DCC - Electrical
Wiring a Layout for DCC and DC
I need to wire my layout for both DCC and DC. Plus a programming track. I had a friend help me with the wiring.
The DC and DCC need to be completely separate so there is no possibility of having both of them one.
LED lighting re-install on my Richlawn Railroad
As many of you know I previously converted the room lighting on my railroad from track lighting using halogen lights to LED using the Michael Rose designed boards available through Bill B. You can see information on that conversion HERE.
ProtoThrottle at Trainfest this weekend
For those attending Trainfest in Milwaukee this weekend, please stop by to demo Iowa Scaled Engineering’s ProtoThrottle. Michael Petersen and Nathan Holmes from Iowa Scaled will be on hand to show you how the ProtoThrottle can propel your diesel operations to the next level of realism.
Meet and talk with Michael and Nathan on Saturday at these times:
Order of diesel work (inside/outside)
I'm reviewing the order I'm doing my diesel work in. I have some diesels that are factory painted and will have some additional details added, some weathering, proper couplers, and DCC/Sound/Lights.
Should I get the electrical work out of the way first and then tackle the detail/weathering work? It seems when I have a completed model (like an older one I've done with details/paint/weathering) and then added DCC, some of the details get clobbered and need to be fixed.
I'm wondering if I should get the inside done first and then the outside.
Good sound decoder for Walthers HO Alco RS-2?
9 pin ready. Running mostly steamers. Could use ideas for 50’s diesel sounds.
Mini-360 DC-DC Buck converter step down module
In keeping with advice found on this site I use my DCC bus for track power and nothing else. For lights,turnout motors, signage and what have you I use a seperate bus powered by a 15V laptop power supply. That works great for LED lighting because as long as you use the right resistor LEDs don't care what voltage you use. Not so for Tortoise switch motors though, or Miller Engineering signs, or a turntable motor.
Wireless, physical throttle for JMRI?
I currently operate my shelf layout using a Raspberry Pi 3b running JMRI, which is connected to a SPROG III. I wirelessly connect to the RPi3 and control the trains using the Engine Driver app on an old Android phone.
But, what I *really* want is a physical throttle, with a speed-control knob, that will drive the trains wirelessly through JMRI. Does anyone know of such a throttle?
Or, I guess one could have some kind of phone cradle with a knob, which connects to the phone physically or via Bluetooth.
Kato sd40-2 mid production.
I have 2 brand new Kato mid production SD40-2s'. The ditch lights work on analog but not DCC. I have tried 3 brand new TCS DP-5 decoders. All three decoders the motor function works, headlights work but not the ditchlights. Anyone else have this problem?
Thank
Ed
Lessons learned from our latest layout setup
The Hill Country Outlaws 0n30 modular group participated in the New Braunfels Train Show this past weekend. Overall, I think the show went quite well. The setup at this show consisted of our core display of an 8' x 24' loop with a wye at one corner. A 12' branch runs off the wye to a transfer table module and turntable. The loop has a passing siding on each side to allow bi-directional running.
Semaphore Operation
Hey all, looking to operate my SP style dual semaphores. I've seen the tech out their by tam valley etc but my problem is, is that I have dual dc analog motors connected to operate my signals. Is their a simple diy cheap way of operating them while the block is occupied? I was thinking of an photo cell sensor so when its triggered at point A arm moves and does not go back until the next point is reached. Any ideas? Thanks!
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