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Ray, I remember such an article several or more years ago in Model Railroader. I'm sure the magazine index would quickly find the article. If I remember, the author built a really neat looking turntable. I also remember seeing an article where photo-resistors were used for automatic indexing. It would seem that this could get quite complicated. I've also seen articles where the modeler uses two speeds to drive the turntable. Regular speed to get it close and a slower speed to do the final alignment. I am thinking that with a stepper motor, an indexing circuit would not be needed as the motor takes defined steps (I've seen motors listed at 3.5 degrees per step up to 10 degrees per step). Of course the operator would have to energize the motor for each step which might be a pain to do a 180 turn, but if doing so cuts down on the electronics involved it might be worth it. Depending on the torque of the motor, a drive system might not be needed with the turntable attached directly to the motor shaft. I haven't fully explored this yet as I am quite aways away from buildling my turntable. The stepper driver is listed on Hobbytron.com's website. It looks relatively inexpensive. If you decide to play with the thing, please post your results/opinions and I will do so also, although this project is probably a year or two away for me. Also. I believe the new Walthers turntable comes complete with a driver and indexing thing. I don't believe I will go this way as the table is too long for what I model and my available space and the price is a little out of reach for me (although I'm thinking that all my tinkering will come out to be the same price lol it seems it always works that way for me, although I do derive a high level of personal satisfaction in figuring things out and doing it myself). Dave
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