GCA53 LocoNet® 16 I/O ports with isolated LocoNet Bus
Summary
The GCA50 has been already about 15 years very popular.
One disadvantage of the LocoNet system the low available current from the net.
This power comes from the Railsync lines and is usually limited to approx 250 mA.
In our club in Deventer Netherlands, (MSCD.nl), there was a demand for a bit more.
The usual solution is to use a separate supply instead of the railsync lines.
But since there is no isolation then between railsync lines (including dcc railpower)
one should be very careful with that.
But since there was a demand to change the GCA50, and abort all the -mostly- unused
screw terminals, I designed this GCA53, with the same functions, but with opto-coupers to
isolate the LocoNet bus completely from all he I/O functions.
To get this LocoNet communication reliable via these opto couplers is was necessary to
use the high speed 6N137, needing a dc/dc converter NME0505s.
This way, there is virtually no load at all from the LocoNet bus, and also none from the railsync lines.
