MartynJPearson

News article from the local rag about a crossing in Nottingham showing a picture of kids sat on a crossing. Clearly not the brightest end of the gene pool. Apologies if you don't have an ad blocker, from what I remember if they had as many adverts in the print copy as they do on their website, the paperboys would only be able to carry half a dozen papers. https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/shocking-picture-shows-group-sat-5356375#source=breaking-news

A sunny afternoon at Loxley depot, the more I look at the picture the more I see details that I need to address. One that stands out is avoiding making the plonked on building look plonked on, but of course it needs to be easily removed as sods law says something will break down / derail in there if it's hard to get at!

In all fairness, it probably looks good from a distance. About a mile or so.

Absolutely you can. I've two different Arduino systems running on my layouts. One uses track detection and turnout position detection to set signals appropriately, the other drives servos to change turnouts. I guess the first question to ask is where are you starting at? Have you any electronic / computing knowledge? If not, I would recommend an Arduino kit like the Elegoo ones which contain an Arduino and a number of components to attach to it, along with wires, breadboard etc. They will get you up and running with the Arduino and will help show off its capabilities. While not all of the projects will be relevant, it will also act as inspiration for what you can actually do with the Arduino.

If the wheels are only "good" it makes you wonder what state they're in. Probably square.

Thanks for all the advice. I've now got a separate MERG 12v supply made into a 5v supply with a 7805 providing power for the servos and it is working perfectly. I did hit a small hitch when I added more servos despite having logic to only make one servo move at a time. The issue was a servo that I was hinging a magnet with to uncouple Kadees; it looks like the servo lacks the oomph to move the magnet so was constantly seeking to the right position but not being able to make it. Disconnected that and everything works fine, so will have to go back to the drawing board on activating the Kadee magnet. Maybe poking it into position with a stick.... Thanks again for the help!

Adding a 5v voltage regulator to my rectifier output, using that as the source for the servos (ensuring the 0v lines are tied) and that seems to have helped. I'm powering both the 12v VR which powers the Arduino and the 5v VR powering the servo, display and IR receiver from the same rectifier which I think might also be overloading it as the IR receiver seems to keep resetting. So might have a slight rethink and separate the power completely. But, looks like I'm making steps in the right direction and certainly learning! Thanks for your help!

My Arduino has me baffled and I wonder if anyone might be able to shed any light on it please...! I have an Arduino Nano (clone) with a sketch that controls a servo; on startup it sets the servo to a known position before waiting for further commands sent via an IR receiver. It also has a 16x2 LCD display connected via the I2C connections. Powering it through the USB port, connected to the laptop it behaves perfectly. On startup it shows the display correctly, moves the servo and waits. However, when I power it via the VIN pin it starts to move the servo, cuts out, restarts (evidenced by the display "rebooting") and repeats. If I disconnect the servo, I get no issues whatsoever which lead me to think it was a power issue. The power supply was a 12v DC output from a MERG PMP 12v power supply (itself taking 16vac); in order to isolate that I tried a different MERG supply and saw the same issues. I also tried a commercial 12V 1A power adapter and again saw the same issue. Given that the MERG supply should comfortably supply 1A (and there was no overheating that might suggest the VR was overloaded) and USB would only be about half that, I was surprised that there would be an issue with the power. I've tried with an alternate (identical) Nano with the same results. Any hints at what to try to resolve this would be most appreciated!

And just think how much they would charge if the track wasn't wonky!

You can change the direction by changing CV29. CV29 is quite a complex CV if you're not comfortable with DCC, see https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/rightlines-article/Unravelling-CV29.html. However, the direction is the easiest bit to change. I'm not familiar with Dynamis or Digitrax controllers, but what you need to do : Read the value of CV29 If it is an odd number, subtract one else (if it is an even number), add one Write the result of the above maths back to CV29. That will invert the direction of travel. The bigger challenge may be getting the two to speed match so that they are not fighting each other.

As soon as I saw your post I guessed who it was Strange item for them to be selling though as it isn't kit built!

But remember, they're the ones choosing your care home

Another recommendation for MERG; they have several "pocket money projects" kits that will do detection through a variety of means including DCC current detection.

Quite a few guitarists on here. I started playing in November and since then I have learned so much. I've learned that my fingers are too short, too fat, not stretchy enough and not coordinated enough. Oh, and I have no sense of timing. But hey, I'm having fun and the family haven't referred to it as "a racket". Yet.

I wonder if this loco comes with directional lighting... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-Class-47-DCC-Fitted/303901378986?hash=item46c1ef09aa:g:6e0AAOSwpKJgOiR3

I have a little more sympathy for the consumer as I strongly suspect they saw no decrease in price when production moved over to China to decrease costs. Maybe it staved off price rises, maybe it just lined pockets - but I guess like you say, that's capitalism! Either way, if more people are coming into the hobby that has to be a good thing - if demand rises then production runs are larger and hence unit prices are cheaper. Although I guess I am being too simplistic there, as a run of 5000 vs a run of 5500 probably makes little difference.

Kathy Millatt's video here might give some inspiration... https://www.kathymillatt.co.uk/2016/09/01/how-to-model-newspapers-for-your-diorama-or-layout/

That sounds drastic, besides you haven't even really started making mistakes yet. On my layout I've managed to create shorts thanks to forgetting the one bit of colour coding I have for my wiring position points so that the tie bar is right over the baseboard frame make arrangements for points assuming the point motor will sit on the surface without making sure there is space (cutting a hole in the plasterboard did not get wife approval for some reason) laid points with the intention of operating them with a surface point motor, neglecting to spot that I had trimmed the end of the tie bars and hence there was nothing to connect to create baseboard joints that my Bachmann 47s refuse to negotiate (which in turn comes from my woodworking shortcomings, where right angles are usually wrong and level relies on a different sort of spirit level - you need to drink a few spirits before it looks level) knock off my (thankfully cold) soldering iron while I was under the baseboard, the plug landing on me (sharp side down) and the bit bending at an angle that was terminal So don't give up! I've been thinking about creating a layout thread but it would be less modelling prowess, more for the amusement of others at my misfortune / ineptitude. When you say "create a short with superglue" have you resolved that? Superglue isn't conductive so either what you superglued has caused the short or it is coincidental. Finding a short can be time consuming but is not hard. Divide and conquer if you can - i.e. if you can completely isolate sections of track then do so you can narrow down where the problem is. It's also helpful if you can remember what you did since you didn't have a short, so you have a shortlist (!) of things that might cause it. If you put up some photos we may be able to spot the issue. Things to consider in order of simplicity are: Did you use insulated rail joiners on the points? On standard electrofrog points, you need them on each side of the V, so it's a fair bet that would apply for the 3 way point too (never used one so not certain) Does the short happen all the time or just when points are in a certain position? That may help narrow down the issue Are you wiring each piece of track to a power feed (e.g. a DCC bus); if so, have any of those wires become transposed? Have you bonded any tracks in the points (again, something you can do with 2 way electrofrogs). If so, that might be worth checking After that, it's a case of tracing each wire to see what it touches until you find something that's not right

And just after pressing Submit another thought came to mind if you aren't averse to a bit of electronics and some coding - an Arduino based decoder. Here's one example : https://rudysarduinoprojects.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/fun-with-arduino-29-dcc-accessory-decoder/

MERG do a fixed output accessory decoder which can control up to 8 outputs - you have to be a member of course to purchase.

First off, take a step back and a deep breath. Not following this simple piece of advice has meant I've got into a bigger mess than I was to start with! If a 16v supply didn't work and adding a CDU didn't help, that might suggest that the fault is elsewhere. I would remove the point motor from the board and make sure that it works alone. Your 16v AC supply should be fine, it's not necessary to use the CDU at this stage. Connect the common to on side of the 16v supply and then with a wire connected to the other side of the supply, briefly touch the appropriate contacts to throw the motor back and forth. Each time you should have a positive movement straight away. Don't hold the wire on there for too long as that will burn out the coil. If you don't get a positive movement (the sort that makes the point motor jump if you aren't holding it) then the point motor itself may well be suspect. If all good at this stage, the next thing I would check is that the points (without the motor fitted) move freely. Particularly if the track has been ballasted it is easy to get the points gummed up. I've also had the spring dislodge and get wedged which has caused issues. If we're all good at this stage, then the next thing to do is to make sure the alignment is right. I've no experience of the alignment mounts but my approach is to hold the seep in place and then operate the point by sliding the protruding end of the pin backwards and forwards to make sure that the points do work correctly. As well as doing this, you need to make sure that the centre of the throw of the points corresponds to the centre of travel of the point motor - this is even more important when you are using them for switching. This is where you might consider genetic modification and somehow incorporating octopus genes as several pairs of hands would really help! If you're happy with the position, stick it in place - I've tended to use a glue gun as it sticks pretty instantly and there is enough bulk to hold the motor secure, before following up with screws. I found that it is too easy to dislodge the motor if you try to screw in without the glue, although it is possible if you have more than rudimentary woodworking skills and the aforementioned octopus abilities. If you're still stuck some pictures might help shed some light on it. Good luck!

ebay has clearly been around longer than we thought. "You'll never believe what I did when I was drunk last night. I've just bought a stone circle. And it was local collection only"

One of these maybe? https://railwaymodels.uk/product-Hornby-r6913a-sr-24t-diag-1543-goods-brake-van-55009-era-3#.YCPQrej7RhE

Did she get her own back by asking for a return ticket to.... "back here"?

The Vicar of Dibley parish council meetings aren't a patch on this. No no no no no no no no no... yes