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My first RR signal

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  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Manitou, Okla
  • 1,630 posts
My first RR signal
Posted by mikesmowers on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:32 PM
Evening all It is colder than you know what here tonight, Good night to stay in with the trains I put in my first signal today, When I get done with it, it will tell me if the track polarity in the reverse loop matches that of the main line. Red for stop and  Green for go.Thought I would share this with you.     Mike





Modeling Trains Is Not A Matter Of Life Or Death, It Is Much More Important Than That!!
  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: springfield . Ma
  • 194 posts
Posted by Ibeamlicker on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:35 PM
Looks great Mike,nice and bright too.Can you hook up the lights to the crossing lights? 
  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Manitou, Okla
  • 1,630 posts
Posted by mikesmowers on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:39 PM
I don't know much about signals, Do I need to dim the lights some?  The crossing lights are non-working, maybe someday they will have flashing lights in them.     Mike
Modeling Trains Is Not A Matter Of Life Or Death, It Is Much More Important Than That!!
  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: greenville,south carolina
  • 297 posts
Posted by dwhitetop2 on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:47 PM
Good evening all. Mike you said it was cold there well it was 69 here today. They say we have a cold front coming this weekend. its about time. Your signal looks great. If you can I would dim the lights just a shade. Just my opinion.    Lookin good   Dave
  • Member since
    June 2005
  • From: Phoenixville, PA
  • 3,495 posts
Posted by nbrodar on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:07 PM

Lookin' good.   Although, they are a tad bright.  Is that a scratchbuilt or a pre-built signal?

Nick

Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: Pacific Northwest
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Posted by Don Gibson on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:08 PM
SOME LED's can be had that include flashing. Seems to me they required 5 volts min.

'Dimming' of all LED's - including Searchlite's - can be done by increasing the impedance of the resistor. If you are using 1000 ohms try 2000 ohms (double).

2 1K resistors in SERIES = (2K) Double.
2 1K resistors in PARALLEL = (500 ohms) Half.
Don Gibson .............. ________ _______ I I__()____||__| ||||| I / I ((|__|----------| | |||||||||| I ______ I // o--O O O O-----o o OO-------OO ###########################
  • Member since
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  • From: CN Flint Sub(Eastern Michigan)
  • 507 posts
Posted by NS2591 on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 9:37 PM
Looks fine to me Mike. They are replacing our incandescent signals here with all LED signals, those are bright! Even in the dark you need sunglasses to look at them....
Jay Norfolk Southern Forever!!
  • Member since
    March 2005
  • From: Arizona. Born And Raised In Chicago ILL.
  • 743 posts
Posted by ac4400fan on Thursday, November 30, 2006 12:49 AM

Hi Those do look real great! i use to hook mine up to acc side ,but i found that hooking the wires to the track itself gave the lights a much more realistic look as far as the light ,,

Carl ,,

ps heres one of mine hooked to the track current

carl..

GO> Chicago NorthWestern.BNSF& Illinios Central, AC4400 ALLTHE WAY! DREAM IT! PLAN IT! BUILD IT! Smile, Wink & Grin
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  • From: Phoenix, Arizona
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Posted by canazar on Thursday, November 30, 2006 12:59 AM

Looks good.    Maybe a bit bright..   but I personally kinda dig the reflection off the train.   Adds a nice touch.

 

Carl, looks good man.  I really need to get over there again and check out all that you have done.

Best Regards, Big John

Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona.  Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the  Kiva Valley Railway

  • Member since
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  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,333 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Thursday, November 30, 2006 6:29 AM

It's more important to judge how bright they look to the eye, not the camera.  Since you're looking almost right into the signal, you're getting the maximum brightness out of the LED.  From a bit more off-center, the light will be less bright.  If you took that picture with a flash, the signal would hardly show up, I'd imagine.

Since this is an indicator for the convenience of the operator, I'd say to leave it bright so you can see it even on a sunny day.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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