class"66" Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Some realy "top" work here Sam.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Afternoon all. The good news is I've finish wiring the fiddle yards point control panel. The bad news is it doesn't work..... I don't think enough power is getting to the point motors to fire them. Initially I thought it was an underpowered CDU but having purchased a 20,000uf "mega power" CDU, this hasn't sorted the issue. However RMWeb has (hopefully) come to the rescue. There are a few threads on problems with using a diode matrix to throw points and I think I need to beef up some of my wiring and shorten some wiring lengths. Will give this a try when I get a few minutes in the garage! In the meantime this is the spider's web that is the underside of the lift out board which houses the fiddle control panel. Happy modelling! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Good neat wiring Sam, look forward to more. Cheers, Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRS37409Fan Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Looks Great ! I Love it ! Nice Track Plan too ! I look forward to more updates ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted April 17, 2014 Author Share Posted April 17, 2014 Looks Great ! I Love it ! Nice Track Plan too ! I look forward to more updates ! Many thanks, Elgan - sorry progress is a bit slow at the moment mainly on account of the fact I can't get to my layout! We having the bathroom and lounge dining room redecorated so have moved out of our house for a few weeks. I'm itching to get back to it though.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D9JEF Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 That is such a poor excuse! You could have gone for... ... Lost my mojo ... Work a bit busy ... SWMBO is laying down the law ... Alcohol has taken over my life ... Football is getting in the way Your excuse is far too honest!! Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted April 19, 2014 Author Share Posted April 19, 2014 (edited) That is such a poor excuse! You could have gone for... ... Lost my mojo ... Work a bit busy ... SWMBO is laying down the law ... Alcohol has taken over my life ... Football is getting in the way Your excuse is far too honest!! Jeff Ha! I wish it was one of the above as I wouldn't feel so frustrated! Bathroom due to be finished next week so will be back to it then (subject to the list of job SWIMBO will have lined up for me ). TTFN Edited April 19, 2014 by sdw7300 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 Hello All Finally all the house decorating is finished so I can get back to the layout..... When I last worked on Laoson Valley I had wired up the point motors on the fiddle yard but couldn't get them to fire properly. A bigger CDU and more powerful power supply and problem solved......, well for about 15 minutes until is cooked the CDU. It turns out 24V AC is too high for the 20,000uf CDU. So the plan is try my original Gaugemaster CDU with the 24V AC power supply (the Gaugemaster one says it can cope with 24V). A couple of snaps during the 15 minutes it was working! And this is the spiders nest required behind the control panel Thanks for looking 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Very nice work Sam Cheers, Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyddrail Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Sam, In answer to your earlier question regards "trunking", troughing would be used for cable routes to any lighting columns or towers, buildings and the like. Looking good so far. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D9JEF Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Hi Sam, Didn't take too long to finish the "chores".... Progress is looking good. Keep the pictures coming Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Hi Sam, I've just caught up with this one, the wiring is my worst nightmare, and its still to come, thanks for the post and info on CDU's All the best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 Realy taking shape now buddy,looking forward to more now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRS37409Fan Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Love it ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted May 14, 2014 Author Share Posted May 14, 2014 Thanks for the comments & 'likes' - Much appreciated! Sometimes you have frustrating modelling sessions and sometimes you have cracking sessions. Tonight was a cracking one! Fiddle yard control panel is now fully working. The setup is a 24v ac power supply unit & Gauge master CDU powers the 'push-to-make' switches & diode matrix, which then fire the Seep PM1 point motors. The broken point motor has been successfully replaced. Also soldiered wires to some 12v led strip with a view to using them as point indicators on the main board control panel. Will explain a bit better once I've worked the idea further... Feeling quite pleased with myself, I then had a play with the trains! Photos to follow... TTFN 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Looking forward to more pictures Sam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 As promised, a couple of photos from last night: Firstly, not very exciting but my soldiering is improving! 66610 hauls some EWS engineering stock into Laoson Valley Then heads to the shed for a catchup with "Terri" Finally wagons parked up in the fiddle yard. I have built a lid for the fiddle yard which means they are safe from harm & dust until the next playing session. Thanks for looking 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Nice pics Sam - Looking good. Cheers, Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRS37409Fan Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 TMD Shed looks like its coming along well ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 No progress to report over the last few days - the boss has given me a list of jobs to do in the garden. However I might have accidently bought a new loco . Not the correct era for the layout but I couldn't resist. Point motors & wire for the main board ordered however I'm away with week later this week and then away with the family over bank holiday so I can't see the layout progressing for a week or so. Thanks for dropping by..... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Very nice drs buy!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Managed to grab some time on the layout last night. Next job on the list is points motors & control panel for the main board. As I need to do a fair bit of soldiering I thought a fume extractor would be a good idea. I rescued the old fan from the recent bathroom refurb along with an old nappy box & some venting piping. I bit of masking tape and hey presto ... Now I had a work area set up I then got 7 of the 10 point motors wired I'm after some wisdom of the great and good of RMWeb. I have used electro frog points but have not made any modifications to them - just laid them with insulated rail joints at the end of the "V". Having painted the rails, despite being very careful around the blades and giving them a good clean, I still get occasional dead spots. I plan to use the switch in the PM1 to power the frog. My question is can I simply wire the frog into the switch without needing to do any other mods to the points? I think I can get away with this as it is basically what is happening now but with a more reliable power source (i.e. the switch frog feed rather than solely relying on the blade against the out rail. Off to DEMU on Saturday for some inspiration and undoubtedly some retail therapy. Say hello if you see me - I should be easy to spot as I'll have a 19 month old on my back and a 4 year old at my feet! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 Hi Sam , Have a watch of this, there is a full blow by bow account of exactly what your looking to do. Cheers Marcus Perfect, thanks Marcus. Mine should be slightly easier still as I drilled a hole and poked the thin wire from the back of the point through the baseboard when I laid the track. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdw7300 Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 (edited) Hello There A few weeks have passed since my last update - mainly as progress has been slow and not very photogenic! I have been focusing on the point motors & control panel for the main boards - unfortunately once you start you can't play trains until it is completed. A couple of photos.... Firstly the control panel - made from an aluminium "enclosure box" from Maplins. I had originally used a track plan printed on two A3 self adhesive labels but it looked a bit naff. So I stripped the labels off and sprayed the box black. The tracks were then marked on with 5mm white vinyl. Once I have all the LED's in place I'll post a better picture. The control panel is sat in a drawer I have mounted on the layout frame. This can then be pulled out to operate. Half way through wiring up the point motors. The point motor are all in place along with wires leading to the connector blocks. The bottle of Mad Goose (from Purity Brewery - I thoroughly recommend it!) and Absolute 90's on the radio make the wiring quite a therapeutic experience. The current state of play - most of the wiring under the board is complete - just need to solder all the tails to two 25 way D connectors and then wire everything up in the control box. At my current rate of a few hours a week this could take a while..... Cheers [edit - typo] Edited June 23, 2014 by sdw7300 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Always helps to have cold beer to hand when wiring up for those stressful moments... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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