Izzy

Chaz, Just to help illustrate what you get with a Sprog/JMRI combo here is the Eco-200 definition with the motor tab selected.These are the apparent default motor settings. Seems there are quite a few options for fine tuning the motor parameters besides the other relevent tabs. No cv's to bother with! Don't know how this compares to a Lokprogrammer. It will read all the cv's on a tab (called a sheet) when asked and may return different values if they have been set differently. To change a cv you just change the value and ask it to 'write' it to the sheet. Records of all the settings can be saved as a roster - you are prompted about this. My personal view is that my Sprog+Jmri is quite probably one of the best pieces of DCC stuff I have, and indispensible when needed. Izzy p.s. The default for the 3 V's - start/mid/max - (basic speed control tab), is all 0.

As far as I am aware the only option is to get the wheels turned to 2FS, the current 2mmSA drop-in-wheels only being suitable for Graham Farish diesels/DMU's. Izzy

Hello David, Yes, small bore albion alloy tube with piano wire to provide a cantilever action since no fixed fulcrum point was involved to provide movement. The particular arrangement involved was to drive rodding above baseboard to the point tie-bars. Both toggle switches are of the SPDT changeover type (on-on) - the DPDT being treated/used as two separate SPDT switches moving in unison. That sounded such a good idea that I have just tried it with the units retrieved from the layout coupled to an old AMR I have spare, but I am afraid it doesn't work. Slowing the speed down looses the inertia in the multi-stage gearing which carries the switch to the limit of it's travel after the power has ceased to the motor. Hardly any movement thus occurs and mostly the switch on the servo ends up stuck in 'no mans' land between the two poles so no movement becomes possible. A real pity. Izzy

Please use the link in the first post to see the original post on N gauge forum by the clever chap who thought up the idea. Nice and clear and better than I could do! Having searched out the details of the servos I have used - I knew I had them somewhere - I thought perhaps they might prove useful/interesting for some. Details: JP EnErGy 7.5gm digital Tower Pro SG90 9gm Motor: 6x10mm coreless 10x12mm flat can 3-pole Gearing: 5 stage 615 - 1 4 stage 320-1 Current Draw - first is running/second is stall. A selection of power settings obtainable using both alkaline and re-chargable AA's or set via an adjustable Voltage regulator. 1.2v: 60ma/170ma 60ma/320ma 1.5v: 60ma/220ma 70ma/360ma 2.0v: 60ma/270ma 80ma/500ma 3.0v: 70ma/375ma 100ma/630ma 4.5v: 80ma/560ma 120ma/970ma You will notice that although running current draw is quite okay the stall figures get worrying when higher voltages are used. You wouldn't really want to use these as stall motor designs when fed with continuous current at any voltage, but especially higher ones. That is where this design implementation scores so well. The action of the servo throwing the DPDT switch ( only one side is used as a SPDT the other switching the crossing polarity), not only reverses the current ready for the next movement but disconnects it too, with the other SPDT switch showing the current direction set, (which of course can be mounted on a control panel). Izzy

Sorry Brian, I'm afraid I have no idea what current they draw in this format/voltage not having measured it, but past tests have shown about 0.5amp @6v and 0.9amp at stall @6v (this with SG90's). You are correct about the toggle switch determining the arc range of movement, which is less than that of a normal servo. It does hold the servo in postion by default but this is secondary to it's main objective to reverse the direction of travel in combination with the other toggle switch. It is overcoming the toggle switch resistance that determines the level of voltage needed to move them which then sets the speed of movement and why the smallest switches available from Expo are used. You can operate hacked servos without the toggle switch as stall motor type devices, but in this case you must keep the voltage down below about 3v (they will work on down to 1.2v depending on the actual servos used), otherwise they just rip the gears/stops to shreds given the high reduction ratios they have. IIRC the 9gm SG90's are around the 320-1 mark with four stages, while I have some JP 7.5gm EnErGy digital ones that use a smaller coreless motor and are around the 615-1 ratio with five stages. (they have a rolls royce type performance - smoother/sweeter/quieter - in comparison with the cement mixer SG90's) This was my original design of hacked servo, powered via sprung centre-off SPDT toggle switches - Expo again, and steel piano wire used as the acutator, the servo moving through it's normal travel arc of around 87degrees and the wire absorbing the excess travel over that needed, much like the Tortoise/Cobalt stall motors, just smaller - much smaller, and cheaper. However this then needed a separate micro-switch for crossing/frog polarity changing. The design posted here overcomes that issue and gives a neat all-in-one package at the expense of needing a bit more power and slightly faster operation. So far they have proved totally reliable in operation. Izzy edited to correct gearbox ratios - see further post for more details

The best way I have found to produce very small signs etc is to make them at a nominal size and then reduce them to the actual printed size needed without re-sampling. I use a very old copy of Photoshop Elements (v2) but other similar ones are just as good. I try and aim for 1200 dpi at the final size. Even most cheap inkjets can print at this resolution (or higher) so long as the correct paper settings are used with those that don't have a resolution setting output in their software options. Just use highest quality photo. Indeed, printing out onto high gloss photo paper - 6x4 size is useful for these kind of jobs - and then 'lifting' the top layer off using a scalpel blade leaves a nice thin printed sheet, the paper being thick to absorb the much higher levels of ink laid down as printing at such resolution on ordinary weight ink-jet paper just floods it. Izzy

Thanks Jim, I actually wouldn't have thought about it being anything else coming from your good self. They are the initials for my light raiway based in North East Essex - completely fictitious - the Tendring Light. When the large cattle wagons arrived many of the small/medium ones were dispensed with as the large could be hired out as any of the sizes using adjustable partitions, and I assumed that like the IOW it obtained one of these secondhand, but with the westinghouse brakes removed/replaced by just a through pipe. Izzy

A few years back I finally found a drawing of a medium GE cattle wagon ( in a book on southern wagons covering IOW stock!) and managed to produce one using plasticard but found the woodwork didn't look right until I chamferred the wood edges as per the prototype. It seemed to change the whole character/look of the wagon in a way it's hard to explain but I would suggest a non-perfect finish would still be better than leaving the posts square. Not that I am suggesting yours would be less than perfect, but with my skills mine certainly are as you can see. regards, Izzy

Hi Simon, Your most welcome, and thanks for the kind words. I do like the combination of a 4F with the smaller Johnson/Deeley tender i.e. as they were originally built, using a number from the first LMS batch built with RHD before the change to LHD, and pleased the tender chassis idea worked for you. I hope I will be forgiven for saying that although I have used split-axle current collection in a number of differing scales - mainly as additional pickup via tender/carry wheels - I have never found current collection via either open (pin-point) or closed bearings to be totally reliable and this no doubt accounts for the popularity of Simpson springs. Izzy

Hi Rob, I am running all my TTS (and others decoders) including the piggybacked one on 28 speed steps without any issues at all. As I keep reading the TTS need to be set to 128 to work correctly I am wondering what I am doing differently. Or could it somehow just be the way the Gaugemaster system operates? Hi Geoff, The TTS decoders I have will only work one way with my early version sprog. I believe a firmware update fix might be available for later sprog versions to enable both ways running but I don't think that programing them with the sprog will have any effect on how they respond on another system such as your Multimaus. I would think a similar firmware fix for that would be required. Or a firmware fix for the TTS decoders. I can't in truth see either happening even if they were possible, which they might not be. regards, Izzy

Just get a sprog 2. Will do all you want simply and cheaply. Izzy

I'm afraid I haven't tried the class 31 TTS decoder in a super-dooper Hornby 31 as I don't have one, but remarks on other TTS related threads appear to suggest they run just fine. The jerky running issues I encountered were with a Bachmann class 24 I tried one in, just as an experiment. I do like to see what is/might be possible. I suppose piggybacking these TTS types does require that the decoder used for basic motor control must have a reasonable performance in respect of not going off like the proverbial rabbit, which sadly in my experience is what many provide even with much cv wrangling. The basic ones I use are Zimo MX600's which probably have better motor control than most/any other makes save CT. I have fitted a Bachmann 36-557 21 pin into a Heljan W&M railbus as a trial, and only got barely acceptable slow speed takeoff by using 128ss and setting a bespoke speed curve in JMRI/DP with a lot of acc/dec dialled in. But on ss4/5/6 it's still way faster than a standard Zimo produces on just 28ss and just about acceptable as a stop-gap measure. However, the basic issue appears to be that your system, like some others, sends out command signals in what I can only describe/understand as a non-bi-directional way, and these TTS decoders can only 'see/read' these commands when place on the track in one direction whereas most decoders can read them whatever way around things are. They are like this with my elderly Sprog II but work fine with my main Gaugemaster Prodigy system. As I have remarked before in a thread somewhere I don't think being able to use these decoders should come down to luck as to what DCC system you have, but what the answer is I am not sure. All I am clear about is that I cannot justify £100+ per loco for sound however much I might quite like it, and these TTS decoders do fill the basic need that many such as myself have. cheers, Izzy

I paint the sides of the rails and chairs - both inside/outside - with Rowney poster paint these days before removing the construction from the paper template, using white spirit as per Hayfield's suggestion. This ensures the chairs key to the rail in their correct position. Still needs handling with care but then becomes a bit like laying set track. Quite useful if like me you like to lay the track into a thin screed of pva and ballast it at the same time. I have thought at times of trying the method used by Peter Denny for all his track, built onto sub-boards of thin ply ( I think it was ply), ballasted after laying the sleepers and before the rivets/chairs/rail were added. Then laid down and the joints between the sub-bases blended in with pva/ballast after wiring up and known to work okay. Izzy

When it first arrived - around the same era as the first few Expo EM's IIRC (hands up those who remember the Commonwealth institute or GWR hotel Paddington) - the basic aim was I believe as an annual get-together for S4 members to meet up/exchange ideas/show models etc as well as generating publicity. Raising funds was not part of it, indeed I can't quite remember if it was subsidised from S4 funds originally (might still be), and these generally account for how the entrance fees originally arose. Nothing ever stays quite the same, and adaptions to suit changing conditions are always needed, but these have existed as they are from the off, and I think it would be a shame if the general principles had to be changed given how long it has been going, and the number of multi-scale/gauge finescale shows based upon it and Expo EM which now exist and which might help explain the lower footfall. Izzy

Or even here; http://www.hattons.co.uk/313853/Hornby_R3428_HD_Class_W4_Peckett_0_4_0ST_11_in_Manchester_Ship_Canal_green_Pre_owned_detailed_/StockDetail.aspx Izzy

These are some I put together quite a few years back, probably the original kits, but it does I hope show that they are worth any time/effort/money spent on them. Izzy

If you have tighter curves then with some autocouplings that use an offset hook you either need to allow extra length or curve the bar to ensure the hook on the outside curve can reach the bar. Like many I use DG's in 2mm and have found that these can cope with quite tight curves because the general principle is that the hook is fixed in the middle and the bar is a loop that is wide and rises/falls, the reverse of many designs. Those one ended designs with a central hook - Dinghams?- should work okay but then you hit the 'only use one way' system I am not keen on, but then many use DG's/S&W that way as well. Izzy

I believe that the PCB will have resistors and diodes in the lighting circuits to protect the LEDS and decide which ones are lit according to the direction of travel. Izzy

Heljan Class 15 New fuel Tank and buffers One of the first locos I acquired for All Saints East was a class 15 from Heljan. Apart from machining the wheels for P4, and adding the provided headcode discs and pipes and hoses for the bufferbeams, I thought that was it, the loco being to a decent standard as regards detail and finish. I did also re-number it to one that I knew had run on the Walton-on-Naze branch, D8224, and fitted a crew into the cab. However, as I used it I kept getting the feeling when looking at it from different viewpoints that something wasn't quite right. Partly this was because I had in recent times scratch built a 2mm version - a bit of a size difference - but it still took me a while to figure out what it was. Another little issue that arose was with the sprung buffers fitted. Not only were the heads plastic mouldings but the springs were very soft meaning that most rolling stock 'bounced' back and forth when being pushed and it all looked horrible and wrong. So I turned up some replacement heads in steel and found some stronger springs to fit on them with brass tube rings as retainers soldered on the ends after fitting into the buffers. Much better all round. Here is a shot from this thread which has a few more of the original version of All Saints East in it, some significant alterations having now taken place. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/116233-theatre-indicator-on-platform-starter/ Anyway, the penny eventually dropped, the fuel tank was too small, leaving a largish gap between it and the inner ends of the bogies. Quite why this is so I have no real idea but I also discovered that the outer sandboxes were wrongly sized. So I made replacements from mainly black plasticard. The tank pipes and fillers were added in various sizes of brass wire and tube soldered together. As the original tank plugs/clips onto the underside of the chassis to allow access to the body retaining screws I filled it with some lead sheet and then used D/S tape to keep it in place but allows quick and easy removal. The whole lot is fairly crude and simple as with most of the modelling I do but seems to have worked out okay and does look better being the right size. Here it is with one of the new Parkside Toad E's, which needs finishing with some transfers and weathering, which I need to do to most of the stock. Izzy

Having used a sprog (II v 2.7) + JMRI/Decoder Pro for some years with a variety of computers, Win XP/7 and Mac I would say that it is I feel the best and safest route while also being very flexible and quite easy to use. Well worth the investment IMHO. I remain skeptical of the NCE programming mode. The problem seems to be the different ways the NMRA recommendations are being interperated. Yes there is nothing wrong with have full voltage track power, the issue being to my mind that while this is delivered at a lower amperage it is not momentary as per the NMRA specs of 100ms, but continuous. 250ma at any continuous voltage between 7-22v is more than enough to run many motors at quite a speed, and to my mind capable of frying electronic circuits when flowing the wrong way due to a short etc. Just my take on it, not being a NCE user. Izzy

If you are thinking of using Gibson hornblocks to allow split axle current collection - that is the basic reasoning isn't it? - then I would say that in my experience of using it in 2/4/7mm scales, split-axle current collection through enclosed brass bearings isn't any more reliable than wheel rubbing collection, and often less so. In 2mmFS most add what have become known as 'Simpson' springs, fine sprung wire rubbing directly on the axles, to ensure reliable current collection. I have used Gibson hornblocks on and off since they first arrived on the scene - in fact I alerted users that the first/original hornblock mouldings weren't symmetrical and allowances had to be made for this - and as others have mentioned these hornblocks are of the spring-assisted type as are most others for the reasons given of the difficulty in obtaining springs with usable spring ratings that can both support the weight of a loco but give under it at the same time. CSB's are a method that has arrived to try and overcome these issues. If you fancy split-axle collection then using the Gibson hornblocks sans springs and with stiff sprung wire as joint current collection/csb's - bearing straight onto the axles otherwise there is no advantage - would be my suggestion, but as ever it's a question of each to their own. Izzy

I have no experience of using stay-alives, but is there any chance it was no.4? That removing the chip with the stay-alive connected - if it had a charge in it perhaps? - could have caused a short that fried the decoder. What, if any, tool did you use to ease the chip from the socket, I find I need to use something, the NEM 652 8-pin being quite tight when fully inserted unlike the Nem 651 6-pin type. If it was metal? It's just a thought looking at the list. Izzy

In a Mac Chaz, a 15" macbook pro from around 2010 my son gave me. As I understand it, not having one to confirm this so perhaps others can, Java can't run on i-pads nor can the software for Macs, they are different. I'm thus not sure if either a sprog or JMRI can be ran from an i-pad or similar, andriod tablet etc - I don't think they have any suitable connections either, usb etc. I know that they can using raspberry pi but that is another kettle of fish so to speak, of which I am equally ignorant. Izzy

Full details are here: http://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ I have the latest Java version installed with no problems - it's a free download. Izzy

The pair of outer locations are set at a distance twice that of the track gauge being used, so for 21mm track, 42mm between them. Don't have a 4mm OO/EM/P4 one to hand, but this is a 2mm 2FS one. The distance ratio relationship between the leg positions is the same however whatever the gauge/scale used. You don't of course put the single leg on the outside of a curve, that way gauge narrowing lay..... Izzy