DS51K1 Bi-Polar Drive Stationary Decoder

The DS51K1 is designed specifically for Kato N-Scale turnouts.  Kato manufactures both a #4 and #6 turnout; one DS51K1 will control one Kato turnout solenoid.  In cases where there are two turnouts in a crossover track arrangement, you must use two DS51K1s, each assigned to the same address.Installation of the four decoder wires requires soldering skills.  And, just to make things interesting, Kato uses the colors of black and red for their turnout control wires, while Digitrax uses black and red for the power and data bus.  You will make four connections, two connected to the turnout motor and two ...

This procedure is best done after installation of the decoder to the turnout.  The process is "blind", so it is easier to program this decoder after installation because you can then test the operation of the turnout with its new address.  The DS51K1 can be installed into the base of the turnout or attached to the bottom of the layout near the turnout.1. Turn off track power and temporarily connect the yellow programming wire from the DS51K1 to the same rail as the black wire.2. Turn on track power.3. Using your throttle, select the address you want to program into ...

Can the DS51K1 be used with large scale DCC (22 volts)? What is the maximum DCC supply voltage for this decoder? The DS51K1 is designed specifically to be used with Kato N-Scale Unitrack turnouts only.  It will not work for large scale turnouts. For use with bi-polar turnouts in large scale, the DS64 is a better choice.

I have my Kato Switches hooked up to a standard switch panel with toggle momentary switches. Can I hook up the DS51K1 stationary decoder in addition to this wiring? In other words, if hooked up the DS51K1 to the Kato Switch Machine that was already wired to another source to throw the switch, would the momentary power damage the decoder when it is operated by the standard control panel? I would like to operate these switches via DCC and by the control panel. In this situation, it would appear that using a DS64 configured for Kato turnouts (solenoid turnouts) and ...