Before we start on the point motors I thought you might like to see a mock up of the layout based on the drawings in the previous post. One thing I forgot to mention is there are many ways to wire the same scenario I have just used one. Be seeing you Bob
Now for the point motors The ones here are the Gaugemaster GMC-PM10 (seep). Here are a couple of pictures of the PM10’s These solenoids are reliable and easy to fit and very easy to electrically connect. For those that don’t know how a solenoid works here is a brief description If we apply the correct voltage between A and B the iron plunger inside the coil of wire will be attracted to that coil. Now if we have two coils on the one plunger as in this picture. If we apply a voltage to A and C the plunger will move to the left. If we apply a voltage to B and C the plunger will move to the right. This is how the point motors work. In the above picture the two black arrows are the coils and the blue arrow is the plunger. Now to get the solenoid plunger to move positively we need to give the coils a quick surge of current. We cannot leave the current on as this would burnout the coil wiring. To do this we need a different kind if switch then the single pole on/off type we used to connect to the track. There are many ways of giving this short sharp blast of current, probe and buttons, passing contact switches or press to make button switches. The one we will use here is the passing contact switch. There are many different switches we will use a center biased switch this is a switch that is sprung loaded to the middle and can be pressed either way to momentarily connect to either of two contacts The other thing we need to give that last of current is a Capacitor discharge unit (CDU), this unit is feed from a 12 to 16 volt power supply and when activated sends out a short pulse of high current. The following is a wiring diagram of one point motor connected to a CDU. Here are the connections on the point motor Here are the connections to the CDU The two blue arrows are the PSU connections The red arrow is the connection to Z on the passing switch The black arrow is the connection to the C connection of the point motor. And here is the diagram to all three points.
By the way here is a part number for the momentary switches https://www.hattons.co.uk/47146/Gau...Mini_toggle_for_Point_Motors/StockDetail.aspx all the best Bob
Hi Bob All good stuff and easily understood. Only bit that is not clear to me is that are the coach lights permanently on as the DCC track is always 'live'? Or have I missed something? Cheers Pete
Pete Simply put, yes. But that's probably prototypical anyway. There are a few options:- Small switch on the underside A magnetic latching reed relay under the roof An LDR circuit to turn it off if its light Park in a siding and isolate the siding from DCC ( Fit a cheap decoder in the coaches for ultimate control! (bottom of page) Switch via a remote Feed from the loco decoder aux via interconnecting wiring (yuck!)
Thanks Bob Bit late at night to try and get my head around all this electricity stuff. Will look at your suggestions in the morning OR I may just leave the lights on!!! Cheers Pete
My apologies Timbersurf Hope there is no damage done! I thought I was replying to Bob. Did not check the thread properly. Pete
Hi Pete If you go to post 27 and read from there you will see the little board I make up for my coach lighting. If you need more help please do not hesitate to let me know either here or by PM Be seeing you Bob
Hi Pete Is this the sort of thing you are looking for http://bit.do/sensorwithdelay Be seeing you Bob
Hi Bob Only problem with these that I can see is the working voltage, 100-240V AC. At least it shows that there is 'stuff' out there. Thanks for the help. Cheers Pete
I don't see how a PIR would work? I think what your after would be a motion/tilt sensor like this combined with an off delay timer like this. The problem is that the two would be bulky. As I said before TrainTech do a battery version, I don't think anyone has come up with a proprietary sensor/timer for DCC!
Hi All Had a further look around the Internet. See, http://www.southwestdigital.co.uk/P...ung_Betriebsanleitung_EN_Auflage_II_eBook.pdf At £18/19 a pop it is expensive to do a rake of coaches. Dependant on what coaches you have you may need wheel wipers. All run from your controller. Has some nice features but I am looking cheaper! Cheers Pete
Hi Pete Why do you want a delay from the time the sensor is hit. it would be easy enough to set up a delay in the Arduino code. sorry Pete I was typing when you were I thought you were talking bout the turntable. are you looking for a stay alive system or a delay to switch on the coach lights. be seeing you Bob
Hi Bob I was just thinking that your design is fine whilst travelling along the track but when the coaches are parked up, (fiddle yard or a siding), I would like them to go off. The reason for the time delay is if the coach is in a station I would not want them to turn off. Maybe I am being optimistic about this! The link I sent you says it has a small stay alive on the board. Larger ones available. It's not a huge deal. I just thought it would be easier than this with the amount of electronic gimmickry around. Cheers Pete
Hi Pete I have done that on my coaches by inserting a latching reed switch in the circuit. You just wave a magnet over the coach to switch on or off. be seeing you Bob