Michael,
That is the BPS additional part that I've described on my web site. The
native S-CAB system is just the throttle and the DCC decoder/receiver
circuit combo. Those two components are functionally identical to a
conventional DCC system (Lenz, Digitrax, EasyDCC, etc.), replacing their
throttle, command station, and a DCC decoder. You can just have plain DC
to your rails only and use their DCC system. Period.
Now, *separately*, there is the Battery Power Supply (BPS) circuit with
rechargeable battery. It just so happens that the output of the BPS can
be used to power the DCC decoder/receiver circuit board.
It is that combination of these two systems that I've implemented in my
NW2 and FA-2.
You can see a full description of these components with photos on my web
site:
http://pmrr.org/Articles/DCC/index_LVL2_S-CAB.htm
Dave, owner of NWSL, is going to add a link to this article on his site
soon.
- Peter.
On 03/28/2013 10:58 am, Michael Eldridge wrote:
NWSL has a pdf on their website, describing the S-Cab system, which includes
this:
"We've even designed a new battery power supply (available separately) that uses a
single 3.7V cell to deliver a constant 12VDC, including real-time battery charging if
track power is either sporadically or continuously available. Convenient battery power in
minimum space."
I couldn't find any more description of this, and it's not listed in their
model list, but it sounds like this would put a small rechargeable battery in
the locomotive. This seems ideal for indoor layouts. All your crossings, frogs,
etc could be un-powered, dirty track is a almost a non-issue, even reverse
loops could have huge gaps at the ends and not need polarity switching.
Also, if you are wired for DCC already, you could mix systems with only some
locomotives using S-Cab.
-Michael Eldridge
--
Peter Vanvliet ([email protected])
Houston, Texas
My Model Railroad Site <http://pmrr.org/> (RSS feed
<http://pmrr.org/rss.xml>)
Fourth Ray Software <http://fourthray.com/>
Houston S Gaugers <http://houstonsgaugers.org/>
N.A.S.G. <http://nasg.org/>
--
