Hello,
I am in the process of building my first HO system. I had previously built a few G scale layouts with DCC and have a full NCE system along with a variety of components. I am struggling with how I want to do my turnout control. I have four DS64 decoders which will drive 16 switches and I am using slow motion turnouts. I know I need to program the DS64 to not be the snap switch, not a problem; I am good with hooking up switches to the DS64.
My struggle is with the control panel and turnout feedback. The Tortise switches offer LED wiring diagrams but that means I need to run wires for all my panel LEDs to the motors, possible but hoping for another way. I also have a NCE MiniPanel and a AIU01; the AIU01 was used for block detection. Is there a way to build a control panel with the components I have to display on a control panel without wiring all LEDs down to switches as well as having turnout feedback provided through DCC such that I can display on JMRI?
Thanks much
LION sees no reason at all to use DCC for your turnout controls. Well mayou are goint to walk around the layout, but LION does not do that either. As a matter of fact the LION does not use DCC at all. Why confuse the poor cat with that sort of stuff.
Trains of LION are automatic (Little Plastic Motorperson controls the trains) LION stays up in the tower and controls the interlocking plants.
As far as wiring the tortoise machines, one single wire is used from the interlocking machine to the Tortoise switch machine. (Other side of machine is grounded.) + 12v dc = switch NORMAL; - 12v dc = switch REVERSED. You can run all of the lights, signals and indicators you want off of this same one wire.
If you must use DCC, is there not a way that you can control a single (mapped) out put either on/off or +/- and let that control the Tortosie. No need to fuss with more extras than what you need.
BTW, LION runs 10 trains at a time over a 14 mile layout at 3 minute intervales. Even DCC will not provide LION with 10 heads.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Phase 3 of my layout is a long, thin staging yard with 4 tracks and a parallel branch line. The rest of my layout uses control panel toggles. Other than the subways, all the turnouts are easily visible so only the subways have indicator lights.
For Phase 3 I went with DCC turnout control for the staging yard throat, just because I wanted to try it. It's a compact area, so I ran wires for the few feet needed from the Tortoise machnes to a display panel.
It works fine, but now that I have some experience with both DCC and panel toggles, I lean towards the toggles as being more intuitive and just simpler to use. I have my control panels distributed around the fascia, so when I walk around with the trains I'm never very far from the panel I need for the nearby turnouts.
Have you considered using dwarf signals and indicator LEDs on the layout itself to show the position of your turnouts?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Lion, thanks, looks cool but I have a bunch of this stuff from my G-scale layout so I figured I would use it. The switch decoder only needs two wires to run the Tortosie but I was planning to put the decoder near the switches to simplify wiring.
MisterBeasley It works fine, but now that I have some experience with both DCC and panel toggles, I lean towards the toggles as being more intuitive and just simpler to use. I have my control panels distributed around the fascia, so when I walk around with the trains I'm never very far from the panel I need for the nearby turnouts. Have you considered using dwarf signals and indicator LEDs on the layout itself to show the position of your turnouts?
What you could do for indicators on the panel would be to use something liek teh Switch-8 and instead of conencting a Tortoise motor to the output, conenct LEDs and resistors, wired the same way you would put LEDs in series with the Tortoise motor (the resistor is the motor, in this case). Program that to the same address as the associated DS64 output. Now when you press the button connected to the AUI it will say throw switch address 20 which moves the Tortoise connected to teh DS64 at address 20 AND changed the LEDs on the Switch-8 ALSO at address 20.
Nothing says you can't have multiple accessories all on the same address - they will just all operate at the same time which in this case is exactly what you want.
There's a setting so that JMRI can 'see' what the command station does, so via the serial interface it will see the operation of the turnouts over the cab bus.
If you plan on going firther with actual block detection and signals, in addition to the turnout controls, considerign adding a Loconet bus for that functionality. JMRI can connect to both systems simultaneously, and you don't need a Digitrax command station, just a Locobuffer-USB. The DS64s are more reliable when driven from a fixed power supply instead of DCC track power, with the command coming via Loconet anyway. Plus JMRI always sees any command send on Loconet. There are some nice commercial products (previously by CML, someone else has taken over the business) to implement control panels with buttons and indicators that just plugs in via a single Loconet cable.
See Bob Bucklew's web site and tutorials - he does exactly this. He runs trains with NCE but all the signalling and detection uses Loconet.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Interesting idea on the Signal-8 and the Loconet.. thanks for that, I will check it out.
I am a little embarrassed to say that I have a full Digitrax command station, loconet buffer, block detection, etc. I had too many issues trying to get it to work and liked the NCE cab a lot more so I put it all in boxes. Honestly I find NCE way easier to use and have had much more success with it.
May also bite bullet and just wire LEDs direct to tortise...
The big difference is the polled cab bus doesn't have the bandwidth for all the detection and signalling, the Loconet is much more capable in that regard. And allow all the control panels you want with just a phone cord connecting them all.
fsts2kwould end up running quite a bit of wire which I was trying to avoid but another option...
LIONS love wiring and soldering...
This panel controlls 6 switch motors, two mane lion tracks and four terminal tracks. Rails and all 8 pins from each tortoise, and from the rails are wired to this panel, Connections from the GRS machine and track logic are wired here rather than under the table. LIONS do NOT go under tables.
There are four tracks in this station, each palform edge requires five connectors (for signals and automation). The cables that you see came from an old pipe organ from the 1920s, perhaps you have seen this kind of wire, there is no plastic or rubber on it, just wrapped string and wax. Each cable had 6 'ropes' of 11 conductors each, so one rope for each station.
This panel is the other end of the above cables. From here connectors are made directly to the GRS machine and to the Relay Panel that controls the signals and automation. This is our Analog Network Card.
This is the Relay room for the layout of the LION:
And THIS is the original wiring in the church...