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Waton


eldavo
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Waton has been packed away since it's last outing but as it is due out at several exhibitions in the coming year there are things to do. Even though this trainset has been around for a while now there are still areas of the operation that can be unreliable. Not good enough...

So starting with a few metres of this...

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Cut out shapes a bit like this...

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Is this a better angle?

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Well if you haven't spotted it what I'm chopping up is bits of plastic cable trunking. This particular version comes as a 'U' shaped back piece with a clip on front piece. Having chopped up odd shaped 4 or 5 centimetre bits I unclip the top and make a couple of rough cuts with a piercing saw and/or craft knife.

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Why you may ask? To hold a 9g servo of course! Being a cheapskate and bodger buying etched brass or plastic readymade servo mounts is a step too far so I've been looking for a cheap option.

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This particular trunking with a bit of tweaking is just the right size to hold a servo without any extra bits. Here's a servo clipped into the back piece...

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...and with the front piece clipped on...

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I've used a double ended crank mounted on the servo and drilled a hole in the mounting as a fulcrum for an actuator wire. I want to use these as point machines and need to switch the frog polarity so have mounted a tiny lever actuated micro switch on the rear. The switch sits on a bit of scrap plastic and the micro switch is positively located using a couple of bits of wire rod into holes in the mounting. All this is kludged together with copious quantities of epoxy resin.

Here's a selection. The one with the blue servo hasn't got a switch as is destined for a point on the Winchester Railway Modellers Redbridge layout fiddle yard where the polarity switch is mounted above the baseboard.

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Here's one mounted under one of the Waton baseboards. It's wired into the existing tag strip but there's some rewiring required.

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Another showing it alongside a Conrad motor that will be replaced.

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These new motors will require a pulsed control signal, 0 volts and 5 volts DC. Luckily the power supply for Waton is from a scrapped PC so I have a convenient source of 5 volts. The control signal will come from another Arduino board but I haven't yet decided whether it should be mounted on the baseboard or in the control box.

Lots to do...

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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Bit more progress. Two out of three servos have been fitted to the board I'm working on, the third awaits the replacement for the broken tiebar on the point. Most of the under board wiring is in place and an Arduino Pro mini board has been installed to control the servos.

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The controller is smaller than one of the servos! This particular beasty is wired up for 3 servos though the board and software is able to control 6.

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There is nothing on the circuit board apart from a tiny push to make button. It's the whitish thing top left of the board. Pushing the button should(!) put the last operated servo into a set up sequence but for some reason this isn't working at present. It's either a wiring or software glitch that I need to sort.

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Some wiring to the offboard connector to add but it's getting there.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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Having decided to replace the Conrad point motors with servos on the scenic section of the layout some modification of the control panel is required. Rather than reversing the polarity of a 12 volt supply using two wires the input to the servo controller Arduino is just a single wire which needs to be connected to 0 volts. Simple enough.

The Waton control system is split into modules; scenic section, fiddleyard and the train controller(s). This was done as I anticipated making fairly radical changes in the future. Should be easy enough to tweak the scenic section control module than as there's only a few switches...

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Looks simple enough from the front BUT this was only ever a prototype knocked up on a Sunday afternoon to prove some ideas. It's a relay and spaghetti nightmare with patched up ribbon cables feeding the baseboards. Amazingly it's survived several exhibitions but is a disaster waiting to happen...

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If I've got to make changes I might as well clean things up a bit. This module will (eventually) be replaced with an interlocked leverframe but the layout has shows in February and March so the switch set up will have to Live on for a while. To allow this module to be replaced easily I am going to add a break out board with sockets for cables to the boards and a socket to connect to the control module. Work is underway...

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So how far do you think I got before spotting that the 27-way miniature D shell socket would not support the 28 connection I need? You guessed it, just as I was wiring up the final 7 signal controller wires and spotted 6 remaining pins. Doh! Just as well picked up some spare 25-way D shell sockets from Ron Lines the other day.

With a plan to sort that bit of stupidity out I carried on. With a couple of wires to go I check a connection on the baseboard and spot an oddity. So how many of the connections on the 4 D shell sockets for the baseboard feeds would I have to rework if some prat had incorrectly marked the position of pin 1? Argh! Luckily the same prat had also wired the bottom row back to front so I only had to rewire all the top rows!

Some days I don't think I should be allowed to plug in a soldering iron.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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A couple of hours in the workshop today has largely sorted out yesterdays cock ups. The 27-way D shell socket has been removed and replaced with a couple of 25-way jobbies. Much easier to solder to and gives some spare capacity. How did I ever think the job could be done with a single socket? Daft. I even managed to mess up some of the connection to it as well so yesterday was clearly not a good day.

I've also added a second layer to the box to mount the sockets serving the control modules and extra tag strip space. This also serves as a lid to the box protecting things somewhat.

Here's the breakout box opened up and with nearly all the connections in place...

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The completed box will sit near the bottom of the Waton "black box" control enclosure with the 4 sockets to the baseboards, the ones on the narrow side, visible. The other connections will be inside the enclosure and accessible to the other modules. That's the current plan anyhow.

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I'm sure some of the professional Wiremen I worked with 30 odd years ago are spinning in their graves at my amateur efforts but it'll do the job.

More to do.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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One advantage of building the control systems as modules is that bits can be tested individually or lashed together on the workbench to test the whole thing...

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With modules on the bench I'm able to test individual baseboards as each has its own connection to the control system. The 12volt and 5volt feeds come from a PC power supply mounted under one of the fiddleyard boards so that complicates things a little. This is what passes for orderly testing in my workshop...

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The switch panel for the scenic section of the layout has been somewhat simplified and the yards of ribbon cables used as the temporary board connection have gone. It's still a mess!

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This little bit of rewiring has taken quite a few hours and around 200 metres of cable including the board interconnect cables. With all these D shell plugs and sockets I've also used up quite few feet of heatshrink tube. I would have used considerably less if I hadn't made quite so many mistakes. I even managed incorrectly measure up one of the module to module cables so had to redo it with longer leads. Of course it wasn't a little 9 pin jobbie. Oh no it had to be a 25 pin plug!

With all this work what will Joe public see? Nothing! All fitted back in the black box all that can be seen are 4 extra sockets. Nobody will see the breakout box unless something seriously nasty happens in transport.

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Now it's time to get on and replace another 5 point motors with servos.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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What's the most vulnerable item?

 

Not quite sure I get your drift Eddie. Nothing is especially vulnerable especially when all is carefully packaged up. The control box even has a lid to protect the panels during transportation.

 

Have you ever gad a problem with one of the mechanical switches ?

Eddie

If we are talking control switches, they are nothing special being mostly sourced from eBay or Rapid. Not had any problems (so far).

 

Cheers

Dave

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As always nothing is as easy as you first anticipate. Working on replacing point motors I remembered that I changed the way I built point tiebars half way through the build. The three that I have already replaced have a simple copperclad sleeper as the tiebar but all the rest have a different arrangement which means a different servo mount is required.

With the rest of the turnouts the point blades are soldered to vertical wire actuators which in turn are soldered to an 00 copperclad sleeper below the baseboard. This was done as N gauge copperclad sleepers are somewhat delicate and unhinged solder joints between the tiebar and the point blades are potentially fragile. Using vertical wire actuators gives a bit of flex and an 00 size tiebar is much stronger. The problem is I now need the servo to operate from side to side parallel to the underside of the baseboard rather than in the vertical plane. Enter servo mount Mk III...

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The answer was pretty simple. Just mount the Mk I servo mount on end in another bit of cable trunking. It's simply glued in with plumbers plastic solvent cement. Simples!

Better get on and do the rest of them then.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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Dave

... Just wondered if you had any concerns about the components reliability.

Eddie

Aha, OK. Hopefully all the individual components should be reasonably reliable as they are off the shelf stuff. How I've stuck 'em together of course may change things! I always travel with everything but the kitchen sink as with exhibitions it's not a case of if something will go wrong but a case of when.

 

The first test of the servos will be the Tonbridge show which is getting a little close.

 

Cheers

Dave

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All 8 of the Conrad point motors under the scenic section of the layout have now been replaced with servos and the boards have been tested individually. Most things seem to work! The layout has been reassembled and I now need to make a 25-way interconnection cable and everything can then be properly tested. Before that though there is one bugette in the control panel that I know how to fix and I need to add flywheel diodes to all the relays on the fiddleyard control module.

After some discussion the management have concluded that their under baseboard simplification policy may need reviewing...

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Onwards.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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The people of Waton have been complaining that the streets are too dark at night so action has had to be taken. I'm sure there are suitable bits and pieces available off the shelf but as has been the case with the rest of the layout a rummage in the scrapbox should find what's necessary. A bit of brass tube and a couple of different sizes of brass rod gets the basic shape sorted...

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A bit of scrap plastic sorts the lamp unit...

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The eagle eyed will spot that one is shorter than the others. This is of course entirely deliberate and is to allow a bit of perspective forcing with the one that goes on the road bridge. It has nothing to do with the length of the last bit of brass rod honest!

A squirt of grey etch primer and a blob of clear glue for the lens/cover thingyand they are ready to plant. Eight lamps seemed like plenty but once you start siting them they don't go far!

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Looking at views of streets our world is cluttered with signs and stuff. I need a lot more...

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Lots more stuff to do before Tonbridge exhibition in a weeks time.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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Cheers Pete. You rat, you've posted a picture that shows I still need to add more foliage, buildings and details! I especially need that 80mph sign to keep my operators in line.

 

Cheers

Dave

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Cheers Pete. You rat, you've posted a picture that shows I still need to add more foliage, buildings and details! I especially need that 80mph sign to keep my operators in line.

Cheers

Dave

80 eh? Mmmmmmmm

 

You told me it was 30......

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80 eh? Mmmmmmmm

You told me it was 30......

That's going in the opposite direction. As you approach the 80 sign you will of course have been abiding by the 30 mph restriction across the preceding unsuperelevated curve and crossover approaching from Nuneaton.

 

The numbers are not the amount of torque to be applied to the controller while at its end stop!

 

Cheers

Dave

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As the servos operating the point work under the scenic section of the layout survived the Tonbridge show without incident (mainly) it seems appropriate to rip out the Conrad point motors from under the fiddleyard. There are four boards to sort out and the first one has 8 motors to replace...

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The 8 motors will be replaced with servos controlled by a single Arduino Pro mini which is actually rigged up to be able to control 10 servos...

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Bit to do here.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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As Phil will obviously miss the gentle(!) murmur of the Conrad motors the only thing I can do is keep some for the next show! Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that replacing them is taking longer than I thought. Luckily the fiddleyard is organised into 4 different areas switched separately so I can phase the replacement work.

First I'm tackling the central section of the fiddleyard used to hold the passenger stock. This in turn is split into two switching areas. I've replaced 4 of the 8 motors on the board shown on the previous page and 2 on the simplest of the boards...

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I need to replace one motor and install an Arduino under one other board to complete this section. I then have to simplify/reorganise part of the fiddleyard control panel wiring.

Onward.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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With Basingstoke exhibition less than a week away yesterday was the cutoff date for major engineering works at Waton. This leaves me some time over the next 5 days to fix a couple of problemettes found at Tonbridge and to clean and titivate. By 5.30 yesterday I had finally got all the point motors, new and old, in the fiddleyard working. I'm fortunate in having enough floorspace in my workshop to lay things out for testing...

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It may look chaotic but it's organised chaos! I've managed to install a servo control board under each baseboard and replace 13 of the Conrad motors with servos. This means road selection plus entry and exit to the red section which holds passenger stock is now all via servo controlled point work. There are still 12 Conrad's and a Tortoise to be replaced but this will be done in the nice long gap between Basingstoke and the next outing which is to Warley.

With golf rained off this morning (for me at least) I have time to assemble the layout for testing.

Onwards.

Cheers
Dave

Edited by eldavo
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