Yes. But Plummer missed a possible cause of the buzzing that is annoying the reader. That is the lamp in the controller. It draws its current through one of the solenoids. It's supposed to be not enough to cause the turnout to throw; but it might be enough to produce the buzz. I think he would be complaining about more than buzzing if the solenoid were fully on all the time.
Bob Nelson
lionelsoniI shall have to see when mine arrives. It arrived. All corrected? Not quite--the relay contacts are just as screwy and uninformative as before. That is one of the wierdest depictions of relays that I've ever seen.
I shall have to see when mine arrives.
It arrived. All corrected? Not quite--the relay contacts are just as screwy and uninformative as before. That is one of the wierdest depictions of relays that I've ever seen.
I guess I'm not surprised. Boy, wish I had known about, or thought it up myself, pulling all track pins & soldering copper wire. I'd like to pull the 1121 & 1122 switches apart & wire for fixed voltage, but now I'd have to pull apart a lot of track.
BTW, is that explained correctly on page 26 of the May issue?
Charlie
Isn't all that corrected on page 13 of the May issue?
"Top Bix" here, thank you so very very much! I remember a comic group from the late sixties and early seventies called "Firesign Theater", they did clubs and had a few records. Anyway, one of their skits was titled; "Everything You Know Is Wrong". Well, I was there! Anyway, on to the plan, I love it!
Semper Fi
You're talking about the February issue; the latest issue now is March. That diagram is a disaster.
What he intended was control rails, that is, outside rails in each of the 4 sections leading to the turnouts, insulated at both ends, both from the turnout and from the rest of the track; and insulated center rails in the same 4 sections, insulated at both ends, both from the turnout and from the rest of the track.
The green wire, which he calls "Sense 1", is connected to both control rails on the inside loop. The blue wire, which he calls "Sense 2", is connected to both control rails on the outside loop. Sense 1 operates Relay 2 through a normally-closed contact on Relay 1. And Sense 2 operates Relay 1 through a normally-closed contact on Relay 2.
The red wire, which he calls "Iso 1", is connected to both insulated center rails on the inside loop. The yellow wire, which he calls "Iso 2", is connected to both insulated center rails on the outside loop. Relay 1 disconnects Iso 1 from Power 1 with a second normally-closed contact. And Relay 2 disconnects Iso 2 from Power 2 with a second normally-closed contact.
The idea is that when a train approaches the turnouts, it operates the relay that cuts power to the sections approaching the turnouts on the other loop. It also disconnects the control rails on the other loop, so that a second train approaching on the other loop will not subsequently cut power to the first train.
The insulating pins between the 4 sections with control rails and the turnouts are not shown in the diagram. The contacts are botched; they are all supposed to be normally-closed contacts. The relay coils are shown not connected at one end; the two ends of each coil should connect to the two ends of the adjacent capacitor. The polarity of the electrolytic capacitors and of the DC power supply is not shown. If the negative side of the supply is connected to the layout common (the outside rails generally), the positive terminal of each capacitor should be toward the bottom of the page. Power 2, the center rail of the outside loop, is shown, but not Power 1, the center rail of the inside loop.
Here is a likely Radio Shack relay: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049722&filterName=Type&filterValue=DPDT And here are likely capacitors: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102506&filterName=Type&filterValue=Electrolytic+capacitors
Hi, "Top Bix" here, I thought I was by myself, every Saturday and/or Sunday morning (my alone times with a big "cup of Joe" and CTT) I go to pg 39 and start in again! I love it! I have lots of notes and diagrams made to try and understand the theory of the plan. Can't seem to get it. But this thinking and writing will help my future memory loss, or so they say! I love it! My questions are: (1) the isolation points ABCD: just putting plastic pins in those positions (outside common rails) does not isolate the inside and outside rail unless you put insulation tabs under the cross-ties!
(2) Iso 1 & Iso 2 are not isolated from each other! Anyway, wife is calling me to evening "chow" got tom go
I want to direct your attention to the article by Mr. Rusterholz and his diagram on page 39 of the latest issue. I am having trouble understanding it. I don't think I could use that diagram to construct my own relaying scheme to accomplish what Mr. Rusterholz does. I do not mean to criticize Mr. Rusterholz's article, it's just that his diagram is a little too general for me. I need a detailed wire line with a specific brand of hardware to build this relaying scheme. I would like to have a detailed diagram that uses radio shack relays. Can someone post something like that? I would very much appreciate it.
Thanks,
George
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