Going for the Märklin Digital adventure, initially,
I really felt like a Dummy. The purpose of this section is to document and present my
approach and my experiences on the road to achieve a 100% computer operated railroad. I
don't have an ambition to cover all products, solutions and tricks in the Digital area, or
to understand how the bits and pieces really work. Look at this section more as a
"case" of my solution.
What is the Märklin Digital concept?
Basically, the Märklin Digital concept provides
improved realism - and fun - by adding the following optional features to your layout:
Independence: In digital, specific
locomotive decoders enables you to control upto 80 trains independent from each other. An
example of digital locomotive decoder is the "c90" decoder. Read more about this
in my Loco Decoders section.
Arms and hands: "k83" decoders
(like Märklin 6083) are used for controlling turnouts, train decouplers and signals of
the layout. These devices are often called electric Solenoids.
Even more arms and hands: "k84"
decoders (like Märklin 6084) are e.g. used for controlling Stopping Areas of the layout. And motors and other stuff.
Eyes: "s88" modules (like Märklin
6088) brings you the ability to monitor Occupied Track Feedback. Read more about this in
my Occupied Track section.
Brain power: The computer system utilizes
its simultaneous capacity, logics and memory to provide automated monitoring and control
of the layout. You need a personal computer and specific software to accomplish this. Read
more about the computer system in my Software
section.
This is what you need in addition to accomplish the
digital concept:
Heart and blood system: The Control Unit (Märklin 6021 or the
older 6020) is central, and it provides manouver instructions for the layout. This
could never be achieved without effective Power
Supply.
Nervous system: The Digital Interface
(Märklin 6051 or the older 6050) is a black box that connects the Heart and blood system
to the brain, i.e. the Märklin Control Unit to the computer system.
In addition to my content, Märklin provides a
comprehensive description of their Digital
Components. This could be very valuable e.g. if you're not going to use a computer for
operating your layout, and therefore need additional hardware to control turnouts etc.
In 2004, the new "Märklin Systems" was introduced
in order to replace Märklin Digital. You may use (most of) the Märklin Digital
items also in the future. As I am still on Märklin Digital, I will only slightly
comment Märklin Systems in the different Digital Dummy sections.
- But why the naming c90, k83, s88 etc.?
This is set by the Motorola standard that Märklin has adopted.
- And what is a decoder, really? I look at
it as a black box that can (a) transform digital signals into mechanical/electrical
actions or (b) transform mechanical/electrical actions into digital signals.
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