Fredstrains posted:GRJ,
I’m curious, John, where would this “Unit” be placed physically?
Fredstrains
First off it's JGL in this case.
As for placement of the bridge 'box' it could theoretically be placed anywhere about the layout. Though somewhere above and toward the center would probably be ideal, it will work from anywhere that a universal remote would be able to control your trains. Aside from folks with very large layouts it should work fine set beside the TMCC or Legacy base.
The box will need a power connection that I'm currently planning on using a wall wart style adapter for that has a 3 or 4 foot long cord, so you'll need an outlet in that range. Additionally the bridge will connect to your command base with the 9-pin serial port. This serial data cable has some limits on length, and that will vary depending on if you are using the original command base, or a modern Legacy or cab1L base. Without getting into the nitty-gritty of it, the for the Legacy and (I think) cab1L base you should be good with a serial cable dozens of feet long. For the original TMCC base, I wouldn't recommend much more than six feet. This limit can be removed with a simple signal booster on the serial line, but that is probably unneeded for most people. I'm planning to include a 3 foot cable which should be enough for typical use. Additionally if you use LCS you will need a SER2 module to connect the device, as the base's serial port is in use by that system.
Also, for those without a tmcc system, the bridge should work with DCS systems as well by using the Y cable intended to connect DCS to TMCC systems, and allow you to control LC/+ engines as if they were TMCC engines from your DCS remote. In this use case, you would connect the Y cable as normal to the DCS TIU. the connection that normally goes to the TMCC base would be left unconnected, and the 'output' end of the Y would connect to the bridge device. I haven't tested this yet, but I think it should work.
JGL
