One of the things we do is finish NOCH layouts, such as 20 turnouts "Baden-Baden" from NOCH in N scale, and so I am always in search of the best and most cost effective accessory decoders to switch turnouts, etc.

My former go to accessory decoder was Roco 10836 capable of switching 8 turnout motors (Marklin, Fleischmann and others).
Excellent accessory decoder and the price per motor is a very attractive $11.
Those Roco decoders work best off external 18V power supply.

But there is a new, currently undisputed champion in town - ESU SwitchPilot 3 Plus.
SwitchPilots from ESU aren't exactly new entrants; they certainly have been around.

So what makes SwitchPilot 3 Plus such an incredible option?
For starters, like Roco's 10836, they can also switch 8 turnout decoders (Marklin and others).
They can also accept external 18V power.
But this is what sets them apart - one can easily configure any of available 8 ports to operate in any mode, such as k83, k84.
And all of these settings are right on board, as there is a screen and buttons to do the job, so it doesn't have to be done from the command station.

As an example, one SwitchPilot 3 Plus is capable of below:
- operate four turnouts
- operate one decoupler
- operate two aspect signal
- operate layouts LED house and street lights
- operate windmill motors

Like Marklin's m83 decoder, one assigns starting address of the first output port and the next 3 are automatically assigned sequentially.
Because there are 8 ports, user then proceeds to set starting address of the second batch of 4 ports.

If used as purely switch decoder, the price per motor is even more attractive $9.

Sure is a lot to like!

Edited by user 01 June 2025 02:20:53(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified