Eckon/Berko colour signal advice needed

[Guest oldlugger]

Could anyone advise me about the Eckon colour light signal range? I believe these were upgraded a while back with LED's rather than grain of wheat bulbs and a more scale appearance for the signals themselves. I'm after a simple starter signal (green and red) with a right hand route indicator (white feather). Which of the Eckon signals has the above improvements with the set up I've just mentioned; any or none of them? Also to work this signal what switches would I need (I'm utterly hopeless with electrics) and how would I wire it?

 

Many thanks

Simon

[RichardEyre]

Hi Simon,

 

My Eckon (or is it Berko? anyway, the kits) are all LED lit and come supplied with resistors and a full wiring diagram. If you follow that you can't go wrong. I suspect they have the more realistic appearance you mention, but don't have an old one to compare.

 

Mine are simple 2 aspect red/green so only use a single on/on switch. As you need a feather you'd need an on/on (for the signal) and an on/off (for the feather). Alternatively, it should be possible to achieve it with a single rotary switch, but I'm not sure how complex the wiring would be on that.

 

- Ric

[RFS]

You could also consider Traintronics signals which have versions with feathers. The circuit board for the signals includes all necessary resistors built in, plus the display of the feather is suppressed if the signal is showing a red aspect. Therefore you can link the display of the feather automatically with the motor for the point that controls the diverging route. Very easy if you're using point motors with built-in switches such as Tortoise, and I have several connected up this way: when the signal is changed to green the feather comes on only if the diverging route is set, and goes off again when the signal is changed back to red regardless of the setting of the point.

[Guest oldlugger]

Many thanks Ric and RFS for your help. Much appreciated.

 

Cheers

Simon