nice electrical connections along with lugs for side mounting for vertical operation of semaphoire signals. also extras worth a mention are the ballast stickers along with a metal drilling template.
http://www.dccconcepts.com/index_files/Cobalt_turnout_motor.htm
OK, I clicked on the link and read the page.
Essentially, it claims to be a slightly smaller version of the Tortoise, at a substantially higher price.
Under-layout space is not usually a premium. Dollars, either US or Australian, typically are.
I've got no reason to think this isn't a perfectly good product. But, I know Torrtoises are a good product, and they are cheaper, even at my LHS. So, I guess my question is, why should I buy these instead.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Greg Amer
The Industrial Lead
nice job with the add on, what is the big white block and what does it connect up to??
@ Mr B, i wasn't saying buy this instead of a tortoise, i was just posting a link to a new product that may be of interest to people. cost will be a factor i'm sure, even here i can get a tortoise for £13 and the cobalt is £16. where it may score is in complicated N gauge turnout formations where space may be an issue??
locoworksWhere it may score is in complicated N gauge turnout formations where space may be an issue/
Good point. I'm new to Tortoises myself, having installed half a dozen but not wired them yet. I'm in HO, and I'd forgotten that Tortoise machines don't make smaller models for N.
tortoises give 50mm centres, cobalts give 40mm. by stacking the tags and sharing a common fixing the cobalts go down to 34mm centres. the tortoises would be about 44mm as a minimum. i'm sure another clone could be designed to be even narrower, putting the mounting lugs fore and aft instead of on the sides would help for a start, and making the pcb double sided would also help shrink things but complicate the design inside i'm sure. that said even the cobalt could loose a few mm if the casing was the width of the PCB only.
Personally I don't like when a company or anyone else copies a design of another almost exactly. Looks close enough for a lawsuit.
Springfield PA
i can understand that, but if you google the peco twin coil machine and then the hornby one, it looks a closer to a copy.
The makers of Tortoise (and several others) could learn alot about writing a manual from Cobalt. I downloaded it for info.
Possibly but the makers of Cobalt obviously learned how to make a switch machine from the Tortoise boys (Circuitron) Not much more than a schematic is needed, but a few mounting tips is always good.
Are the differences in the two machines worth the big difference in price. The tortoise already is an excellent machine. Unit size has not been a problem for me and the tortoise is plenty strong enough for my needs.
floridaflyer Are the differences in the two machines worth the big difference in price. The tortoise already is an excellent machine. Unit size has not been a problem for me and the tortoise is plenty strong enough for my needs.
probably not if the tortoise is suitable, i guess most of the extra cost is in the design and 'new' tooling. when you look at the cost of peco turnouts in O gauge as an example, the older rail profile ones are one price and the newer rail type ( a totally new point of the same size/geometry that required new tooling ) is around 50% more. based on that the actual cost difference between the tortoise and cobalt is understandable if not liked.
The Cobalt motor is interesting, but the price point is way too high to be competitive on the US. The small 'footprint' is the only real 'plus' I can see. The negative is that it draws 30 ma at max - way more than a Tortoise(17-18 ma). I would expect with all of the super gearing they mention, that the current draw would be even lower than a Tortoise. This alone makes it not suitable for series mounted bi-color LED panel lamps which usually cannot handle more than 20-25 ma of current. This makes one use up one of the Cobalt contact sets and lots of wire(or another contact set on a DPDT toggle). They may be cost competative in AUS....
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
the current draw there may be an issue then?? but the current would depend on the voltage used. V=IxR and all that.
jrbernier The Cobalt motor is interesting, but the price point is way too high to be competitive on the US. The small 'footprint' is the only real 'plus' I can see. The negative is that it draws 30 ma at max - way more than a Tortoise(17-18 ma). I would expect with all of the super gearing they mention, that the current draw would be even lower than a Tortoise.
The Cobalt motor is interesting, but the price point is way too high to be competitive on the US. The small 'footprint' is the only real 'plus' I can see. The negative is that it draws 30 ma at max - way more than a Tortoise(17-18 ma). I would expect with all of the super gearing they mention, that the current draw would be even lower than a Tortoise.
Given that I do modules, and if I want a foam surface for surface features, I have some difficulty mounting my Tortoises (they are REALLY close to protruding below the bottom of mine), I was at least curious. However, I've been able to make levers to side-mount the Tortoises for MUCH lower than this cost difference, and the higher current draw would really hurt us with 40-50 modules at some shows (even if nowhere near all our turnouts have Tortoises).
I'll pass on these.
locoworksnice job with the add on, what is the big white block and what does it connect up to??
thanks for the explanation