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As with any reverse section, it must be electrically isolated from the rest of the layout. Power going to the reverse section and detection portals must be fed only from the ARSC.

Isolation gaps should be offset by about 1/16" to 1/8", as illustrated below (left). If your reverse section is already isolated with even cuts, you can open one of the gaps a little more and fill it with plastic (center). The only purpose for this is to insure that two metal wheels on a freight car do not bridge the two gaps at the exact same time (right), which could incorrectly trigger the ARSC.

A Dremel tool cut-off wheel or Atlas' #400 Super Saw can be used to make isolation gaps.

After cutting the gaps in the rail, confirm that they are in fact cut all the way through, and totally isolated from all other rail parts. You can use an ohmmeter, test light, or any other device capable of testing for continuity. Test each portal rail and both reverse section rails. None of them should have any continuity with each other or with either mainline rail.

Once you have confirmed that all rail pieces are totally isolated, fill the gaps with something to insure the short portal rails won't slide one way or the other and touch one of the adjacent rails - especially on grades. Following are a couple of ways to accomplish this:

Note: The whole, and only, purpose for staggering the gaps is to keep two metal wheels from bridging the gap at the same time. If this happens, the ARSC will mistake this for a loco and reverse the polarity. Most of the time, this will be irrelevant. If the locos have already exited the other portal, having the reverse section switch to the other polarity won't cause a problem. But, if any loco wheels are still in the exiting portal when this happens, the ARSC will try to do both polarities at the same time. This could cause the booster to shut down due to the short circuit, and could make the ARSC stop between polarities. If this happens, you'll need to reset it with the finger flip method outlined later in the documentation.