[woodcote]

A question - can you tell us why you want a variable voltage power supply? Is it because you want to adjust the voltage or you've read somewhere that it's "better"?

If you want to adjust the voltage to the cars - for beginner drivers or more sensitive cars - this is usually done in a digital system via the software. A constant 15V is applied to the track and the car's decoder adjusts the voltage going to the motor. Using the ARC app software, you can adjust the maximum power available to a car and you can adjust the throttle 'curve'. Both can make it easier to drive a car. Typically, if I am setting up a track for beginner or younger drivers, I will limit the maximum power to 50%.

Using two standard Scalextric/Hornby 15V / 4A power supplies with the ARC Pro powerbase will power six cars, the powerbase and all your lane changers and pit entries. Using a non-standard power supply with too few volts will risk the powerbase receiving insufficient power to operate correctly. A power supply with too many volts or amps can permanently damage the powerbase.

A long track will require careful maintenance of the track joins and the use of at least one pair of power booster cables. One end of each cable is linked to a track piece near the powerbase and the other end to the furthest point away from the powerbase.