Track and electrical/DCC
Decoder Identification
A friend of mine has an older HO scale Lifelike Proto 2000 Heritage 0-6-0 steamer. It has a factory installed DCC sound decoder.
Does anyone know who LifeLike sourced their decoders from for this run. I took the tender body off, the decoder is encased in purple shrink tubing, no external markings on it. I used JMRI to attempt to auto detect the decoder, unfortunately it comes up with about 20 potential matches, all older Soundtraxx decoders. The purple shrink wrap is a sign that it is of Soundtraxx lineage, IMHO.
The Mysterious Short Circuit.
I removed and relaid the track on the two modules that make up part of my layout to correct some bad geometry problems (kudos to Joe F for the Run Like a Dream series for inspiring me). Got all the track down, feeders installed and soldered to the bus, put my most finicky locomotive on the track to test it and my Digitrax DCS50 showed short as soon as I turned the track power on. I know I should have checked each connection as I installed it, but I figured the feeder locations didn't change, all of the red wires were on the inside rail and on the red bus wire and the black o
What N gage loc dedoders are used in the USA?
Hi, as a European modeler I've just started into the world of DCC. I'm modeling in N gauge, and had a bit of sticker shock when I realized that simple decoders suitable for my locs are starting around 30 USD (tax included), e.g. for a Kuehn N045.
What brands of decoder are used in the USA for the smaller N-scale locs? To make my (decoder) life even more miserable, I have a preference for the smaller, older-era steam locs....
Thanks for any feedback!
HO Track gap's, how wide is too wide?
As the title says, how wide of a gap will cause issues with operation? In laying flex track, in some places I have cut it a tad to short and ended up with larger gaps than I would like. So before I decide to replace it, I would like to pull from the vast experience here. Note that I don't mind the clickity clack as it adds to the realism.
DCC command/ booster connection?
Hi All, Are there products that link DCC command station to boosters wirelessly without needed a loconet cable? I'm planning to have the DCC command station feed two bus wires on one side of the room and a booster feed three bus wires on the opposite side of the room and was wondering if there is now a way to eliminate the loconet cable and just link the two wirelessly? This would save me from having to run the loconet around the room and across the door or up to the ceiling and over the room and back down. Thanks for any input ......DaveB
Curved Turnouts, (was Shinohara Curved Turnout, 24/22)
NOTE: I changed the title of this subject thread just recently as it has expanded into discussions of a number of different aspects of curved turnouts,...and brands.
Has anyone else seen, or had (have), Shinohara curved turnouts with 24" outer radius and 22" inner radius,...code 100??
I have one right hand one that appears to be that size. I laid a Ribbonrail 24" gauge in the outer curve, and it sure fits well.
I have a potential use for a couple of these,...one left, one right at the moment.
Minimum radius for N sized track
I have used 9 3/4inch curves in my layout. For a 2 ft width x 4 ft length baseboard, this fills up almost 21 inches.
I want to have two locomotives that can travel independently without colliding with each other and was wondering whether we can go lower in terms of curve diameter.
Any suggestions? I can provide my .scarm file, but that attachment type is not permitted on this site
Convert Rotary Endoder turnouts to Touch Toggle
I have been helping a friend update a layout. It started out with turnouts being controlled with those old display motors and the occasional Rix turnout mechanism but we have been updating them to Tortoise motors as they have been failing.
He is also endearingly fond of new gadgets. The latest one is Berrett Hill Touch Toggles. He found them before I had heard of them but they are cool.
Which brings us to the crux of the matter: the main yard is run by a rotary encoder and we want to convert that to the touch toggles. Touch the track, the ladder lines for your movement, auto-magical.
Gapping hand laid turnout frogs
I have recently completed track work on my small (2'× 9') switching layout. All track is hand laid and I used fast tracks jigs for the turnouts. My question is this, do I really need to gap both sides of the frog? On of the things that always drew me in with hand laid turnouts was the point rails flowing all the way to the frogs. I just think it looks better that way. Is there a real world practical reason to gap the point rails before the frog?
Looking for a 34" radius curved turnout...
I need a curved turnout, left-hand, with a 34" outside radius, the inside can be anything reasonable. I prefer code 100 rail, but could make 83 work. No, I am not building it using Fast Tracks or anything else. I trade money for turnout. No makey. Does anybody make an off-the-shelf curved turnout with a 34" outside radius? The Peco curves are way too broad on the outside. I want to cut this into an existing curve which is, you guess it, 34" radius.
Thanks for any ideas.
Randy
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