Hi
I have NEC Power Pro DCC and Tortoise switch machines that are set up with NEC Switch 8's. All my tortoises on my layout are controlled this way directly through my NEC hand held DCC controller. That way, I punch in my accessory number and switch the appropriate tortoise as required.
I now want to design sited control panels that will have a schematic of the track for the area, displaying each assigned NEC switch 8 accessory number for each switch and red/green led's that inform the normal/reverse state of each switch. In other words a very simple display with led's.
Can anyone point me to a wiring diagram that will allow me to do this? Or has anyone done this and can pass on knowledge please?
Thanks everyone in advance.
Barry
Very simple, for me anyway. i put a red/green bipolar LED in series with one lead of each Tortoise. no resistor needed.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
what rich said
Barry,
Do you want one LED at the junction drawn on the panel that changes color from red to green and back? Or do you want two LED's for each turnout with one on each leg beyond the frog?
The wiring is essentially the same. The following descriptions assume the use of two leg two color LED's. With one LED, wire it in series with one of the two wires leading to the Tortoise terminals 1 or 8. No resistor is required as the Tortoise itself will provide sufficient resistance. When the Tortoise is activated, the polarity of the power going to it changes which will, in turn, change the LED color.
For two LED's, wire them together matching the long leg of one to the long leg of the other. (Or short leg to short leg, it doesn't matter.) As before, wire the pair in series with the Tortoise with each single leg going to the wire leading to either terminal 1 or 8 on the Tortoise. When power is applied it lights one LED green and the other red. Activate the Tortoise, polarity changes and each LED changes color. As before, the Tortoise provides the resistance.
Operating a Totoise with DCC is beyond the ken of a lion. Does the DCC leave the rest of the Tortoise contacts for your use? If so, you can use those terminals to report back to your console, iluminate wayside signals, and power the frog if necessary.
It is simply a matter of straigt forward 3rd grade electricity.
(8th grade electricity?)
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLionIt is simply a matter of straight forward 3rd grade electricity. (8th grade electricity?)
They didn't have LEDs back when I was in 3rd grade. 8th grade, either, for that matter.
But yes, it really is simple. Cut one of the wires from the Switch-8 to the Tortoise and put a 2-lead bi-color LED into the gap. If you want 1 red and 1 green at the same time, use 2 of those LEDs but make sure they are connected with the opposite polarity. 1 lead is always longer than the other, which helps determine the polarity.
Don't get 3-prong LEDs, as they won't work this way.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
This is how I did mine, except my LED is located at the turnout (just use the diagram and put the LED on the panel).
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
You can use Bob's idea with this wiring diagram. The two individual LEDs can be replaced with one - two lead bipolar LED. You can usually put two LEDs in series with the Tortoise wiring without loosing too much power.
Since you are using the NCE Switch-It's, disregard the DPDT switch wiring.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
skagitrailbirdFor two LED's, wire them together matching the long leg of one to the long leg of the other. (Or short leg to short leg, it doesn't matter.) As before, wire the pair in series with the Tortoise with each single leg going to the wire leading to either terminal 1 or 8 on the Tortoise. When power is applied it lights one LED green and the other red. Activate the Tortoise, polarity changes and each LED changes color. As before, the Tortoise provides the resistance.
Roger
Don't you mean long leg to short leg? You want the Leds to be antiparallel.
Joe
I wire mine long leg to long leg (or short to short). Assuming long to long and two LED's labeled A and B, power goes to one short leg, through the first LED, then through the second LED and then out the other short leg and on to the Tortoise. When the power is going on one direction it lights LED A red and LED B green because they are the reverse of each other. Reverse the polarity of the power and LED A turns green while LED B turns red. I mount a pair of LED's at each turnout drawn on my panels, each on a route about a half inch away from the diagram's "frog." The train will run on the leg showing a green LED.
The things make it work this way. First, an LED only iluminates when the power is going through it one way. That is, if you wired up a single one color LED in the Tortoise circuit, it would be lit when the power was going one way but changing the polarity of the power would turn out the light. Second, a two color LED is really two LED's in one little dome. When power goes one way, the red one is lit. Change polarity and the red one goes out and the green one lights up. But they are each so small and in the same blob of plastic (or whatever the dome ois made of) so we see it as one that changes color.
How's that for an electrical explanation from a retired banker? The electrical engineers may now crucify me.
Roger:
Now I think I get what you are doing. You are wiring two bipolar Leds in series and this series combo is in series with the tortoise. Since they are connected opposite to each other one will be green and the other red with one polarity of the feed and when the feed polarity is reversed the colors will reverse. You also have a hefty voltage drop across the two Leds in series. This works because each Led is actually two Leds connected antiparallel in a single capsule. It would not with single color Leds.
skagitrailbird I wire mine long leg to long leg (or short to short). Assuming long to long and two LED's labeled A and B, power goes to one short leg, through the first LED, then through the second LED and then out the other short leg and on to the Tortoise. When the power is going on one direction it lights LED A red and LED B green because they are the reverse of each other. Reverse the polarity of the power and LED A turns green while LED B turns red. I mount a pair of LED's at each turnout drawn on my panels, each on a route about a half inch away from the diagram's "frog." The train will run on the leg showing a green LED. The things make it work this way. First, an LED only iluminates when the power is going through it one way. That is, if you wired up a single one color LED in the Tortoise circuit, it would be lit when the power was going one way but changing the polarity of the power would turn out the light. Second, a two color LED is really two LED's in one little dome. When power goes one way, the red one is lit. Change polarity and the red one goes out and the green one lights up. But they are each so small and in the same blob of plastic (or whatever the dome ois made of) so we see it as one that changes color. How's that for an electrical explanation from a retired banker? The electrical engineers may now crucify me.
Na, you got that right. No need for any crucifixtions here. The 'plastic' is usually an epoxy, but yes, on a 2 color LED there are two individual LEDs inside there. They are usually the diffused type of case so the whole body lights up, compare to say a red LED in a water clear package, the kind you cna see right through and aren't tinted. When that type of LED lights up, most of the light comes out the top. You see a glow to the side, that's about it. However, if you hold such an LED up to a magnifier, you can see the inner workings - the 'chip' resting on the bigger of the two metal leads, the little blob on top of the chip, and the finer than hair little wire going from the top of the blob to the smaller of the metal leads. Neat stuff.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Or you could go retro like I am and use one of these.
Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. Superb help, as always, from you guys out there. Thank you for the diagrams and the knowledge.
Roger..... yes, I shall use one bi polar LED and yes your explanation of polarity and current is excellent. Definitely no request for crucifixion by electronics engineers I am sure! Thank you.
Lion..... SO easy to set up NEC Switch 8's. (Well, not too difficult). Each Switch 8 will control 8 Tortoise machines and sits between the DCC control box and the Tortoises so leaving terminal 2-6 free on each Tortoise machine.
Mr Beasley..... thanks for the 3 pronged LED advice.
I spent yesterday working out the design of the panels and the placing of LED's on each one. I have 3 panels on my upper level layout and 3 on my lower level to build, but will post pictures when I'm there. (Could be a few weeks!!)
Thanks again all you friends out there.
On our club layout, at 12 VDC, the Tortoise would draw close to 20 ma so I made up a voltage regulator with two caps, two resistors and an LM317 voltage regulator to give us 9 VDC. Slower maybe more prototypical point action.
The 3mm LED's are maxed at 20 ma but I like to run electronics at 75 percent. I measured around 15 ma.
rich