Someone in our club mentioned that there was a new turnout machine out that looked like a Tortoise, but had a black case, and was less expensive. They also said it was advertised in MR a month or so back. I have looked back to February and couldn't find anything.Anyone know anything about it?I did find the Cobalt, which was in a dark blue housing and cost more than the Tortoise.
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.
I don't recall anything other than the Cobalt being mentioned or advertised, but an RC servo can be used and is cheaper than a Tortoise. Tam Valley Depot sells a controller that allows a servo to be used as a switch motor, and this has been mentioned several times on these forums.
http://www.tamvalleydepot.com
thought I saw a tortoise... but think it was competition. Will check. Either in MR or Railroad News
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Cobalts are expensive, even more than a Tortoise.
WHat you are thing of is probably RC plane servos. But do yourself a favor and use them as intended, that MR article shows how to make a stall motor out of them, and they aren't meant to do that. Companies liek Tam Valley have the proper controllers, and you can buy suitable servos on eBay for about $2 each - so the servo witht he electronics to control it properly is still less than a Tortoise. FOr the same price as a Tortoise you cna get one that includes the servo, a fascia controller with pushbuttons and LEDs, and it is ALSO a DCC decoder. The non-DCC controllers cost even less.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
And there's Micro-Mark's Switch Tender.
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
The problem with the Micro-Mark 'Switch Tender' is that it draws a lot of current(60 ma, even with the supplied limiting resistor). This is way to much for an in-line bi-color LED. If you do not need DCC controlled turnouts, the Tam Valley 'Octopus' is a very good and low cost way to control servo motors.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
jrbernier The problem with the Micro-Mark 'Switch Tender' is that it draws a lot of current(60 ma, even with the supplied limiting resistor). This is way to much for an in-line bi-color LED. If you do not need DCC controlled turnouts, the Tam Valley 'Octopus' is a very good and low cost way to control servo motors. Jim
I just threw in the Switch Tender as yet another way to control turnouts. Yes, I agree that it's nice to have the bi-colour LED in series with the Tortoise and that's a great feature. For me, it's not an issue as I have a separate circuit for my indicators. As for the high current draw of the STs, yes that's a drawback. However, I've found that with the power off to the motor, the points are held securely against the stock rail, IMO almost as solidly as a Peco turnout. So, I use momentary toggle switches on my STs. Maybe in HO, where the rails are heavier than my N scale rails, it wouldn't be as secure, I don't know.