Crosland

That statement just confirms that you do not understand the principle behind AC measurement. RMS is appropriate for any waveshape. RMS is calculated by squaring the original waveform, calculating the average and then taking the square root, hence RMS or Root-Mean-Square It's the 1.414 approximation (square root of 2) factor that only applies to perfect sine waves. For DCC, for example the peak and RMS are the same.

Transformers are rated as RMS, so the 16 V transformer is 16V RMS, however you measure it. If you try to measure it with a scope you will see the positive and negative peaks greater than 22V and would need to calculate the RMS for yourself, unless the 'scope includes that function. When rectified it will produce positive only peaks (i.e. DC) of around 22V, depending on the load and diode voltage drops. With no load the voltage will be highre due to the poor regulation from a transformer. You need to add a suitably rated smoothing capacitor to "iron out" the peaks, see post #29. For 12V DC you add a suitably rated (for the current you need) voltage regulator, following the data sheet for any other capacitors that may be needed.

It's the same for every system and is limited by the DCC bit rate. If you wanted to control all possible 10,000+ locos simultaneously they would be very sluggish in responding. At best, you can address a few 100 locos per second.

The point is that two different manufacturers can use it in completely different ways, even if the purpose ("motor tuning") is the same. Similarly, two manufacturers could have exactly the same "motor tuning" method, using completely different CVs. There are no common specs for manufacturer specific CVS.

Which applies equally well to non-opto isolated connections. Simply twisting a normal servo cable will help.

CV54 is manufacturer specific so no assumptions can be made about what it does based on one manufacturer, except, of course, where one manufacturer is rebadging another's decoders.

Nice! How well does the gloss applied to the wagons match that which was scanned and printed onto the decals. Is it the case that you might not notice any variation as it will be on a different face of the wagon? Or just disguised by weathering?

That's similar to the issue with household ring mains run in wall cavities later filled with polystyrene bead insulation.

Stock boxes: Does anyone worry about using "acid free" packaging? There was one mention of foam degrading, but has anyone had problems with foam (or whatever) sticking to, and possibly damaging, stock if left for extended periods? Any materials to definitely avoid?

I doubt very much that Railmaster will talk to a SPROG. Maybe to XpressNet hardware if you are lucky. (I am surprised that Railmaster is limited to CV 255. The NMRA specs have covered higher numbered CVs since the early 2000s when the SPROG was first designed.) The CD-ROM supplied with the SPROG still has JMRI 4.4 if I recall correctly. It might be worth downloading 4.6 to see if your decoders are covered.

Is it definitely a 6V motor with resistors? They could be inductors for interference suppression.

You don't need to be able to read anything to set the address on a programming track (service mode programming). The EZ-Command treats the whole layout as a programming track. How or whether the Dynamis supports a programming track, I have no idea

There is also now the Pi-SPROG that connects direct to the Pi GPIO. Andrew Crosland http://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/

Controllers "pump" out volts, not amps. The connected load will only take the current it requires, if available. A more likely scenario is that the transformer does not have a clean DC output.

2a/ A MOSFET can be used as a simple polarity protector that drops much less voltage (and thus dissipates much less power) than even a Schottky diode. http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slva139/slva139.pdf Andrew

I have used a piece of brass tubing for something similar. Sharpen the end and use as a punch or file a few teeth and use like a core drill or hole saw (in the hand!). Andrew

A bit of lateral thinking says just replace the batteries with a wired power supply. The end result is the same, a tethered controller. A better option might be to wire in an external battery holder with C or D cells. A bit of gaffer tape and you still have a wireless, if somewhat heavier, handset. Or put he battery pack on a belt clip with a short cable. The possibilities are almost endless...

A good controller (for MR use) will turn off the control pulses. This powers down the servo and stops any buzzing. The friction in the servo gearchain holds everything in place. Multiple buzzing servos are likely to overload the power supply. Andrew

Also, if anything ever goes wrong, a servo trying to move to either end stop can destroy the link, the TOU or the tiebar or some combination. Don't ask me how I know! Andrew

You can get that today (and for probably the last 10 years) with a decent decoder due to the way they work with PWM drive to the motor and BEMF feedback. Even 3-pole toy train quality motors can produce surprisingly good results. Modern 5-pole or coreless motors even better. You would need extra connections, so no 6-pin decoders for the smaller scales. Marklin's C-sinus motor requires extrra connections. If anything needs to change I would go for a brushless DC motor with a position encoder, rather than stepper motor, but it would be over engineered and is completely unnecessary for what is, basically, a toy. There's simply nothing to be gained from changing. Andrew

There's already a small suppliers forum, but self promotion is forbidden.

If the the frog is isolated then you will not get shorts. This only happens if you do a half-assedhearted conversion by trying to switch the frog without isolating it from the switch rails. Andrew

It might if it was DCC and there was a 10 Amp booster involved

SCART = Seriously Cheap And Really Tinny. Avoid them.

Having a commercial interest, I have always thought that there should be a sub-forum where brief new product announcements can be made. The print media do this all the time without impacting on their advertisers. Andrew