Brian

While this topic seems to have drifted well away from the title, I thought I would bring it back! Faversham MRC has announced it has reluctantly had to cancel its 2020 exhibition due to have been held on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September 2020. We cannot under current government guidance/regulations host a show that allows for social distancing, food and drink to be consumed in a seated area by our visitors, arrange one way system or keep toilets etc free of possible virus infection. We hope to see all our visitors, exhibitors and traders in September 2021.

That may be the cause? You say it tests fine on a multimeter, but have you checked just how much AC its pushing out on the DC Track terminals? Set meter to read AC volts >20 and connect to track terminals. Turn up controllers speed knob and read any AC volts at full speed setting.

Gaugemaster WM1 will do the job as a stand alone unit. Or an old train controllers 16volt AC output. As too will a spare or new 18 to 20 volt DC ex laptop power supply, are all able to be feed into the CDU input.

What are you using as the DC power source for testing?

Look for Warm White LEDs that replicate filament lamps better. To reduce the brightness increase the series resistance value in Ohms. Either replace the existing resistor with a higher value one or add a second resistor in series to the first one. These have quite a good selection of Yard lamps This link is to their OO selection Link to Yard lights Don't forget that filament lit lights will get hot - very hot. LEDs run virtually cold. Also filament lamps will draw far more power per lit lamp, Typically between 4 and 7 times as much LED=10 to 20 milliamp and filament lamps = 40 to 70 milliamp each!) The Eckon EL-1 yard lamps are no longer manufactured and are very hard to find today. The Eckon yard lamps currently manufactured at this time is.... Link to On Line Models who make Eckon

Hi Just realised you're a DCC user! As the question is in the non DCC area, I thought you were a DC (Analogue) user! You can use your two wire Bi LEDs using the DCC and point frog polarity. Have a look here Link to item Scroll down a little.

Nigel is correct. They require reversing of polarity to change between red and green This could be done but generally it needs double pole double throw (DPDT) switching arrangement. I personally dislike having red and green point position indications on a panel. There are far too many LEDs lit and it becomes somewhat blinding and possibly confusing too? IMO all that is needed is one LED per direction (route) lit to show which way the point is set towards and not a second one showing its not set that way! Then its much simpler to wire and is like the real UK railway which never shows an unset light, only lit or unlit per route direction To note; real UK railways do not use green or red indications for point position either, they use white or a yellow indication! Red and green are reserved for signal aspect indications.

Hi If you dont fancy soldering wires onto switches then these are a good option!,,, Pre wire solenoid point switch or perhaps... Switch with PCB and terminals I would always recommend obtaining a CDU from then onset, Cost isn't that much at around £7 GBP Example.. CDU example link I have no connection with the company linked at all, and of course there are other suppliers too. Wire all solenoid points in 16/0.2mm minimum or if you already have rolls of 7/0.2 double up each wire

Whenever possible try not to solder droppers (regardless of their wire size) to the rails outer web area. They look unsightly! Instead and for an almost invisible look, solder them whenever possible to the rails undersides before laying the track. Passing them down to below baseboard via a centrally drilled hole between rails and a sleeper pair or if preferred by two small holes in line with the outer edge of the rails. I recommend at least a 25 watt iron and if possible a larger wattage, but fitted with a suitable sized bit.

Possibly?.... Link to RS Components Note the DC plug does not fit directly into the PCP socket . It needs a converter. The PCP DC input socket is 2.5 x 5.5 positive to centre. The plug on this RS power supply is 2.1 x 5.5. Coastal DCC have one 15 volt 1.6Amp plug-in power supply suitable for the PowerCab Coastal DCC

Never seen one in a commercial Toggle switch. Levers are of course different. But there is an option where a locking toggle switch can be used with solenoids. An example would be that each point has a On/On toggle switch plus its own dedicated non locking press to make push button. So the toggle switch provides the direction required and the PB provides the momentary pulse to the solenoid coil via the toggle switches contacts.

Hi Can I confirm some basic things with you. 1) The green plug on the rear of the PA is in fully inserted and the four wires in it are correctly stripped and secured by the green blocks screws. Remember the green plug pulls out to aid wiring and helps prevent damage to the main PCB when attaching/removing wires. 2) Your totally separate Programming track rails are actually separated from the main lines and the Programming tracks rails are feed from the 'Programming' output of the green plug. Obviously the Track pair of terminals go to the main layouts rails. The programming tracks rail tops are spotlessly clean - Ideally clean them before programming begins. 3) As you don't have a multimeter yet, with everything powered up and no locos on the rails, I assume the PA display works? If so, momentarily apply a short circuit across any two main line rails (Coin dabbed on and off across the rails will do) Does the PA go into immediate short circuit protection mode and the display change to SVdA. Dont forget if you do obtain a mutimeter the voltage on the rails is measured with the meter set to AC volts. This video may help with initial programming if all the above are correct..... Video re Programming

If you read my original post you would see that issue was covered with a comment to say several points can be moved at once. However, I doubt (not tried) that the latest Peco PL35 would do such? Certainly the original version (I had one to test) struggled to move two PL10 at once. No further comments from me as obviously all these replies are not helpful to the OP at all.

Yes of course I know that. I was trying to answer the OP question simply! But the number of points operated from any one panel or position and its CDU is not limited, as only usually one or two point motors only move together! Doesn't matter if you have 1 or 100 panels that was not what I was referencing.

Hi 1 or 40 points still only one CDU is needed. You only operate one or two points simultaneously usually . Some users may move more at one time via a diode matrix, but conventionally 1 or 2 at a time is the norm. The original Peco PL35 wouldn't blow the proverbial skin of a rice pudding but I understand it has been upgraded now. However there are far better CDUs available and often cheaper too. Look at the excellent BlockSignalling range Link to BlockSignalling or even the Gaugemaster CDU Gaugemaster link

No one able to help Jack? Bumped to push the post back up in case it can be answered.

Hornby use a 3.1mm x 6.3mm DC plug on both the Select, Elite and eLink. They are not overly easy to obtain, but this seller on eBay has/had them...Packs of 5 £3.29 post free...eBay seller link

21MTC pin out is .... Pin 22 Track Red. Pin 21 Track Black. Pin 19 Motor Orange and Pin 18 Motor Grey. Therefore I think you will find that by testing from Pin 22 it should connect to the wire on R+. Pin 21 should test to L-. Pin 19 should test to L1 and Pin 18 should test to L2. If that doesn't test correctly, then simply connect the meter or testing device to one wire and see if you can pick up the connection on a specific pin! Do the same for the other three wires.

That's what I said a Regulated power source

Have a look at this video Youtube link around 2.20 for the larger string running from a 12v regulated power source.

You need to use the Gaugemaster GM500D in conjunction with a DCC accessory decoder. Do not use the GM500 with a DCC decoder.

Does the switch allow reversing of the TT motor? Doubt it. How are you going to set the output volts? You will need a meter across the output to be able to set the volts correctly. Hence my suggestion of a built in volt meter. But if you have purchased that one already then that's fine,

I agree using a Buck converter is IMO the best way, especially one with an on board voltage display, so you can set the output exactly to what is needed. Example link In addition you will need a switch after the converters output both to start and stop the TT motor and even to reverse its direction of travel. I would use a DPDT Centre Off switch wired on the output side of the Buck converter. Like this example... SW312 Link to example switch

Gaugemaster DC controllers are excellent and all carry their lifetime warranty regardless of where purchased. In fact purchasing from other suppliers is frequently cheaper then direct from Gaugemaster! The other excellent DC controller manufacturer is Morley and many come with additional hand held controllers too.... Morley link

You haven't mentioned the scale you're building in... But for OO then... Southern Region then these were used a lot in the 1950's/1960's Link to example The type shown above contain fluorescent tubes and were very common in the 1970's onwards where platforms where lighting was upgraded.