Most Cost effective vs Quality decoders for tortoise

[pheaton]

All,

 

Ive slowly been renewing the wiring on the layout and converting my totoise powered points from Analogue (controlled by a lever frame with built in switches) to DCC controlled by my ECoS.

 

Ive already done one half of the board after coming into a large number of "hares" which i use on my tortoises at the moment, the problem is however they are expensive,and wondered what other decoders people use besides hares and what the experience was (like ease of programming)

 

Thanks 

 

Simon

[WIMorrison]

Digikeijs DR4018 - difficult I get better value 

[John K]

I have four of these driving 30 tortoise machines.

They are easy to set up and I have not touched them since.

https://www.signatrak.co.uk/products/layout-automation-and-accessory-control/dac20-accessory-decoder

If you want to save lots of money, and you have the necessary skill, you could use use Merg units

John K

[melmerby]

7 minutes ago, WIMorrison said:

Digikeijs DR4018 - difficult I get better value 

How are you wiring them as AFAIK they can't control tortoises direct. They sell an adaptor (DR4101) to do that, one for each port which puts up the price considerably - another 40 Euros.

I have had one for several years with the idea of using them instead of NCE switch-8s but no adaptors.

[WIMorrison]

Keith

 

there is a circuit around somewhere that does this with a couple of diodes - IIRC I saw it on RMWeb somewhere

[melmerby]

7 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

Keith

 

there is a circuit around somewhere that does this with a couple of diodes - IIRC I saw it on RMWeb somewhere

You can do it with two diodes, two transistors & two resistors, such that it switches completely from one polarity to another.

 

Credit to whoever originally posted this on RMWeb

(I'm not sure just two diodes can be made to work.)

 

 

 

[melmerby]

NCE Switch-8s (+Mk2) are popular for driving Tortoises as they are reasonably priced and each output can be programmed individually in situ.

[RFS]

I use Switch-8s for 70+ Tortoises with no problems at all. 3 are MK1s and 4 are MK2s. They are able to handle a pair of Tortoises forming a crossover, and I have one MK2 controlling the station throat that currently has 15 connected to it. 

[newbryford]

I have a few DCC Concepts AD-FX (not the ADS - they are for solenoids)  range decoders - made in 2/4/6/8 channel versions.

No problem with them.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

Edited September 12, 2019 by newbryford

[jpendle]

NCE Switch 8’s.

 

John P

[pheaton]

On 12/09/2019 at 09:31, John K said:

I have four of these driving 30 tortoise machines.

They are easy to set up and I have not touched them since.

https://www.signatrak.co.uk/products/layout-automation-and-accessory-control/dac20-accessory-decoder

If you want to save lots of money, and you have the necessary skill, you could use use Merg units

John K

Thanks for this John,

 

found 2 of them for sale in rails of Sheffield vault....what a breath of fresh air, no messing around plugged In and programmed in seconds!!!

Edited September 17, 2019 by pheaton

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, pheaton said:

.what a breath of fresh air, no messing around plugged In and programmed in seconds!!!

Just like a Switch-8 then!

[John K]

17 hours ago, pheaton said:

Thanks for this John,

 

found 2 of them for sale in rails of Sheffield vault....what a breath of fresh air, no messing around plugged In and programmed in seconds!!!

I'm sure you probably have hard copy but the documentation can be found on this page:

https://www.signatrak.co.uk/product-support/docs/library/DAC_DOCS/

Best,

John K

[Andymsa]

On 17/09/2019 at 20:33, pheaton said:

Thanks for this John,

 

found 2 of them for sale in rails of Sheffield vault....what a breath of fresh air, no messing around plugged In and programmed in seconds!!!

 

You might want to think about the add on board specifically for use with the tortoise that attaches to the dac20. this board just gives a bit more power so the points throw just a bit quicker. Unsure what method you used to program them but try the locoaynlise program that you can download from Signatrak, it’s much easier to program with this program than messing around with cv values.

[pheaton]

Couldn't find that board Andy, which one is that? Must admit tge more tortoises added the slower they are operating. 

 

Im programming it using my ECoS at the moment. 

 

Thanks

 

Simon

[DY444]

I was a fairly early DCC adopter changing over in 2001 and at that time I used Lenz LS100s for my tortoises.  However my LS100s have begun to fail in recent years (4 out of 12 have gone so far) and as they do I am replacing them with MERG ACC5s which are very cheap compared with just about everything else.  Ok you have to build them yourself and the CV programming is a bit confusing until you figure it out but they have been excellent once up and running.

[Ravenser]

1 hour ago, DY444 said:

I was a fairly early DCC adopter changing over in 2001 and at that time I used Lenz LS100s for my tortoises.  However my LS100s have begun to fail in recent years (4 out of 12 have gone so far) and as they do I am replacing them with MERG ACC5s which are very cheap compared with just about everything else.  Ok you have to build them yourself and the CV programming is a bit confusing until you figure it out but they have been excellent once up and running.

 

I found the MERG units horribly vulnerable to shorts . Rebooting the layout every time I had a short to get the MERG decoder to respond became a tedious chore. It was replaced with a Digitrax DS64. I have 2 DS64s installed which are powered off a regulated 12V DC supply (which is there to power signal LEDs) and they have proved very reliable though they aren't cheap 

 

For clarity's sake I use Tortoises (+ 1 Cobalt)

Edited September 20, 2019 by Ravenser

[melmerby]

8 hours ago, Andymsa said:

 

You might want to think about the add on board specifically for use with the tortoise that attaches to the dac20. this board just gives a bit more power so the points throw just a bit quicker. Unsure what method you used to program them but try the locoaynlise program that you can download from Signatrak, it’s much easier to program with this program than messing around with cv values.

 

2 hours ago, pheaton said:

Couldn't find that board Andy, which one is that? Must admit tge more tortoises added the slower they are operating. 

 

Im programming it using my ECoS at the moment. 

 

Thanks

 

Simon

Now we see why most go for the Switch-8 if all you want to do is control tortoises.

[pheaton]

Couldnt find a uk seller that had them in stock Keith, ive looked into the switch 8 before and its been highly recommended, but a chance browse on ebay turned up for 2 DAC 20s which i knocked rails vault down to 45 quid each.

 

the dac 20s are working fine just a little more lethargic compared to the hare.

[Andymsa]

5 hours ago, pheaton said:

Couldn't find that board Andy, which one is that? Must admit tge more tortoises added the slower they are operating. 

 

Im programming it using my ECoS at the moment. 

 

Thanks

 

Simon

 

Here is what your looking for simon.

 

https://www.signatrak.co.uk/products/layout-automation-and-accessory-control/dac20-4-port-output-adaptor

 

two are needed per board

 

just for info I use 28 dacs on my layout. From the current dac20 to upgraded dac10s and even the original dac 10 with an idc connector. All my dac10 have been upgraded to dac20s 

 

It is highly recommended to use a auxiliary DC supply with the dac20, although you can use the dcc supply once you have around 6-8 dacs installed you can get issues with inrush currents on startup of the layout, obviously depending on what your command station outputs.

 

andy

Edited September 20, 2019 by Andymsa

[melmerby]

5 hours ago, pheaton said:

Couldnt find a uk seller that had them in stock Keith, ive looked into the switch 8 before and its been highly recommended, but a chance browse on ebay turned up for 2 DAC 20s which i knocked rails vault down to 45 quid each.

 

the dac 20s are working fine just a little more lethargic compared to the hare.

As you say, no one seems to have stock just now.

Normally I've been able to get them within a few days.

I like them because they are so simple. They operate torti and do nothing else.

Just select the output in program mode and send a turn command on the address you want - done!

 

[DY444]

6 hours ago, Ravenser said:

 

I found the MERG units horribly vulnerable to shorts . Rebooting the layout every time I had a short to get the MERG decoder to respond became a tedious chore. It was replaced with a Digitrax DS64. I have 2 DS64s installed which are powered off a regulated 12V DC supply (which is there to power signal LEDs) and they have proved very reliable though they aren't cheap 

 

For clarity's sake I use Tortoises (+ 1 Cobalt)

 

Well all I can say is I haven't had that problem and all mine have been fine and I've had plenty of DCC shorts over the years. 

[Ravenser]

18 hours ago, DY444 said:

 

Well all I can say is I haven't had that problem and all mine have been fine and I've had plenty of DCC shorts over the years. 

 

Possibly you had yours on a separate power district, or isolated by a separate circuit breaker?

[DY444]

1 hour ago, Ravenser said:

 

Possibly you had yours on a separate power district, or isolated by a separate circuit breaker?

 

Nope.  I have 4 power zones using a PM4 and the LS100s and ACC5s use the same DCC bus as the track in each zone.  I've had no end of trouble over the years with certain loco decoders and the LS100s going haywire after a track short but the ACC5s have been fine.