Hi, gang. For the train guys out here, I'm working on juicing a frog on a DCC layout.
For those who saw that as greek, sorry. I need to reverse the polarity of a piece of track.
My first thought was a pair of non-latching relays that the Arduino would flip as needed. Then I wondered can a relay work backwards. eg, NO and NC are the input, and the COM is the output?
Again thanks. I'm way more of a programmer than I am an electronics guy.
In a turn out where the tracks all cross there is a small piece called a frog. when a train is crossing the turn out normally, the right wheels contact frog. When it's following the divergent route, the left wheels contact the frog.
So depending on which direction the points are set, that frog has to have the polarity flipped.
How are you going to throw the turnout? if you are using a servo and arduino then you can connect a relay and when the turnout is thrown it will trigger the relay. which can then change the polarity on the frog.
john