Crosland

It would take some doing to exceed 5 A with a few stationary (when powering up) locos and lit carriages.

I am guessing the lit carriages have capacitors to prevent them flickering, but don't have current limit resistors to prevent a large inrush current when power is applied. I seem to recall the Hornby Pullmans were notorious for this when they were first released.

15 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

 Use of soldering iron, exopy and insulation tape may be appropriate

Judging by the #photo, I think that has alrteady been tried.

Any Roco dealer should be able to supply https://www.roco.cc/ren/products/accessories/electrical-accessories/cables-and-plugs/10619-connecting-cable.html

Or, how about https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/catalogsearch/result/?manufacturer=303&q=track+feed

On 29/12/2022 at 06:17, peterm1 said:

Yes my Lenz can go to 64, but I don't see any need for that in my lifetime.

There is at least one UK sound project that, by default, uses functions higher than 28.

There was a thread about it not too long ago.

2 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

Some have a limited number of functions which you can activate — the latest DCC decoders can support up to 28.

And even higher.

11 hours ago, Gridiron said:

As to the issue of VAT inclusive exports, this of course is not legal as all exports should be zero rated if the goods are exported outside the UK.

There a number of schemes such as Taxamo that enable shipping DDP (Delivery and Duty Paid) where the VAT for the destination country is paid by the sender and charged to the buyer at checkout.

According to our local Evri agent, they have taken on a contract from RM to deliver parcels and he now gets 500/day when he can only cope with 250.

On 15/12/2022 at 19:59, SHMD said:

In 'our' case it's the German Paperwork requirements on top of the Eu's insistence of collecting 20% - of the original purchase price - each time the unit traverses the UK - EU border.

Someone is not using the correct procedure, or the EU are being arsey, and not following the rules, to cause problems for the UK post-Brexit.

There has always been a way for goods being repaired to be imported into the EU with no duty or VAT payable. I used it many times myself pre-Brexit to repair goods originally sold outside the EU. 

6 hours ago, Gridiron said:

However, if the goods are supplied by an independent seller on an Online Marketplace from outside the UK then the buyer is responsible for any UK duty/VAT and clearance costs. EU suppliers should normally zero rate their VAT (or equivalent) on their sale price. 

Or they join one of the schemes to collect the VAT so the goods can be delivered directly to the buyer. Just as UK sellers exporting to the EU can collect the appropriate VAT.

6 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

What is the legality, moral, commercial or otherwise, of a UK company which won't remove VAT before onward transmission the the EU?

See above, they may be part of a scheme that allows them to collect the VAT. The buyer then has no further liability. I have heard tales that it doesn't always work and items that have had the VAT and duty paid still get assessed for them on import.

Alternatively they can, perfectly legally, charge whatever they want, so long as they don't claim that it's VAT. Many exporters have, for years, charged a "VAT inclusive" price for exports and used the "VAT" to offset the extra shipping costs. E.g. Sold in the UK at £24 inc. VAT with free postage. Export price still £24 but the £4 is for the extra postage cost.

On 17/12/2022 at 14:56, micklner said:

Using Proof of Posting is useless , no tracking and Royal Mail have'nt a clue where the item will ever be at any time.

Small parcel has some limited tracking from the parcel reference number. It doesn't tell you where in the system it or when it will be delivered, but it does inform of successful or failed delivery.

I hade an export parcel with full tracking that showed only that my local PO had received it, for about three weeks. It was probably stuck in a pile at Langley waiting to be scanned. It is now, thankfully, on the move.

I would echo what smokebox says, and a warning...

The EZ Command, with the supplied power supply, uses a stupidly high track voltage (or at least mine did) so be careful running non chipped locos on address 10, especially if they are stationary for any length of time.

You can change the PSU, but it needs to be AC, not DC.

The ad-block detection is broken in Brave browser.

When the site is set to unprotected and shields down the pop still appears yet I can see ads being served on the site behind the popup.

On 21/11/2022 at 23:32, maq1988 said:

 

Then blame the algorithms used to generate the adverts, that's beyond Andy's control.

That's the big problem. What relevance do ads for Rubbermaid and Boohoo have on RMWeb? Even Farnell and Arrow must be marginal for most members. Then there are the ads that cover the whole screen on a small laptop.

I don't mind disabling my ad-blocker for a site I Really want to view but this latest change has ruined RMWeb for me.

58 minutes ago, jamesed said:

If you are using a dc voltage setting on your meter then that's why you are reading zero volts.  DCC is not dc. You need to set your multimeter to read AC voltage. 

It really depends on the meter. Some on DC will give an average. See https://www.digitrax.com/tsd/KB909/track-voltage-measurement-on-dcc-layouts-with-dire/ for a way to get a reasonable measurement using a DC meter.

58 minutes ago, jamesed said:

 

The reading you get won't be accurate because dcc isn't a true ac signal.  In one polarity you'll get a higher reading than the actual output and the other way around it will be lower.

There's no reason why that should be the case unless you have selected address 0 for an unchipped loco. Otherwise the DCC waveform is symmetrical and will measure the same either way round.

DCC is true AC, by the way, it's just not a 50Hz sine wave like the mains.

Lots of drawings in Midland Record and LMS Journal but it would mean trawling through multiple issues or finding an index.

19 hours ago, Jbees said:

Does this problem mean that the package data is sent at a voltage much lower than the 14.5V supplied?

No, it uses the full DCC track voltage (a little lower than whatever power supply you use with the SPROG).

As Nigel says, it's a safety feature that power is on only when actually reading or writing CVs.

You can manually turn the track on using the power control in JMRI. This is useful if you want to use a throttle to test the loco after programming, e.g., test sounds or function mapping. If you have a long enough programming track, or a rolling road, you can run the loco up and down.

Andrew 

sprog-dcc.co.uk

23 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

You have challenges when using reversing blocks with automation programs because most, but not all, auto-reversers draw sufficient current when in their idle state to show the block as occupied, therefore trains will never enter under automatic control because the program will consider the block occupied.

 

This is solvable by using the correct type of auto-reverse module. In your case, the logical place to make the reverse section is all the track between the orange slashes you have placed over the track. This would appear to break the iTrain rules, however I believe there is a way to achieve your aim, and retain this track layout.

It's solvable by not putting the reverse module downstream of the detection circuit. I.E. detect the section controlled by the reverser, not the input to the reverser.

2 hours ago, RHF9019 said:

Ace3 now being advertised for pre order. 

 

https://www.glrailways.co.uk/signatrak-44-c.asp

 

 There is some details what the upgrades are expected to include.

They are a bit vague, lots of "likely", making it sound like the design is not actually finished yet.

At an exhibition - don't. It just annoys other exhibitors😀

What's wrong with a simple an amplifier between the sound module and the speakers? Or get your friend to redesign the module with a higher output.

48 minutes ago, Mark Saunders said:

I believe that distance selling regulations applied to eBay no matter what sellers or eBay claimed!

They don't apply to second hand goods from private sellers, no matter what anyone says.

Convincing eBay of that, however, ...

If the DCC system is supplied with, and designed to use, a transformer based supply then it will be fine. That in itself will not cause voltage spikes, who told you that? Was it someone trying to sell you their expensive brand of power supply?

Such a system will contain all the smoothing and regulation it requires.

The cheap EZ-Command actually requires a transformer (AC) supply.

Transformers have an inherent advantage in that they don't shut down near-instantaneously (generally within 10 ms or so) like a switch mode PSU (SMPS). Using a SMPS requires a very fast overload cutout in the command station/booster (which has implications for downstream cutouts) or active current limiting (which requires very careful thermal design and management).

2 hours ago, Tallpaul69 said:

 

Not sure what relevance this discussion on isolating between two sets of tracks, fast and slow, has to the situation I outlined, two tracks in what were originally separate layouts, connected end to end? 

It's called thread drift, happens all the time on any on-line forum, unless moderated with a very heavy hand.

Another reason to isolate parts of a layout is to spread the load onto different power districts. Multiple smaller boosters, rather than one big booster.

2 hours ago, Tallpaul69 said:

I don't see the problem with having an electrical connection if one controller is a booster for the other?  

The two power districts must be isolated. You can't simply connect two boosters in parallel.

On 27/10/2022 at 13:43, BoD said:

As the name suggests it is enamelled so you have to scrape the ends before soldering

You can also get enamelled wire that you can solder without scraping. Use to be used in verowire and similar prototyping tools.

On 13/10/2022 at 19:56, highpeakman said:

One last thought: Theoretically speaking, is it a legal requirement? (Even if unlikely ever to be traced 🙂)

Second hand sales are a bit of a grey area.

It is a legal requirement that new equipment does not cause, nor is susceptible to, interference. It is not a legal requirement that you achieve this by using a capacitor. You will also see inductors (chokes) and multiple capacitors in locos.

54 minutes ago, jpendle said:

I would have thought that things like the Roco Z21 CAN implemetation uses of the shelf components and thus uses these standards, after all, why re-invent the wheel?\

The electrical interfaces are compatible. It's how the messages are sent that differs. There are many specs for small and large vehicles, boats, industrial networks, ...

Unfortunately, due to politics and history, non of the MR implementations are compatible.