Track and electrical/DCC
Arduino for Peco ladder
I have read Dr. Bunza's article on using an Arduino and servos to control a yard ladder. I was wondering if I can use a Arduino mega with a motor shield to drive Peco switch machines.
Thanks for any help...Ken
correct wire
well i have a TSU 1000 decoder, at least that is what it looks like, except one corner.
https://postimg.cc/gallery/35v4s9gba/
in the photo there are three wires coming out of the unknown part. (on my decoder there is NO wiring, but a tiny flat black thing), where the black wire from the keep alive is at there is a three wire connector, two purple (speaker) one white cut short.
the rd and black wires come from the opposite ends, at each corner, soldered to what i will call the underside, and go to a factory installed cap (just one).
A Modest DCC Proposal to Limit Shorts (with Apologies to Johnathan Swift)
Hi All,
I remain troubled after reading an MRH article not too long ago (MRH RE Dec 2018: Ah-Hah Moment: Making decoders more short-resistant) about modifying a DCC decoder's printed circuit board (PCB) which paralleled a thin trace on the board with a much thicker wire. The trace connected the two independent wheel wires from the forward and rear trucks (diesel loco). The author pointed out that when run into turnout points set in the wrong direction, the trace would virtually vaporize, carrying the full current of the DCC base station or booster as provided to the track.
Arduino / route control for Wye question..SOLVED
Has anyone here used an arduino / servo combination to control routes using rotary switches? I have a staging yard and a wye that I want to use Arduino and servos to control routes. I have rotary switches like the one shown. One is a 5 position (staging) and the other is 3 (wye). I will be starting this soon, and if anyone has anything to share on this before hand.. that would be much appreciated. Thanks
Update: solution in comments..
Decoder Buddy Test
Sue is working on growing our own LEDs on Decoder Buddys. It seems to be working. I don’t think they will taste as good as her tomatoes....
Laying out a smal classification yard
I am in the initial stage of designing a small HO layout. To get started I am going to try and do some of the planning by hand. I am using the ME #6 turnout template as a starting point. I want to have the yard tracks on 2 1/4" centerline spacing. How do I determine 1) where the first straight section of the first yard track should start in relation to the end of the diverging route of the turnout; 2) how to connect the first yard section to the turnout (i.e. small straight section followed by a curve of some radius).
Curve between a turnout and parallel siding
HI Folks:
Im doing some layout planning on my new layout, and would like to finally, once and for all get a proper answer for this question.
I am using 1 1/2 inch spacing center to center on parallel tracks, and #4 switches -- what I need to know is the proper radius and degree of curve to match them up. Is there a proper way to calculate it -- I keep trying to eyeball it and it never works right and things look goofy. Whats the proper way to do this??
Thanks
TIM
DCC boosters, sounds & consists: some questions
Hi all,
I am in the planning process of converting some locomotives to DCC. In particular Genesis F units and i am trying to figure out some things concerning power requirements, DCC boosters, districts etc.
I am using a Z21 central unit (the black version) which is rated at 3A, with track voltage (if i remember correctly) set at 15V. Reading previous topics on DCC Amperage consumption etc... i am going with value estimates of a 0.5A to 0.6A value per DCC sound loco and 0.2A per DCC non sound loco.
Constant Current IC for LEDs/whatever
Came across this IC while poking around the web and thought I'd give it a try. It's an NSI50010YT1G and comes in an SOD123-2 package, so it's something of a bear to solder. What's neat about it is that is provides a near-constant current of 10ma, and can handle an input as high as 50V. This makes it pretty useful for constant-intensity lighting. The only other component you'd need is a diode in the 1n400x series to protect it from reverse voltage. Here's one that I wired up for testing purposes:
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