RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 9, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 9, 2017 G, Just hope there's a socket to plug a kettle in. (& I mean one for making a brew !!) Cheers, Phil. So that's what overloaded the DCC system................. Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieTurrellDRS Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hi, Mick Could we have a trackplan please, Ollie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 23, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2017 Hi, Mick Could we have a trackplan please, Ollie See a few posts up #504. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Not railway related, but a nice story none-the-less. Many moons ago I lived in Alvaston and we had a new parish priest. He was told that his patch extended from the first road past the Railway Technical Centre, through Alvaston and on to Shardlow. As he was arriving from Derby, he was eagerly looking out for where his new parish started. He passed the RTC and was rather shocked that the first road in his new domain was called Deadmans Lane. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goffmarket Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Hi Mick Can I ask what you're using as the power source for your Alpha Sniffer please, I've just picked up the latter with an Alpha main unit to make up my own accessory bus, initially controlling four ip digitals through S-switches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 24, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2017 Hi Mick Can I ask what you're using as the power source for your Alpha Sniffer please, I've just picked up the latter with an Alpha main unit to make up my own accessory bus, initially controlling four ip digitals through S-switches. The plan is to use a good quality plug in power supply bought from the likes of Maplins. The key word to look for is regulated. I have done my initial tests using a power supply rated at 13.8v (a typical laptop supply) The new unit will be set to 15vDC, it will also power the Alpha switch boards. They are marked at 12v, but will quite happily work with 15v I'm hoping that the end of the week will see me doing some test connections between the various bits of kit, that I can photograph. Hopefully, it will show some of the "building blocks" of the Alpha system. Cheers, Mick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goffmarket Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 The plan is to use a good quality plug in power supply bought from the likes of Maplins. The key word to look for is regulated. I have done my initial tests using a power supply rated at 13.8v (a typical laptop supply) The new unit will be set to 15vDC, it will also power the Alpha switch boards. They are marked at 12v, but will quite happily work with 15v I'm hoping that the end of the week will see me doing some test connections between the various bits of kit, that I can photograph. Hopefully, it will show some of the "building blocks" of the Alpha system. Cheers, Mick I am hoping to have my rig together his weekend, I picked up a 15v power source from Marlin yesterday. The set up will be sniffer to accessory bus with four ip digitals and the cobalt Alpha board using four S-levers. There seems to be a bit of a shortage on S-levers at the moment so I only have the one for moment but it will get it up and running! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 25, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) I am hoping to have my rig together his weekend, I picked up a 15v power source from Marlin yesterday. The set up will be sniffer to accessory bus with four ip digitals and the cobalt Alpha board using four S-levers. There seems to be a bit of a shortage on S-levers at the moment so I only have the one for moment but it will get it up and running! There isn't a shortage of S-levers if you order direct from DCC Concepts in the UK (I know they have plenty in stock) Cheers, Mick Edited January 25, 2017 by newbryford Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goffmarket Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 There isn't a shortage of S-levers if you order direct from DCC Concepts in the UK (I know they have plenty in stock) Cheers, Mick I was at their Settle showroom on Sunday to pick up the other parts and they were awaiting new stock so they must have had a run! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted January 26, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted January 26, 2017 (edited) I was at their Settle showroom on Sunday to pick up the other parts and they were awaiting new stock so they must have had a run! Plenty of 6 and 12 packs, but no single packs........ Anyway - here's the building blocks of the DCC Concepts Alpha DCC accessory system. Bottom left is the SNX sniffer unit (it can be connected to sniffer ports on the likes of ESU ECoS and Roco Z21, as well as the obvious attachment to a Alpha Box, but it can also be used as a stand alone 1A DCC accessory driver. The two red wires are the DCC bus. Top right is the AEU encoder. This can take in left/right inputs from the likes of toggle switches or pushbuttons. Bottom right is an Alpha Switch-D with a couple of pushbuttons on the first channel. Although the encoder can use "normal" pushbuttons, I've decided to go the whole hog and use the combined LED/button. In this case blue, but red and green are also available (they don't have yellow unfortunately.....) The power supply to the sniffer and encoder is the thin black lead at the top. The curly cord is the connection between the sniffer and encoder. The three wires from the Switch-D to the encoder are the inputs to drive the encoder. The power supply to the Switch D is at the lower right. I've only connected up one channel between the Switch-D and encoderfor simplicity. When a button is pressed, the display on the encoder will light up to confirm the input channel. An extension display simply plugs in. I will be using one of those mounted on the control panel. At the end of the day, all that will be visible on the panel front will be the pushbuttons and repeater display. This is the AEU encoder board. It is easily programmed with the first address and the rest are automatically sequenced. This is set for 1, so the DCC channels it can operate are 1-12. Multiple boards can be daisy-chained together. I will need a second board and unsurprisingly it will be addressed 13-24. It is also possible to have another board - for example, at the other end of a loop type fiddleyard, on the layout controlling the same addresses. This is done by giving it a different "cab" number - easily done using the two programming buttons on the board. Alpha Switch-D. As said above, I could have used ordinary pushbuttons on the panel, but I also wanted LED indication of the route set. (there are other ways to accomplish this, but it does mean more wiring). There are six channels per Switch board. The buttons are simply plugged into the board in order. If you need three buttons to control a crossover, two into one connectors are available in the Alpha Switch add-on pack. Red, blue and green buttons are available. The DCD-SNX sniffer unit. It can be used as a standalone DCC bus or connected to a full-blown DCC system as mentioned above. If the system is ever expanded so far, that the 1A output is exceeded, then the SNX will be exchanged for a full-blown Alpha Box which is rated at 5A. (DCC Concepts Cobalt Digital IP motors take about 5mA at standstill, so in theory) it will drive nearly 200 of them (but the inrush start up current will probably limit that to less, but I've no idea how many) when you allow for the running current of about 50mA for 2-3 seconds.) My full requirement is for two encoder boards and three switch boards as I need 19 channels (at this stage, I will parallel the function of one of them to make it 18. Slight delay in getting any further as I'm having fun sorting out an A3 print and laminate of the panel facia....... The "big thing" I can see about by just using the encoder/SNX combination is that you can easily fit a DCC accessory system to a DC controlled layout. Cheers, Mick Edited November 17, 2018 by newbryford 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRDBLUE17 Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Hi Mick, Thanks for taking the time to explain and photograph what you are aiming to do and how all the parts link and work together. With my new fiddle yard planned watching how you do yours might be very helpful. Thanks Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Digital Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Thanks for the information Mick, very informative. I have the Alpha Power and Alpha box and will be adding a switch panel in the near future. Also have the S levers which are very nice indeed. I really like the quality of the DCC Concepts range and the versatility it offers. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted February 2, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 2, 2017 (edited) Phase 1 - start with a A3 or so sized box. Work out from the previously printed diagram where the Alpha switches fit - I had already got a good idea where they would fit from a previous "test" print. They are a bit like an iceberg - very little visible on top, but lots more underneath. Using a 7mm hole punch - obtained via ebay, punch out the holes in the top laminate Lay the punched panel over the main box, mark and drill the holes - sorry, no picture - forgot to take one! Fit the Alpha switches Work out where the Alpha switch-D and encoder panels will fit - making sure that there is enough length in the switch cables to be plugged in. (Extended cables are now available) This is what it looks like from above Build a "shelf" to fix the panels to: Panels in place and switches plugged in Connect the switch panels to the encoders - grye/white/purple wiring. Along with the 15v supply to the panels and sniffer unit. The Dc supply is on the lower left ide, the DCC signal out is lower left bottom. This is DCC at it's "only two wires" best. Two wires in as supply, two wires out as a DCC accessory feed. And it lives.... Plenty of tidying up still to do - fitting a pair of sockets to plug the external cabling into. Permanently fixing the top diagram and fitting the button bezels. Preliminary testing has already started as the encoder boards display the selected DCC accessory address as each button is pressed. All is well - so far. The next big step will be to connect the "two wires" to the layout and test. Cheers, Mick Edited November 17, 2018 by newbryford 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
emt_911 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Very neat Mick. I'm looking forward to seeing this in operation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorz101uk Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 mick, just remember you will need to put shunting flashing lights and bells when going in and out of the shedd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted February 23, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted February 23, 2017 There is a potential plan to hook up the panel to the layout in the next few days for testing. Dependent on work commitments. Will keep you posted. Cheers, Mick 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisis Rail Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Phase 1 - start with a A3 or so sized box. panel1.jpg Work out from the previously printed diagram where the Alpha switches fit - I had already got a good idea where they would fit from a previous "test" print. They are a bit like an iceberg - very little visible on top, but lots more underneath. panel 2.jpg Using a 7mm hole punch - obtained via ebay, punch out the holes in the top laminate panel 3.jpg Lay the punched panel over the main box, mark and drill the holes - sorry, no picture - forgot to take one! Fit the Alpha switches panel 5.jpg Work out where the Alpha switch-D and encoder panels will fit - making sure that there is enough length in the switch cables to be lugged in panel 4.jpg This is what it looks like from above panel 6.jpg Build a "shelf" to fix the panels to: panel 7.jpg Panels in place and switches plugged in panel 8.jpg Connect the switch panels to the encoders - grye/white/purple wiring. Along with the 15v supply to the panels and sniffer unit. The Dc supply is on the lower left ide, the DCC signal out is lower left bottom. This is DCC at it's "only two wires" best. Two wires in as supply, two wires out as a DCC accessory feed. panel 9.jpg And it lives.... panel 10.jpg Plenty of tidying up still to do - fitting a pair of sockets to plug the external cabling into. Permanently fixing the top diagram and fitting the button bezels. Preliminary testing has already started as the encoder boards display the selected DCC accessory address as each button is pressed. All is well - so far. The next big step will be to connect the "two wires" to the layout and test. Cheers, Mick Wow Impressed All for Toy Trains eh? Still following with interest Mick (as they say) Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted March 6, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 6, 2017 A diversion from the control panel - I haven't managed to hook it up to the layout yet. Last year I purchased a Silhouette Portrait cutter with a view to do making the cladding for the office blocks. It has been used for a couple of paper cutting projects for the workbench thread, but I managed a few spare minutes today to fire it up on plastic. This is the effect that I'm after Lots of repetitive rectangles I've been following the Silhouette cutter thread and was quite hopeful when I fired it up with a sheet of 20thou plasticard. The first cut wasn't deep enough, because I hadn't set it to double cut. The second one was much more successful. The cutter won't go directly through 20 thou, but it scores deep enough to snap out. For "holes", I used a tip on the Silhouette thread to cut diagonals inside, to enable the sections to be easily snapped out. And the finished first panel. I have many to do, so need to source a few sheets of 20 and 10 thou plasticard.... Cheers, Mick 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Boar Fell Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Looking forward to seeing the buildings develop, although if modelling RTC in it's current condition you would need to add the tree that is currently propping up Trent (courtesy of Doris) . (I know Trent's 'off scene', but still...) Wild Boar Fell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Tilt Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 There were trees in the various squares way back when too, but they were VERY small then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Boar Fell Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 There were trees in the various squares way back when too, but they were VERY small then. This one is by the link between Trent & Derwent, down from the fish pond. It is rapidly being made smaller again... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Tilt Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 This one is by the link between Trent & Derwent, down from the fish pond. It is rapidly being made smaller again... Ah, the fish pond....... There's a few good tales to be told about that. I can't recall your tree from my time there, perhaps it's 'new growth'. 39 years old 'new growth'! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted March 12, 2017 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted March 12, 2017 (edited) A package of 10 and 20 thou plasticard arrived a couple of days ago. The Silhouette cutter has been busy. There's about 250 rectangles. Manually cutting that lot would have driven me mad. The base layer is 20 thou with a 10 thou overlay. I need to stock up on suitable liquid solvent adhesive. Next up is to do some window frames. Cheers, Mick Edited March 12, 2017 by newbryford 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhall Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 The base layer is 20 thou with a 10 thou overlay. I need to stock up on suitable liquid solvent adhesive. Mick, With that much area, I'd be a little wary of solvent distortion, it might be better to use superglue to bring all the layers together (although that has its own problems or lack of working time). Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradfordbuffer Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Quote. From mick.. There's about 250 rectangles. Manually cutting that lot would have driven me mad.... Response.....who would of noticed The difference! Looking good....(bits for train set not you) clocks ticking....demu approaching! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now