Short story: I have a Scale Trains SD40-2 with LokPilot5 purchased separately.  I can't control the beacon (it is just on steady) or find connectivity between decoder mounting pins (with decoder removed) and 'E' pad on mother board.

Second issue, 3 ST SD40-2 with ESU decoders make a sound like a short as soon as track power is turned on.  They seem to operate normally but the noise is annoying.  It diminishes when I touch the sides (non-metal) parts of decoder.  Other (Atlas, Bowser) locos with ESU decoders are quiet.

Is there anyone out there besides me doing decoder competition/comparisons on their own railroad?

I want to build myself a DCC switch/turnout decoder for my old turnouts based on an ATTiny chip. I already have the electrical part figured out, with the help of some examples available on the internet.

There are also some ATTiny code examples, but only for locomotive or function decoders. There are no examples of how to control turnouts using the NMRA protocol. At least I could not find any.  I suppose that the code for the turnout decoder should be significantly simpler, as there are no CVs involved.

As I understand it, the MRC Prodigy system uses a RJ45 cable. I have a coiled cable for one of my throttles and I can't remember where the heck I got it. I dearly wish I'd ordered a couple more and the shorter cables that come with the throttles aren't terribly long.

Yes, I Googled the thing and found a lot of listings that are no longer valid.

I just wanna confirm it is indeed a RJ45 cable (I saw mention of it on my internet search) and if anyone knows a vendor which might have new coiled cables with the fittings on each end.