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4 Contact Indicators
If your digital system is able to report the state of track contacts, reed contacts, optical
sensors, track occupancy sensors or other feedback sensors to the computer, then you
can indicate the status of these contacts and sensors with contact indicator symbols.
With these indicators, you are able to monitor the state of the feedback sensors on the
computer screen.
Contact indicators are always needed for automatic control of your layout with the Visual
Dispatcher (this is outlined in detail in the sections 5.6 - 5.8). They can also be used
to achieve semi-automatic control as outlined in chapter 12.
A certain indicator symbol can be located at different locations, among others in a
switchboard or in the Visual Dispatcher. Locating an indicator symbol in a switchboard
is especially useful in cases, where the Visual Dispatcher is not being used at all or if
the switchboard represents an area of your layout, which is not controlled by the Visual
Dispatcher. Locating an indicator symbol in the Visual Dispatcher is useful, if the related
real contact is located in an area of your layout, for which no switchboard exists,
or if the indicator is intended to be assigned to a block (see 5.6, “Blocks and Indicators”).
There is no major difference, in which window an indicator symbol is located. Everything
written in this document with regard to indicators applies regardless where the indicator
is located.
Contact indicators can be used to determine the positions of trains. This can be done in
or without conjunction with train identification systems (e.g. Digitrax Transponding,
Muet or HELMO). For more details refer to section 5.5, “Train Detection and Train
Tracking”.
Contact indicators can also be used to operate other objects like switches and signals,
semi-automatically, by passing trains. More details about this issue are outlined in section
12.3, “Operations”.
If your digital system is not able to report the state of feedback sensors to the computer,
then TrainController makes it possible to connect a second or more digital systems
to your computer. For this purpose, it is not necessary to purchase another complete
digital system that is also able to operate trains and switches. TrainController supports
special low cost digital systems that are dedicated to the monitoring of feedback
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