Can Relcos be used on DCC layouts ?
Relco’s MUST NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES be used on DCC layouts. They have the potential to damage decoders and command stations. Our accidental error found that a DCC command station actually destroys a Relco such that the Relco is completely unserviceable. The author’s personal experience has found Relco’s not to be necessary on DCC anyway. Our investigations into the technical aspects found the following issues: • A Relco sends out 50V, high frequency pulses which can be misread by decoders as instructions. These pulses may be ignored (best case) or could trigger undesired functionality (worst case) in the decoder (ie reprogramming, triggering a loco to ‘take off’ at random speed etc) • The voltage level output of a Relco can be up to 50V which exceeds the NMRA S9 standard of +/- 22 volts RMS. A Relco can therefore damage a decoder • Some decoders have in-built protection in the form of a zener diode which switches on when excess voltage is applied. This effectively causes the decod
