Anthony566

14 hours ago, paul 27 said:

Looking for some of these boxed bogie tanks.

I may have a few of these I don't need, Grey, Black and green ones.  I am away until the weekend so if no one comes along with any I will have a look when I get home on Friday.

Checked all my Freightliner packs today and happy to report they are all fine...  I've had them a while just not sure how long.

Have you contacted ESU or tried the ESU forum ??

ECoS for me also ...  agree with the cost comments but just love it having had many systems. Very cheap to turn on wifi control also so full mobile loco and track control.

I see DCC Concepts have mounted one in a small project box and posted a how to .....

https://www.dccconceptsforum.com/post/alpha-meter-in-a-box-a-quickie-project-10423826

2 hours ago, Grovenor said:

Yep, just a vanity item, hence the price.

Hmm not sure about that one...

V1 is £3 less and the V2 is £28 more ....

39 minutes ago, WIMorrison said:

But not useful for using to fault find a layout as it is designed to be a panel mount across the terminals of you command station to give you the command station output voltage and current draw.

 

Could have been an excellent and useful additional to a modellers bag of tricks, however the current design is limited in usability.

Hmm I was planning on buying the triple pack and mounting one in a box as that would make it extremely portable.....

I can box mount it for less than the RRamp V2 cost plus i think it looks better coz lets face it ....it's all about the looks really.

I see DCC Concepts have received the first batch of the ADS stock .....  about time

I see Dcc Concepts have now got the new meter in stock ....

I know this is an old thread but has anyone tried one of these yet ??

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/alpha-meter-for-dc-or-dcc/

9 hours ago, DBC90024 said:

 

 

 

As for the Hattons Originals 66, for which I know virtually nothing about, I've had a quick look at their running numbers and as far as I can see, if you look at the core liveries and running numbers, YES, they are all different SO i would say well done Hattons ... BUT ... (in support of my take on a possible Bachmann Malcolm Rail 90) they have done both the large logo British Railway livery and the Biffa Flying Dustman livery, BOTH of which I'm sure Bachmann have done those liveries too (running numbers the same too)

 

 

I think Bachmann doing large logo and Biffa 66 was more of a go at Hattons than for any other reason.

Hattons announced them first.

I have been reliably informed that the ADS stock is on its way and they have a new 4SX channel version  to go with the 2SX and 8SX.....

What dcc address does this loco have ?? 

I think I have one of these that I will never run ....  I will check and confirm back to you if you still require a second one.

5 hours ago, blueeighties said:

Of course. Any DCC compatible point motor can be operated via a seperate accessory bus. But the major DCC Concepts selling point, is the fact that Alpha control systems use just the one bus for track and accessory control. That's a major selling point for customers in terms of saving time and money during installation. Less wiring, switching etc. Unfortunatley, this has not proved to be the case by a long stretch.

Hi Lee,

From my understanding of Alpha systems, they can plug directly into NCE systems and then the output from the NCE can be split into track and accessories. i.e. It does not have to be a combined bus as you seem to think it must be ?

It is the Digital IP that has the capability of being connected directly to the DCC bus and only one other wire powering the frog, negating the need for auxiliary switching of the track power to the frog.

Yet - it can also be wired from an accessory bus and track power switched through the auxiliary switch - as is the normal case for Tortoises and solenoids and servos with external micro switches 

I always find pictures speak a thousand words when problem solving ... do you have any photos of the layout wiring and maybe the power of the forum can help with this ?? 

34 minutes ago, blueeighties said:

Yes agreed. Which is why this morning, the customer has given me the go ahead to bin the DCC Concepts control system and replace with something that actually works. We are going traditional, tried and tested, 100% reliable, seperate track and accessory bus, and traditional switching.

Hi Lee,

You do know that Digital iP Points can be operated via a separate accessory bus ??  you just need to wire the track bus through the second switch on the Digital iP.

On 01/07/2019 at 00:33, scumcat said:

I have 24 brand new cobalt ip digital point motors on my layout. I use the Hornby elite. Not all of them worked out of the box. Some where DOA and went back to dcc concepts who admitted a problem when running their product with Hornby hardware. They exchanged the motors for ones they had “checked” all was ok till I had a short on the layout. All of the point motors that had not been issued by dcc concepts forgot their addresses and continued to do so after every short. So I fitted dcc concepts terminators on my bus with no effect. I emailed dcc concepts on Friday to ask what my next steps should be and am awaiting a reply. It’s not fair mocking someone who is having problems Just because you have no issues, it doesn’t mean everyone has no issues. At the moment I consider cobalt ip digital point motors a waste of my valuable money and will do so until I sort this mess out.

I'm sure DCC Concepts will come back to you soon as they normally do ...  but there is a very simple and inexpensive way to prevent your layout short from resetting your point motors with a small light bulb.

Sounds like you have the process of programming the Cobalts via the Dynamis sorted .. 

You might find it easier to program them off the layout then install them.

Just remember with the Dynamis you just go to accessories and then scroll to the number you want to program switch the cobalt into set mode then operate the accessorie number you want it to have via the Dynamis  a few times then switch it back to run and it will be addressed.

If these are the latest versions then they are centred out of the packet however once you power them up they are no longer centred ....

Easy fix for this is just apply power via a 9v battery to the point motor then remove power from it once it is in the center this way you dont need to mess around with the 198/197 commands.

I have been using Cobalts for a long time without any issues.

Also make sure when you strip the wire to go into the cobalt you have stripped 10mm to push into the conector otherwise you may not have a good conection if they are to short.

Ran my freightliner class 90 today .. it is a very smooth running loco.

On 08/06/2019 at 20:18, 9C85 said:

I am so glad that kendo has shared his experience on this thread. I too am new to dcc and have purchased a dynamis as it was actually recommended to me by a well known, reputable model railway shop. I also want to use cobalt point motors, controlled by the dynamis.  When I read the start of the thread i was already looking for a plan B, but it looks like I may be able to use them after all, provided I get the latest models. As for RTFM, I am a stickler for reading them (I actually write them for a living), but most people either don't read them at all or only reach for them when they hit a problem.  TBH I am still trying to work whether I need  a decoder between the dynamis and the cobalt or is it simply a case of connection to the bus and the frog? I have contacted dcc concepts on several occasions and I have had a good response, but I am still waiting for info regarding controlling the cobalt from dynamis. 

Hi are you up and running ok with your Digital iP point motors now ?

Setting these up with the Dynamis is very very easy,  let me know if you need any help.

Excellent conversion of the space Jim. ..

As for the slope buildings section does it really need to be sloped ??

Hi Frank.

DCC Concepts has an Australian support base aswell as the UK just go back to them and ask for the Australian address to send them to. John probably didn't realise you were in Australia 

My layout was in a double garage, I sealed and insulated the garage door and put 600mm of loft insulation in the roof space in the summer it stayed cool and in the winter I only needed a small heater and it was nice and warm....

However I am moving and I'm going to have to build a man shed for my layout as I just don't think I can ever go back to a loft layout.

DT, A disclaimer. those are not my initials, I use dt,

Lol

I bought a box of six Cobalts in 2014. One was faulty and was replaced. Since then another has stated the clicking as demonstrated by the OP. I haven't done anything about it as the motor concerned is in an awkward place. It only clicks when switched over one way, and so when it switches over that way I turn off the power to it as soon as the switch is completed. That stops the clicking. The problems did effectively put me off Cobalt motors, however - my Tortoises, though bulkier, have all worked flawlessly.

 

DT