DCC Concepts equipment wiring question (in DC mode, not DCC).

[Courtybella]

Evening all, ive taken delivery of a selection of DCC Concepts equipment for a DC operation. 

I want to control my signals and points via a separate bus wire to my track power.

But I’m struggling to figure out how to wire it all together, even though I’ve spend a few hours reading all the instructions on the website and packaging.

The signal is plugged into a mega points servo circuit board which requires a on / off switch, how do I get the 3 servo plug wires to plug into the 9 off the S lever ? 

Also using the S lever to work the point motor via the sniffer and ACU board please?

[Nigelcliffe]

The MegaPoints to DCC Concepts Levers part is fairly simple. 

 

1 - on the Left of the Megapoints board are pins labelled 1 to 12, then a few more which can be skipped, then two labelled SC.   
SC= switch common.  You need a wire from SC (either of them, or both) to one side of an on-off switch.  If using 12 servos that means branching the SC to all of the 12 switches.

Then from each switch, a single wire to the numbered pin (1 to 12) corresponding with each servo motor.  

 

2 - towards the middle-right of the Megapoints board are the servo connections, labelled 1-12.  You're showing two three-wire servo plug attached to the top two outputs, which is the right place.  Up to 10 more servos can be added here.   

 

3 - The Megapoints board needs DC power to operate, you show a lead coming out of the board to a socket for DC power.  

 

4 - The DCC Concepts lever comes with a set of wires.  Consulting the manual for the latching switches, and it shows: one set are Blue-Yellow-Black (don't confuse the blacks, there appear to be two!), the other set are grey-green-red.   I'll pick the grey-green-red, but the other set are also a valid choice.  The grey is switch common, so connect that to the MegaPoints SC wire (discussed above, shares over multiple lever switches).   The green and red are switched, either (but only one) can be connected to the numbered Megapoints terminals - experiment as to which works best for you on lever position. (quicker at this stage than re-programming the Megapoints board to reverse the signal movement).  

The other wires on the DCC Concepts levers can be taped up as "not needed" for those levers.   

 

 

 

The above doesn't get you a "two bus wires around layout" solution, you need one wire per switch out to the MegaPoints control board, plus the common wire, plus power to the Megapoints board.  So, if using all the MegaPoints wires that's 12+1 wires to switches, plus power. 

If you were hoping for "two bus wires" you need more hardware to link in the MegaPoints stuff to the bus, and as to which maker's hardware you should select, that's another "well it depends what you're aiming to achieve" question.  

But, unless you really need a bus or have loads of the control boards, its usually cheaper/simpler to run a multi-core cable around from levers to Megapoints boards.  A cable pre-made with 25-way D-Sub connectors (old style printer cable), and a 25-way break-out board (screw terminals to D-Sub) will handle two 12-channel Megapoints boards (24 switches plus 1 common), doesn't cost much, and is simpler to fault-diagnose.   

 

 

 

As for the other DCC Concepts boards, don't know off the top of my head (well I could wade through the manuals, but as it's all from the same maker then the bits should work,  or ask DCC Concepts for advice for your layout setup - I think they'll usually give advice to customers on the customer's specific setup.  ).  

 

 

 

[Ron Ron Ron]

That's equipment for a DCC accessory bus set-up.

 

The Cobalt S lever switches connect to the Alpha encoder (not to the Megapoints board).

The Alpha encoder plugs into the Sniffer Adapter, which is a mini DCC Command Station.

The output from the Alpha Sniffer is a Power Bus to be used as a DCC accessory bus.

Accessory decoders are connected to the accessory bus, to drive points and signals.

 

I've no idea if the Megapoints board can work directly off a DCC accessory bus, or whether a separate decoder interface needs to be added?

 

This approach would provide the two wire bus out to, or around the layout, to operate points and or signals, without having to run multiple wires out to and back from the layout from each switch.

A separate, independent DCC accessory bus like this can be used on a layout where the trains are controlled by DC;  or it can be used on DCC controlled layouts, but as a stand-alone system, separate from the DCC system that controls the trains.

.

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by Ron Ron Ron

[Nigelcliffe]

17 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

That's equipment for a DCC accessory bus set-up.

 

The Cobalt S lever switches connect to the Alpha encoder (not to the Megapoints board).

The Alpha encoder plugs into the Sniffer Adapter, which is a mini DCC Command Station.

The output from the Alpha Sniffer is a Power Bus to be used as a DCC accessory bus.

Accessory decoders are connected to the accessory bus, to drive points and signals.

 

I've no idea if the Megapoints board can work directly off a DCC accessory bus, or whether a separate decoder interface needs to be added?

.

 

The Megapoints board needs another board (£30, DCC Module) to work as a DCC Accessory.    The DCC Module works a single 12-way servo board.   Setup is a bit of push-button fiddling on both the Megapoints servo board and the DCC accessory board.    Or, the DCC Module can interface multiple boards with the addition of another controller board  (but that starts to overlap what the DCC Concepts stuff is there to do, so probably not a sane approach from here).

 

With the DCC Module, its "all or nothing" - ie. the Megapoints Servo Board can be either controlled by direct switch inputs (no DCC Module),  or controlled by the DCC Module.  The Servo Board does not work with mixed control input (some DCC and some switch).  

 

 

That leaves two approaches to wiring - the one I outlined (switches direct to Megapoints board), or the one Ron outlines (switches into DCC Concepts boards, plus needing a DCC interface for each Megapoints board).  

 

 

- Nigel

Edited December 1, 2020 by Nigelcliffe

[cpman46]

34 minutes ago, Nigelcliffe said:

  

 

But, unless you really need a bus or have loads of the control boards, its usually cheaper/simpler to run a multi-core cable around from levers to Megapoints boards.  A cable pre-made with 25-way D-Sub connectors (old style printer cable), and a 25-way break-out board (screw terminals to D-Sub) will handle two 12-channel Megapoints boards (24 switches plus 1 common), doesn't cost much, and is simpler to fault-diagnose.   

 

 

 

 

 

We used these D Breakout boards on 'Norwich Central' 0 gauge layout.

 

[DCCconcepts]

16 hours ago, Nigelcliffe said:

 

4 - The DCC Concepts lever comes with a set of wires.  Consulting the manual for the latching switches, and it shows: one set are Blue-Yellow-Black (don't confuse the blacks, there appear to be two!), the other set are grey-green-red.   I'll pick the grey-green-red, but the other set are also a valid choice.  The grey is switch common, so connect that to the MegaPoints SC wire (discussed above, shares over multiple lever switches).   The green and red are switched, either (but only one) can be connected to the numbered Megapoints terminals - experiment as to which works best for you on lever position. (quicker at this stage than re-programming the Megapoints board to reverse the signal movement).  

The other wires on the DCC Concepts levers can be taped up as "not needed" for those levers.   

 

....

 

As for the other DCC Concepts boards, don't know off the top of my head (well I could wade through the manuals, but as it's all from the same maker then the bits should work,  or ask DCC Concepts for advice for your layout setup - I think they'll usually give advice to customers on the customer's specific setup.  ).  

 

 

 

 

 

There is no yellow wire on a S-Lever.

There are three SPDT changeover switches.

1-3 green/black/red is left/common/right for momentary (at end of travel) connections - these are perfect for input to the AEU encoder unit.

4-6 black/orange/blue is left/right/common for a latching SPDT. (Ideal for on/off/on connections to switch inputs)

7-9 grey/green/red is common/left/right for a latching SPDT as above.

Full connection details can be found via our manual - available online

 

 

 

The basic system is S-Lever to AEU encoder. Using the momentary 1-3 terminals from the S-Lever for each channel.

The AEU encoder will generate the necessary DCC accessory commands. They are 12 channel units.

Encoder is connected to Sniffer (which has the power supply for the system), via the curly cord (RJ12)

Sniffer output - 2 wire DCC accessory system to Digital IP and other DCC addressable accessory decoders

 

The OP has posted the same question in other online forums and been asked to contact ourselves directly, which he replied that he would do so.

 

Best Regards

The DCCconcepts Team

 

 

 

 

[Courtybella]

Sorry gents, my notifications haven’t come up, thanks for all the in-depth info I really appreciate it.

I’ll have a good read through with the kit in front of me and come back with any questions.

 

cheers! 

[Courtybella]

On 02/12/2020 at 12:09, DCCconcepts said:

 

 

There is no yellow wire on a S-Lever.

There are three SPDT changeover switches.

1-3 green/black/red is left/common/right for momentary (at end of travel) connections - these are perfect for input to the AEU encoder unit.

4-6 black/orange/blue is left/right/common for a latching SPDT. (Ideal for on/off/on connections to switch inputs)

7-9 grey/green/red is common/left/right for a latching SPDT as above.

Full connection details can be found via our manual - available online

 

 

 

The basic system is S-Lever to AEU encoder. Using the momentary 1-3 terminals from the S-Lever for each channel.

The AEU encoder will generate the necessary DCC accessory commands. They are 12 channel units.

Encoder is connected to Sniffer (which has the power supply for the system), via the curly cord (RJ12)

Sniffer output - 2 wire DCC accessory system to Digital IP and other DCC addressable accessory decoders

 

The OP has posted the same question in other online forums and been asked to contact ourselves directly, which he replied that he would do so.

 

Best Regards

The DCCconcepts Team

 

 

 

 

As DCC Concepts has said, I did and they did - time hasn’t been on my side this week so it’s on my list for next week now.