I'm thinking about adding a Walthers turntable to my DCC layout. My question is will I need to add an auto-reverse unit to the table or does Walthers already have that installed in the control unit. Thanks in advance for any info about this.
If it is a RTR, then it is already fiqured in.
Thanks rrebell
I don't know about the newer ones, but my first-run 90' Walthers RTR did not have a reverser built in, neither did my several-years-newer DCC 130 footer. The split ring electrical mostly eliminated the need for one since it reversed polarity on the bridge rails as it swung past the dead spots anyway, but you still had to watch the polarity of all the tracks coming off the turntable. At two points in the circle, adjacent to the dead spots, you had to reverse the feeders or you would get a short when the loco wheels crossed the gap between the bridge and the track.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
No, there's no device like an electronic autoreverser in any of them. It's all a split rail design, which negates the need for an autoreverser.
The only problem is that now with sound, the split rail will cause the sound to cut off, unless you put keep alives in everything. A better way is to simple use continuous pickup and connect an autoreverser, but that will take some modification of the Walthers turntable.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Yes. The gap in the split ring has to be wide enough so that the power collection wiper can;t span both sides at the same time, or wit will just cause a short. Add in that the turntable isn't spinning with any significant speed and there is a noticeable time delay when it drops from one polarity to the other. With motor only decoders, the headlight blinks, no big deal. With sound, the sound cuts off and depending on the decoder, it stays quiet or runs through the strtup sequence or just comes back the way it was.
Lastspikemike Split ring? As the turntable passes 90 degrees either way (or maximum 180 degrees in one direction) the split ring on the turntable axle reverses polarity (like a motor commutator). The power interruption is enough to depower the sound decoder?
Split ring? As the turntable passes 90 degrees either way (or maximum 180 degrees in one direction) the split ring on the turntable axle reverses polarity (like a motor commutator). The power interruption is enough to depower the sound decoder?
Yup. Especially notorious for this kind of annoying cycling were the otherwise nice QSI decoders of yesteryear. I have the 2005 'built-up indexed' version of the Walthers turntable, the 90' version that was their first version of this newer turntable. Many had been lamenting the various kit versions which some motorized using yet another accessory because the bridge pivots were execrable in terms of engineering, and because many of the later impressions had pits that were out-of-round. The 'built-up indexed' versions were welcome relief from the kits.
But, when the wipers went over the gap in the two arc-ring elements, which only lasted maybe 0.8 second, if that, any QSI on the bridge would stop and then go through the entire startup sequence. I lived with it, and will still when I (hopefully) get my TT running again soon after a 9 year hiatus. Beats the cost of a reverser.