Command and Dynamis at the same time?

[hgcHO]

Mr. Bach-man,  I ask this question knowing I could try it myself but not wanting to have to send in for possible repair and increase the profit of Fed-EX or UPS.  Much easier to ask on this board.

Can I plug in E-Z Command on one side of the power track and plug in the Dynamis on the other side then have them both on at the same time? [using the same code for all units]

I would think it would be OK to have them both plugged in on either side of the power track but only one on at a time.

HGC

p.s. need a discussion board for DCC  - my opinion w/ F.A.Q.s.

[Hunt]

The short answer: No!

Likely there will be a moment in time when both will be 'ON' at the same time.

Move the wires to the track from one to the other command station or put a switch in the wiring to the track so there is no possible way to have power to the track from both command stations at the same time.

[hgcHO]

Plugged into track without either power [wall wart} plugged in then only then plugged in the Dynamis and it gave a short error pulled the track wire from the command and short went away.  So the system has a fail safe build in.   One has to unplug from track before plugging in the other into the track.  There: as simple as that.


HGC


Dynamis is really not as easy to program as the Command - still learning here.

[Santa Fe buff]

Plugged into track without either power [wall wart} plugged in then only then plugged in the Dynamis and it gave a short error pulled the track wire from the command and short went away.  So the system has a fail safe build in.   One has to unplug from track before plugging in the other into the track.  There: as simple as that.


HGC


Dynamis is really not as easy to program as the Command - still learning here.

Good luck on your railroading, it is just like two regular controllers plugged into the same track. That is another easy comparison.

[Pacific Northern]

I myself would wait until you hear the official word from the Bach-man.

There was a posting a while ago and the EZ DCC controller shorted out on a couple of users and the units were toast.

The Dynamis unit's electronics might well short out when connected to the EZ DCC controller.

If you toast the units it will be an expensive lesson.

[Jim Banner]

Dynamis is really not as easy to program as the Command - still learning here.

Just like a scientific calculator is not as easy to use as an adding machine.  That is the price you pay for more flexibility and capability.  But in the end, I think you will find it is worth the effort.

[Jim Banner]

Good luck on your railroading, it is just like two regular controllers plugged into the same track. That is another easy comparison.

The comparison may be easy but unfortunately, it is not true.  Two regular  controllers in parallel can increase the dc current available if their polarities and voltages are matched.  This will NOT occur with two command stations as their ac outputs will drift in and out of phase due to differences in signal timing.  When in phase, they may momentarily reinforce one another but when out of phase, their outputs will short circuit one another.  This shorting is not like shorting the rails by putting a quarter across them because a quarter cannot add to the power of a command station.  When two command stations are shorting one another, one command station can be forcing extra current back into the output of the second command station, causing more current flow in its current limiting circuits than they are designed to handle.

How about large model railroads with multiple boosters?  Some boosters are designed so that their outputs can be paralleled without damage, even if out of phase.  But there are no indications that the outputs of the E-Z Command and the Dynamis are designed this way.  Go back and reread Hunt's answer.  He says that the short answer is NO!  I say that the long answer is also NO!  And before you go hooking your command stations together, please review the warranty limitations on abuse.

[Hunt]

Santa Fe buff please think before you post. You have established yourself as a forum graffiti poster. Few of your posts contain any relevant information and far too many contain incorrect information.

Jim Banner just corrected your misunderstanding. I and others have corrected your information in other posts.

Caution for all. After a review, I notice not all of Santa Fe buff 's erroneous information in other posts has been corrected.

[Tim]

Jim

Just a clarification on boosters.  A booster is simply a power amplifier, it generates no signal
of it's own.  The signal is generated by the command station, and fed to all the boosters in
a system at the same time, therefore boosters cannot get out of phase.

In this case the question is "Can you connect two complete systems at the same time?".

The answer is NO!!.  Even with DC it will not work.

Tim Anders
Souderton, PA

[Santa Fe buff]

Santa Fe buff please think before you post. You have established yourself as a forum graffiti poster. Few of your posts contain any relevant information and far too many contain incorrect information.

Jim Banner just corrected your misunderstanding. I and others have corrected your information in other posts.

Caution for all. After a review, I notice not all of Santa Fe buff 's erroneous information in other posts has been corrected.

I too I'm learning, I will keep that comment in mind everytime I decide I might post something.

[Jim Banner]

...  therefore boosters cannot get out of phase.

Tim Anders
Souderton, PA

Tim, it would be nice if that were the case.  Unfortunately, boosters can be hooked up wrong with either their inputs or outputs accidentally reversed.  Then when a locomotive bridges the gaps between an incorrectly phased district and a properly phased district, paralleling their out of phase outputs, you have a short of the kind I described.  From time to time boosters with auto reversing outputs have been known to create such a short when their outputs spontaneously inverted, even though the boosters were programmed for fixed (non-auto reversing) outputs.  And then there was the batch of boosters by one well known DCC manufacturer in which the output was accidentally reversed.  Unplugging a properly phased booster and plugging one of these in its place again caused this type of short.  These three examples all required a locomotive or similar to bridge the gaps between the power districts involved.  In the case of large scale where a power district may be powered by two boosters in parallel (usually with some low value ballast resistor) no locomotive is involved.

So far this discussion has ignored the fact that if the boosters are not designed for multiple booster applications, using more than one of them on a layout may be hazardous to the health of your decoders.  As you have said, a booster is simply a (digital) power amplifier.  But internally, there are two ways of producing the familiar alternating output.  One is to use a single power supply and an H-bridge output.  This will connect rail A to + and rail B to - on one half cycle and connect rail A to - and rail B to + on the other half cycle.  With this arrangement, there can never be more than the power supply voltage across any gap, even between power districts driven by separate boosters each with its own power supply as long as the power supply commons (usually - side) are connected together.  The other, cheaper way to built a booster is to use a half-bridge output and a split power supply.  A split supply is one that produces + compared to the power supply common and also produces - compared to the power supply common.  An equivalent circuit would be two batteries, one with grounded anode, the other with grounded cathode.  With this arrangement, one rail is connected to the power supply common.  The other rail swings from supply + to supply -.  Under certain fault conditions, one side of a gap may be + and the other side -, putting double the usually DCC voltage across the gap.  This voltage is high enough to exceed the maximum allowable input voltage for most decoders and can lead to their instantaneous demise.

If you would like to discuss this further off line, just click on my name for my email address.

[NelsOn-30]

S F Buff

You have overused the "I'm still learning" reason for posting erroneous information. We are all still learning.

You cannot learn anything by providing information not known to be factual.  Be aware that misinformation can be detrimental if accepted and used by an unknowledgeable board reader.

The accepted way to make a statement without creating a backlash or undermining ones credibility is to do so in the form of a question. Other board members with the knowledge you have not yet gained will either correct or substantiate your information in the form of an answer.

This response is provided to help you regain credibility amongst your fellow board users.

[bernie7787]

Dynamis User Guide Page 23.Dose not include Digital Command
in other products that can use with Dynamis.
                                                 bernie7787