I’m Kees from the Netherlands and I have a Digitrax Zephyr
I also know that MTH and BLI need to be programmed on the main track and that the zephyr has
2 connections at the back, one for the main track and one for the programming track.
My question : Is there a difference in voltage between these two connections
for instance does one connection has 16 V and the other for instance 14 V ??
Thanks and greetings from the Netherlands
Kees
The program track connections do indeed have a lower voltage. Exactly how much lower I don’t know.
I have never checked, but the program track most likely has the same VOLTAGE as the main track outputs; however, it does have a lower limit on how much CURRENT it can supply.
There is a lower power output to the programming track so you don’t burn up a decoder if there is an error in the wiring.
Sound decoders can be troublesome, as they require more power than what the original spec for the programming track provided, because they didn’t exist at that time.
The Zephyr does have a blast mode for sound decoders. The link refers to QSI decoders in Atlas locomotives. The hardest programming is setting the address, as that can’t be done except on a program track, due to the danger of setting everything to the same address. Programming on the main sends the instructions to the specified address.