Junctionmad

Could be a constant current circuit. This would give you a high voltage reading on a multi meter as the constant current circuit would raise the voltage attempting to get the design current flowing. constant current solutions are much better then a resistor As they don’t vary because of forward voltage

Lovely drawing. Given me thought about reworking my mimic diagram. A version 2 is needed anyway. If you don’t mind , What are the RGB values for the colours and the faint lines bordering the track colour , thanks Dave

Again bear in mind the channel overlap issue with 802.11 simply because it’s looks free doesn’t mean it’s not overlapped.

The reality is that the designs of 20Mhz spacing in the 802.11 spec, is that there are only 5 ( 3 in the US) channels that actually arnt overlapped out of the 13 ( 11 in teh US) that are available In many cases Wifi roams around looking for channels 802.11n 40Mhz makes it even worse as this leaves virtually no overlapping channels The result is in any sort of crowded space , there is no " free" un-contended channels in reality so a scanner is virtually useless , ie as shown below ( a cafe in an urban area ) Pick your channel etc !!! ( This is the Android app WiFi Analyzer)

I notice in signalling diagrams I have that track circuits were also applied to remove the need to apply Rule 55

nice piece on Signal diagram colours , I learn something new every day / Its awkward trying to balance the requirements of a Control panel and a signalling diagram

Personally , I use an electric staple gun and cable ties , works well , holds well and cheap , during the initial build and commissioning/ testing , I leave the cable tie loops oversize to facilitate change , then eventually tighten them up.

It’s a common problem for hobby industries , and we have lost many small concerns to old age or exhaustion over the years. There’s no easy answer. Open source the plans and cad etc and maybe hope for the best , this is what essentially Martin Wynne is doing with Templot , either that or try and “ give it away “ in the hope a new supplier will take up the challenge

And detaches nicely from wooden surfaces at the most inappropriate time

Such scanners are all but useless these days as there are so few clear non overlapping channels available because of 802.11n etc. Great when we all used “ b” etc. Largely a waste of time nowadays you can’t increase “ the power of your router “ certainly not legally , these levels are all set by international agreement note that conformance with the Wi-Fi standard means all devices can switch to any legal channel, including the multi mouse . As I said it does little these days. Note that where you can , set up your throttle network on 802.11b , the nature of speed versus propagation makes such a system a little bit better at resisting interference

I spent many years supplying industrial Wi-Fi solutions into warehouses factories etc. It doesn't matter if you are a router , access point or simply a Wi-Fi client. Once the device is switched on you have a transmitter on a Wi-Fi Channel or set of Channels. Hotspoting as nothing to do with it. Hotspoting is solely a software concept. Once you have significant numbers of transmitters problems arise , as devices cannot extract information about their Wi-Fi connection from the competing jumble of many transmitters occupying what is now a small spectrum. Increasing the number of access points can actually make things worse as phones can jump from point to point excessively . There is an advantage where one or two area sized Wi-Fi networks are active and all devices join them as the protocol manages collisions . The problem is infinitely worse where you have a plethora of disconnected Wi-Fi networks. In that respect hotspoting adds to the chaos , but in fact merely having yours phones Wi-Fi on , but not participating in an existing Wi-Fi is as bad. The use of more advanced channel aggregating protocols like “n” etc have reduced the availability of clear channels and virtually everything can conflict these days There is no easy solution , moving to 5 GHz is a temporary one. Note simply by changing the Z21 router to a 5ghz capable one allows you to move the Z21 to that spectrum , there is nothing unique in the supplied router. You can change the base ip and subsets in the Z21 also if desired there is even more issues in such a crowded space for non 802.11 protocols , like used in digitrak , etc. Ultimately again there’s no easy solution by the way , you can’t be “ advertised” to your phone without allowing it to connect to a Wi-Fi network , that’s purely your decision , so ensure you set your settings. nobody can connect to your Wi-Fi if it’s password protected ( well not without a big truck outside with a bank of NSA computers , and if that’s the case you have more to worry about then model railways ) . I have similar problems at home with interference from multiple broadband routers around me affecting performance , I’ve moved most of the high throughout traffic to 5ghz as a result and the 2.4 space is mainly used by IoT devices , home automation etc.

As I understand it , Digitrak is using a duplex radio on 2,4Ghz , but its not Wifi . The fact is today , designing in such a radio is a waste of time as the spectrum is so crowded , you get drowned out by Wifi . ( I see its actually 802.15.4 ) Good choice a few years ago , bad choice today If you are using a Wifi based system , you have a better fighting chance , but the issue is all these seperate islands of Wifi and the devices cant negotiate a clear channel , its made worse by modern 2,4Ghz protocols like "802.11n" which swamp the spectrum expecting to use Wifi ( or any 2.4Ghz protocol ) in a semi-realtime control requirement is unfortunately a fools errand ( and we have a Z21 ) especially in large public gatherings

Absolutely it should be checked, but Ive not seen a single case of where DC wiring wasn't sufficient to trip the booster. Its only in very unfortunate situations where bad connections are made that I've seen anything like the issue its not quite a big deal as you say , checked yes , but lets not loose our shirt over it.

Thanks Mike Thats a very good observation and I will change the diagram and it saves a lever too

Short circuit protection is being over emphasised. Even light wiring , ie 7/0.2 has low enough resistivity to allow booster trip currents to flow. If there is any issue it’s in the wire to track or track to track connections in my experience it’s hard to do it incorrectly in reality

SO , would you and others help me to identify what disks would be white lighted , in my derivation of Badminton, or should i just assume all tappet locking and all red lights You all seen this before ( and it is currently being slightly renumbered due to a new lever frame being built ) Obviously certain ones are clearly red-light . I should add , that in a model railway context, the drivers of this layout, would prefer to get positive confirmation from a ground disc , being pulled off , for either route , rather then assuming they could set back against a disc at danger. Verbal comms to drivers on this size of layout isn’t as easy as it seems , and with several drivers things can get confused hence I wonder how practical it is to have white light discs

Reading various books and more lately the “ GWR signalling practice “ brings me to ask some questions. I think we had a tangential discussion that mentioned this there is a paragraph of discussion , in the above book, concerning the decision / provision of red or white lights in discs and some signals. My understanding was that the use of the non tappet locking , prevent certain conditional locking arrangements , meaning that such installations could not pull off a disc , in both normal and reverse , once it’s associated point was locked. This meant , as I understand it that the light in the disc was white , if the movement was allowed through this disc , whereas if no backing movement was antipicated , the light was red ( ie in the direction where the disc had to passed at when “on” ) however , am I correct that this situation changed as the gwr adopted tappet locking. My layout is derived from badminton , and looking at the locking table , it does seem , as I understand it , that the discs could be released for either route would that mean therefore that later GWR constructed lines , would largely have red lights in the discs GWR signalling practice , doesn’t seem to draw attention to this, so am I wrong here, the book does mention BR (W) changed the policy so do I need to determine what my discs should display , ie red or white or can I assume conditional locking and have all red lights or am I missing something thanks Dave

There’s no particular complication with dcc sound as all the complexity is in the decoder , the only real user issue is fitting the speaker Particularly if the loco doesn’t have predetermined location , but it’s largely a mechanical issue not a technology one. you generally need a wired decoder if your loco isn’t” dcc ready “ If it is there will be a connector in the loco with a blanking plate on it. The decoder plugs in there. PIN numbers will be determined by the socket size. nothing particularly difficult or strange

The other issue that you can encounter, particularly on dcc, where the short circuit protection can be very aggressive , is that Wheels running through the toe , short the open switch blade to the adjacent stock rail , which in an unmodified point is of opposite polarity to the open switch rail

Yes indeed I’m aware of that. WhAt I referred to is that the gwr decided that no distant would be pulled off for low speed diverts even if all the stop signals were clear on the diverted route. Ie they treated the running distant as applying to the main line and for all other purposes it was treated as a “ distant fixed at caution “ as I understand it.

I ask because GWR signalling practice details a meeting of gwr superintendents in 1907 which determined on the back of BOt advice to do away with many of the distants protecting low speed diverging routes and replacing them with fixed distants. The import being that any operating distant now only referred to the main route and hence I would presume as you indicate the distant was not ( never) pulled off when the diverging route was set.

I am building a whole series of 7mm gwr signals , including working ground discs. To date they are all tubular versions but I’m now doing a wooden splitting signal with CO arm I use 3D printing for the lamp , lamp bracket , arm spindle bracket , balance arms and balance arm brackets and I also 3D the bracket iron work , though I use a hidden brass support to strengthen the structure . The base plate and servo mount are all 3D printed. This is all much faster then bashing brass ONCE the cad and initial prototypes are done. pla is quite strong. Though even with a 0.2 mm nozzle o couldn’t see it being feasible for 4mm ( but a resin printer would kill it ) I use combinations of wizard etches and Scale Signal. I do find that SS frets contain serious errors. The biggest one being the doll pole holes on the modern tubular brackets are positioned on the centre line , which means the arm is too far inside the railing and either ends up inside the railing or hits it. I agree it’s very very hard to buy anything from Scale signal. , even at exhibitions he forget to bring stock and its hit and miss , of course he cant take credit cards either. It’s rather unfortunate ( this being a family friendly posting ) on the other hand wizard do most of the stuff you need and have good online presence. Lots of research needed for signals but almost every combination you think off had been created by the prototype so it’s hard to go too far wrong

I did quite a bit of design work with battery chargers for Nicd , Nimh and Li if you want a sustained terminal voltage until discharge Li is the best and is available in 9V pp9 format , but quite expensive memory effect is very minimal in nimh and virtually unobservable in li where it’s swamped by degradation due to parasitic action but obviously you need to be able to recharge li of course never in the course of normal operation should you deeply discharge Li of course. ( many have protection ) but on a cost performance basis surely retain your existing rechargeables with a few Alkaline's for backup

If you intend to ballast , cork is a complete waste of time my advice is two layers of 3mm closed cell foam, such that the ballast which flows around the top foam which is shaped to provide a ballast shoulder then only comes in contact with the lower layer of foam and not the underlying baseboard. we tried this recently and it’s very effective as in effect a sound insulating layer remains on place under the track /ballast

Ive begun reading my new book, GWR Signalling Practice , its a big read But I was reading about the change in practice begun around 1907 , whereby distants were removed from facing junctions , such that distants only applied to the main line and not the low speed diverging route Hence the GWR presumably removed many splitting distants from that time onwards Does this man the correct operating practice is the the remaining distant , ie a distant on a single post , was never pulled off for the diverging route , the signal then acting as a fixed distant , irrespective of whether the subsequent splitting stop signals ( for the diverging route were pulled off. I had always assumed the the distant signal was pulled off if the diverging route stop signals were also off in the normal manner as pertained to the main line , but this would seem contrary to the GWR arrangements from approx 1907 onwards Would it have always been the case the the train was checked at the splitting junction signal , for a slow speed diverging line , ie the driver would never be given a through signal for the diverging line in advance of arriving at the signal ? Does that mean for higher speed diverging situations , splitting distants would have been provided , where there any such high speed diverging situations ?, before modern times ( ie post 1960-70) An example of Model railway practice , would be a train signalled clear through a platform loop , presumably the distant ( back on the main line ) in this case would remain On, even though the section ahead is clear and all stop signals inc home and starter are clear , as the route is clearly low speed ??? thanks again Dave