Junctionmad

Really. I always thought MAS was associated with track circuit block and hence post dated mechanical levers

Should be able to do it , in the next fortnight. I’ll try and do up a cad diagram as I need one my self

Surely there is no prototype of three aspect , ie MAS controlled by mechanical leverframes

Friend of mine has a big layout all done in PECO foam , 30 years later it’s still perfect

If you want the dimensions of a full size W&T ets machine I can measure that two ( certainly within two weeks )

We have two miniature web and Thompson’s in our club , I could measure them

lovely things AVOMeters , my granddad gave me his , these days best polished and kept on the mantle piece , as a £10 quid DMM is more accurate

Fullers' earth was a constituent of cat litter and used in removing the dye from red diesel !!!!!!!

People get confused about soldering iron power. A 70w iron doesn’t get hotter etc , power is used to reduce the recovery time it takes an iron to restore the tip temperature after each use. More power is always better and modern irons are now using integrated 100w elements etc

I have all Hakko irons. Great stuff I would recommend two things irrespective of brand , (a) 50w or greater , and (b) temperature controlled you need the power to aid the recovery time , especially if you venture into brass kits or soldering big wires , 25w takes too long to bring these fixtures up to temp or maintain them. Even for electronics etc 50w is about the minimum as it lets you solder fast

For reference , despite them being as advertised as JST connections , these servos have molex “ PicoBlade “ connectors , the pins are on a 1.25 mm pitch , there’s is no compatible JST connector.

We use about 40 frog juicers , ( tam valley ) on our big club layout works perfectly , and we have just removed the last few switched by the cobalts let’s put to bed some nonsense FJs don’t short the track , they detect current rise and switch at around 1,6-2A. there is No arcing or wheel or track damage using a FJ it is a completely acceptable means of switching frogs and for complex track it makes such wiring very simple in fiddle yards , where we have operators making up trains , point motor switched frogs called many shorts as operators push a coach back briefly onto the frog , Fjs removed all that if you want to use them , there are great and switching current using solid state switches is preferable to the switches in point motors A MERG member has released a juicer that doesn’t need the current to rise at all , if you are against that sort of things.

I have not used the ECoS unit , but I have used these servos extensively ,( on signals ) they are rated at a max. Operating voltage of 4.7 , though they seem to survive at 5V. My drivers boards are now tweaked to 4.5v other then that they operate exactly the same way as SG90

We have about 50 cobalts on a club O gauge , no issues after three years

Lads , let’s move on , in a world completely changed , it’s rather depressing this topic is being aired again , “ the dreary steeples of Fermanagh” , etc etc

Bachmann might have been originally US owned but not in recent years , it’s own by Hong Kong based Kader it’s misleading to attribute NMRA wheel standards such success , it’s largely adopted by default in the absence of anything better

We’ve clearly failed here to hold back the pandemic

There has been a drift away to radial circuits anyway due to the economics of ring cabling , less common to see rings in new builds these days the US system is draft as you have dual voltages because of the inability of 110vac to handle big loads and 110 is more expensive to cable. I won’t mention the failure to introduce whole house RCD either !

No actual voltage change has occurred , much of Europe was 220vac including Ireland , where as the Uk is nominally 240 the allowed voltage tolerances where changed to allow both system to be standardised as being 230 vac , even though no country is actually generating it ! , the uk remains generating 240 vac

all I would say is do not use MDF , horizontal sections unless massiely supported will bow over time good quality Scandinavian or russian birch ply with Moisture resistant glue , ( no need for external grade glue ) dont use far eastern ply with irons , use a good 60-70 watt iron , temp controlled Dave

chill , there bro. I wasn't having a dig , merely a comment , its seems counter intuitive to me , but as I said , whatever floats your boat etc

As an EE I can design electronic switches that outperform and outlive any “ relay “. If you wished it could survive conditions that would have extinguished all life on Earth. It’s all a matter of spec ( and cost ) I used to work in space and defense to me it doesn’t make sense to use relays to switch semiconductor leds !!!! buy hey as they say whatever floats your boat. To me relays are less suitable , require more assembly and wiring ( hence unreliability ) etc dave

I still don’t get it , 8 way open collector driver chips are about 10p each ! dave

My rules are simple wire droppers to every distinct section of track , however small , never rely on rail Joiners to carry current don’t relay on rails conducting or not conducting anything over a base board joint , always use a wired connector for this purpose the resulting reliability justifies all that wiring

Forgive me, why would one use relays to switch model railway led colour lights ? Dace