Table of contents

BOD Card Quickstart

Overview

This Quickstart walks you through:

installing the BOD Card and its Block Breakout Board
wiring a single gapped block
applying layout power
validating the end-to-end event path, confirming that block-detection signals from the BOD Card appear as the expected Occupied/Clear LCC events on the CAN bus

The diagram below shows the flow of detection and communication through the system:

Track → Block Breakout Board → BOD Card → Node Bus Hub → Node Card → CAN Bus

Do these steps in order:

Insert Cards
- Install the Node Card and BOD Card into a Node Bus Hub.
- Power the Node Card.
Connect to the Breakout Board
- Set the BOD Card’s COMM BUS (A/B) and COMM ADDR (1–7).
- Connect the BOD Card’s J1 or J2 to the Breakout Board’s BOD/BSD CARDS port.
Wire Track and Blocks
- Connect gapped Rail B for Blocks 1–4 to TRACK BLOCKS – GAPPED RAIL B (J1).
- Connect layout Track Bus B to TRACK BUS B (J2).
- If both rails are gapped:
  - Set JP1–JP4 jumpers
  - Connect layout Track Bus A to TRACK BUS A (J2).
Configure CDI
- Match CDI COMM Bus + COMM Addr to the card’s switches.
- Fill in Card Description and Block Descriptions.
- Adjust Debounce only if needed.
- Set the Initial Power-On State.
Verify Detection
- Place a locomotive or resistor wheelset on the block.
- Confirm: LED → Occupied Event → Clear Event after removal.

On the BOD Card
1. Configure communications to a unique setting across cards:
  - Set the COMM BUS to either Bus A or Bus B (JP1/JP2)
  - Set the COMM ADDR to 1 through 7 by sliding the switches (SW1)
2. Connect a network cable to:
  1. BLOCK BREAKOUT BOARD BLOCKS 1–4 (J1) — for the first Breakout Board, or
  2. BLOCK BREAKOUT BOARD BLOCKS 5–8 (J2) — for a second Breakout Board.
On the Block Breakout Board
1. Ensure the layout track bus is powered off.
2. Connect the other end of the network cable to the BOD/BSD CARDS connector (J2).
  - This carries the gapped Rail B detection current to/from the BOD Card.
3. If any of the blocks are at the end of the track bus, set the DCC BUS SNUBBER using a jumper.
4. If a block has both rails gapped, then:
  1. Set the corresponding JP1–JP4 jumper(s) to enable that block’s current detection, and
  2. Connect TRACK BUS A (J2) to the layout’s Track Bus A.

Open the CDI Configuration Tool.
Locate the appropriate LCC Node.
Open the BOD Card segment.
Update the Card Description field
- Use a meaningful name that tells you what this card is watching, for example:
  - Mainline Zone 54 Blocks
  - Staging Yard A Blocks
- This makes it much easier to identify the card later when you have multiple BOD Cards on the layout.
Update each Block / Line Description
- For each block input on the card, fill in a short description that ties it back to the layout, for example:
  - Zone 54, Block 1
  - Zone 54, Block 2 (East Siding)
- Use a consistent naming pattern so wiring, CDI, and documentation all line up.
Set the Debounce value
- Start with the default debounce time.
- If testing shows noisy occupancy (flicker, rapid changes), increase the debounce value slightly.
- If detection feels too sluggish, you can reduce it—but only after confirming the track and wiring are clean.
Set the Initial Power-On State
- Choose how each block should report when the layout first powers up:
  - Some operations prefer all blocks to come up as Clear until detection says otherwise.
  - Others may want a more conservative behavior, depending on operating practices and safety preferences.
- Actual operations on your layout will determine the best choice here.
Use the default event IDs unless you have a specific event mapping strategy in place.

Place a locomotive or resistor wheelset on your test block.

Expected behavior:

Remove the locomotive or resistor wheelset.

Expected behavior:

This confirms the complete detection chain: Track → Block Breakout Board → BOD Card → CAN → Node Card → CDI