Track and electrical/DCC
guard rails
I have a question about the ends of guard rails used in turnouts.
Building turnouts using the fast tracks system, the instructions just have you bend the guard rails so that the ends diverge from the adjacent stock rail, but they don't have you doing anything to the ends of the guard rails. On the other hand, for the wing rails you are to file a compound bevel on the end of the wing rail, which is straight, not bent away from the frog rail. The bevel is intended to coax a wayward wheel flange into the channel between wing rail and frog rail.
TCS decoder in a consist
So I have a locomotive I converted to DCC using a TCS WOW kit... it works great as a lone unit but when I add it to a consist (as the lead locomotive) it will not respond to using the headlight, horn or bell. I do not have this issue with any of my other locomotives and I'm at a loss as to why this one is behaving in this manner...
dcc or go normal dc
well i will be putting down some rail this year, but not so sure about dcc, i try to learn, and read a lot about it,
it does sound great, but i keep reading where so many problems with the computers.i do own one or two dcc. but have far many more power units that are dc only.
i am not so great with electrical , i keep letting out that magic smoke. so dcc sounds easy... even for me. but computers give me fits.
Lionel display layout
I need to make a Lionel layout work off of 3 push buttons and 3 timers.
I know this has been done but I am an HO DCC guy. I am not sure about timers and designing the control circuit.
I am an electrician and can wire the circuit once I have a idea I know will work.
I have thought about using industrial timers but the cost per timer has me concerned.
If someone has an idea or experience with timing relays I would appreciate the help.
DCC wire gauge
I'm getting organized to convert some of my older locos to DCC. I am looking for what wire gauge to use for Ho scale locos for all the internal wiring. Anyone have the answer in AWG?
DCC shorts and the damage it can cause
I was reading a thread on another site the other day (sorry Joe F, MRH is good but unfortunately not the font of all knowledge!!) and came across a thread on DCC and short circuits.
I am posting for curiosity sake, what damage have you seen due to DCC short circuits? The thread I was reading inferred that someone's house caught fire due to an undetected DCC short on a layout left on.
Resetting decoder with keep alive
i fave a Digitrax dcs 1 throttle. I was trying to enter a new Loco number and now when there is power the engine just clicks..
it is a loksound select 73836.
Usually with this decoder I sometimes had to hit f8 to get the sound working - but that is not the case now.
So I think I want to reset the decoder - program cv8-8- the manual says.
But I have a loksound power pack mini on it (a keep alive)
Micro Engineering Turnout Spring Issue
Purchased Micro Engineering turnouts a couple of months ago and just now starting to install them on the new layout.
Two of the turnouts, so far, have issues related to the spring. One turnout has almost no tension to keep the switch rail in place. The other turnout’s switch rail keeps snaping back to one side.
Can the turnout springs be adjusted to correct such issues?
21PNEM connectors
I want to make some 21PNEM male/female connector cables. Some shells do have enough vertical clearance for motherboard and a 21PNEM decoder. Thought about a harness which would allow offsetting the decoder from the motherboard to an area, such as the cab, where there is free space.
Have only found 21pin to 9 pin versions. Any idea where the connectors themselves may be found?
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