new throttle for the Christmas train which they confirmed would work.