The DC control Ugly Brain


T

TomR

Member
I just completed the logic board of my DC layout. It does everything I wanted with diode and relay logic, plus I really enjoyed building it. It is dead bug style (parts mounted on their backs) with point-to-point rat's nest wiring. Perfect to scare people.

http://www.w8ji.com/Model train layout wiring.htm


logic-matrix-2.jpg
 
THAT RIGHT THERE FOLKS IS WHY I WENT TO DCC... WIREING IS JUST NOT MY CUP OF TEA THANK YOU! ;)

glad it works and you had fun working with it.. thats what counts in my book!
 
Unfettered said:
Wow...that is ugly!!!! I am still trying to figure out what I want my layout to exactly look like.
Click to expand...

I'm totally pleased with how this diode-relay logic works out, plus it will easily let me add block control from my IR detectors.

Of course it all would be unnecessary with DCC, but it is what it is. :)

I can move anything anywhere, and if it comes off or goes out to a main line the mainline control for the track it comes from runs it all the way into the center.

If I don't select a path to a mainline, the center east runs off one yard and siding control and the siding west off another.

This is so much better than a bunch of toggles to turn power off and on. :)

Now I need to document it, and see about laying out a PC board that does the same thing. It was great fun sitting there for hours moving engines in and out of areas while adding relays and diodes necessary to have the right power applied to the right tracks. I honestly can't believe it worked so well.

Tom
 
lmackattack said:
THAT RIGHT THERE FOLKS IS WHY I WENT TO DCC... WIREING IS JUST NOT MY CUP OF TEA THANK YOU! ;)

glad it works and you had fun working with it.. thats what counts in my book!
Click to expand...

I'll tell you, that was actually the most fun I had in a long time. Half way into it I asked my wife about just buying DCC. I could have done the DCC with one relay. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I guessed DCC would cost me $2000 or more, plus 30 hours or more to install decoders in my locomotives if they would even all accept decoders or have room for them. Since I want to move on to landscaping, I plunged into just using relays. I have hundreds and hundreds of small DIP relays, so what the heck. Use them with a sprinkle of diodes to make high current logic gates. :)

It really wasn't that bad to sit there and work my way back through the layout.
 
The model railroad club I belong to has plenty of that rat's nest wiring, and we run DCC! I think it's because the layout was originally wired for DC (after all, it was built in the early 90s) but was then converted to DCC with the block wiring intact (it helps us keep separate power districts so that a single short won't bring down the whole layout)

We kept the panels and toggle switches for the tortoises because it was thought to be easier to keep that in place than to wire in an accessory decoder for every turnout. It is also neater since we have a panel with a track diagram and a bipolar LED indicating the switch position. (Green means lined for main or normal direction, red means lined for anything but the normal direction)

Right now, we are in the process of powering the switches into a yard (I think we will need about 30 more tortoises to power those switches).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That looks like fun to me, but I enjoy wiring. Some people like it and some dont. I love the reaction I get when I tilt the control panel open for the main yard and people freak out over all the wiring. With 7 double slip switches, 2 double crossovers, 2 single crossovers, 40 standard turnouts and roughly 70 block toggles, 2 homebuilt power supplies and interconection with 4 other panels the wiring is impressive. Of course it was built in the late 60's decades before viable DCC. And it doesn't hurt that Carl, the man who owns the layout and designed and built all of it is a wiring genius. Keep up the good work!
Doug
View attachment 25802
 
diburning said:
We kept the panels and toggle switches for the tortoises because it was thought to be easier to keep that in place than to wire in an accessory decoder for every turnout. It is also neater since we have a panel with a track diagram and a bipolar LED indicating the switch position. (Green means lined for main or normal direction, red means lined for anything but the normal direction)

Right now, we are in the process of powering the switches into a yard (I think we will need about 30 more tortoises to power those switches).
Click to expand...

That's exactly like my switch panel, except I don't have a track board up yet. I built a system that uses standard SPDT toggles to control turnout motors. It uses a single wire (plus a common return for all motors) to control turnouts, and gives me a dc output that tells me the position. I can use that steady output for external functions. On the toggle panel, I use green for normal and red for "thrown". Works like a charm every time.

I was/am going to eventually build a wall mounted track map with bi-color LED's. With one resistor, they run directly off the + - switch position signal.

Tom
 
So long as it's not smoking or sparking, it's all good. :)

You should hide a smoke generator in the rat's nest to mess with people. :D
 
Dortoh1 said:
That looks like fun to me, but I enjoy wiring. Some people like it and some dont. I love the reaction I get when I tilt the control panel open for the main yard and people freak out over all the wiring. With 7 double slip switches, 2 double crossovers, 2 single crossovers, 40 standard turnouts and roughly 70 block toggles, 2 homebuilt power supplies and interconection with 4 other panels the wiring is impressive. Of course it was built in the late 60's decades before viable DCC. And it doesn't hurt that Carl, the man who owns the layout and designed and built all of it is a wiring genius. Keep up the good work!
Doug
View attachment 25802
Click to expand...

Nice panel. It looks like your switches are on the panel right on the track lines. I'm going to just have lights on my track board and have the toggles down near where the operator sits. I just don't have room for anything else. I've got 20 toggles for turnouts and 4 spares, but I'm using two of the spares to control track power so I can force a disconnect from my main line power pass through system and force inner tracks to be on the second controller.

Control-layout1.jpg
 
Since most of Carl's layout was wired in the late 60's the turnouts are all controled with twin coils. Since a twin coil is instant we just use a powered probe to touch small brass pins in the panel lines to throw the turnouts. That way you can just trace your path thru the yard. This saves lots of room on the panel. Not practical today with a slow motion switch motor. Now days you can't even buy a good twin coil.
Doug
View attachment 25803
 
Dortoh1 said:
Since most of Carl's layout was wired in the late 60's the turnouts are all controled with twin coils. Since a twin coil is instant we just use a powered probe to touch small brass pins in the panel lines to throw the turnouts. That way you can just trace your path thru the yard. This saves lots of room on the panel. Not practical today with a slow motion switch motor. Now days you can't even buy a good twin coil.
Doug
View attachment 25803
Click to expand...

Doug,

Nice idea with the pen. I like that.

My twin coils are all working good, including new ones I just bought (Atlas).

What I've had headaches with are turnouts themselves.

I use a capacitor discharge system as a one-shot.

Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top