Jeepy

But, most of the time, the closed (non-moving) contacts of the switch are only carrying (at most) the max current of the locomotive getting its power via the frog. That is usually a small fraction of what the DCC system can deliver. Thank you, this sort of makes sense to my fuddled brain and inexperience in these things! Best wishes, Jim. (Why do i have to keep manually deleting everything before i can type what i need to?!?!?)

Another afterthought!..... How do those people get on who have 5 Amp or even 10 Amp control systems? Doesn't putting the track supply through the tortoise internal auxilary switch burn them out? Just asking! Lol! All the best, Jim.

I'm certainly no expert believe me!! As has just been proved lol!

Waheey! That sort of makes sense now, you need something for the switch to switch if you get my meaning! LOL! It's obvious now I suppose but I was a bit dubious about putting track power to the tortoise for fear of blowing it! Live and learn! I have metal rail joiners all round as I was led to believe insulating ones weren't really necessary with unifrog on DCC, (The design of the unifrog is such that it's only the very tip and not the whole frog) unlike the usual electrofrog on which there is the possibility of a short occurring.....problem is I've glued the turnouts down now and it would cause a real headache to replace with insulating joiners but I guess I could always use a slitting disc to create a gap on the frog rails if I get any problems? Every section of track has droppers soldered to it including every turnout so it wouldn't have any adverse effect if I cut them in situ I suppose...…..This is a kind of eureka moment for me! Thanks ever so much! Also thank you for posting the picture, Best wishes, Jim.

Ah! Yes, perhaps that's what is missing!?!? That was my afterthought! Should the track power be attached to terminals 2 & 3 then? Terminal 4 being the common for these and terminal 5 being the common for 6 & 7? Thanks ever so much, it doesn't actually mention this in the intstruction leaflet but i guess the diagram is self explanatory, this is my first experience of tortoise machines, it mentions the internal switches only being capable of switching 1 Amp maximum although the terminals can carry 4 Amps so i presume that would be ok? I am using an NCE Powercab for the track supply/DCC control, sorry if i seem a bit clueless! Thank you! Best wishes, Jim.

Hello, I've tried doing a search on the forum but didn't find anything mentioning my particular puzzle so please accept my apologies if this has been presented before! Even a pointer or link to a particular thread may help a great deal. Anyway, I am in the process of doing test runs with a Hornby peckett 0-4-0 to make sure my unifrogs are working ok because that's the loco that would be the most likely to show if the frogs are dead or alive I should think! My set up is OO gauge Peco code 75 bullhead unifrog turnouts utilising tortoise machines wired through a home made control panel with a conventional DC power supply with DPDT ON-ON switches but the track power is DCC, in my estimation this shouldn't be having any effect on this particular problem I wouldn't have thought but I am a bit of a newbie so you never know! The Peckett is finding all the frogs dead and stalling but the frogs should be alive as far as I am concerned, i could be missing something here which i'm hoping someone might be able to shed a bit of light on please? The turnout motors are working fine and I have run a wire from the frog to terminal 4 on the tortoise which I think should be the common terminal for one of the two internal auxiliary switches on the tortoise according to the diagram on the instruction sheet but as I said the frog still seems to be dead! So what i'm asking is have I done the right thing or am I missing something out here please? Thanks ever so much! Best wishes, Jim. P.S. I've just thought of something, should there be a track power supply to the tortoise to enable the internal auxiliary switch to operate?

That's a shame, I went through my pile of old mags thinking I've got a pannier papers mag, I found it but it's no4! The 57xx engines: 87xx, 96xx, 97xx.......any good? Cheers, Jim.

Ah! Definitely something to look into, thanks, Best wishes, Jim.

Hi folks, Just to cap this off, I have been having lengthy discussions with a friend who's much more familiar with DCC than I and I seem to have been 'persuaded' to go down the DCC control route of turnouts and signals via a NCE mini panel and switch 8 board! Apparently it won't take much 'juice' from the bus and I can build my own switch panel to incorporate into it, I have purchased the mini panel and switch 8 board but have yet to purchase the Tortoise motors, I didn't realise they can be adapted to control semaphore signals too! Just spreading the cost but once I have all the gear I'll still have no idea so I'll probably be on everyone's earhole once I get around to installing it all! Lol! That's about the conclusion of it really for now, thanks to all who contributed to this very informative thread! Best wishes, Jim.

Ooh, that's interesting, ta! I happen to have a biscuit tin full of old Meccano bits and I have the worm drive, shafts and cogs in there too, that's what i'm planning on using to make a crank handle for it......the shafts I have are a tiny bit oversize for the hole in the block under the deck so i'm going to have to bore it out a little, all good fun! Best wishes, Jim.

Thank you, that makes sense..... I'm not planning on sound at the moment but you never know! Basically it'll be one entrance road, 180 degree turn of the loco and then leaving the turntable on the same road, I'm going to try and be faithful to the actual location as it was. I've just finished putting the well together and weathering it, also the bridge/deck, I've got some old Meccano bits and pieces and the turntable will be situated fairly near the baseboard edge so I'm going to try and 'knock up' some sort of manual mechanism to turn it.....I'm mixing old school with modern tech! Good fun! Best wishes, Jim.

That's great thank you, I was mainly concerned with the effects of a 180 degree turn of the deck as the place this layout is based on the turntable didn't have any exit roads, it was purely for turning locomotives and didn't have a stabling area or shed but I must admit I keep getting tempted to put a couple of roads in!..... I'm resisting so far! Lol! I shall bear in mind what you've said for future reference Best wishes Jim

Thanks ever so much guys! As far as the dead sections are concerned I'll just make sure there's no rails where those positions are, I had a suspicion it would be OK but I'm reassured now, thank you! Best wishes, Jim.

Hello! Only me! I'm currently in the process of building the Peco OO well type turntable kit which will be mechanically operated as far as turning it is concerned but the layout is, or will be, DCC controlled...…….Before I finalise putting it together and installing it does anyone know if I need to wire it in any particular way for DCC track feed apart from the normal way (Feed and return to the tags underneath) to avoid any adverse effects like possible shorts when the deck is turned through 180 degrees or will it not matter please? I guess if it's not a problem I can just wire the tags underneath the deck to the bus lines as if they were normal dropper wires and also the roads leading to it and from it? Thanks for any wisdom you can impart to this DCC newbie! Best wishes, Jim.

Thanks for the tip about MERG Dave...…..I've just noticed one of my posts has appeared twice!?!? The last one on page one and the first one on page 2 lol!...….unless the last post on one page automatically gets brought forward to the next? I don't think so though, very strange! I do have trouble with my fingers being too big sometimes when I'm using my phone for texts, perhaps I inadvertently whacked a button I shouldn't have done with a stray digit! Best wishes, Jim.

I've just been perusing through the Megapoints website that Dave mentioned earlier (Twice actually! Lol!) and there's some fascinating equipment there which I think will suit my needs no end! They even sell the power supply for the Servo control board...... I'm seriously considering going down that route at the moment, I've seen and heard Megapoints mentioned but never really took much notice of what they were all about until now, I just assumed oh it's technical DCC electrickery and my senses just glazed over then lol!...... Looks very interesting, I'm thinking the amount of money I would spend on motors for half a dozen turnouts then servos and control system for signalling would be the same if not more than a Megapoints system to do both tasks in one go praps! I've got some reading to do! Thanks for all your contributions to the thread so far, Best wishes, Jim.

Wow! That's all good to know.... A whole new world is opening up to me! , thanks Tom. Best wishes Jim.

Wow! That's all good to know.... A whole new world is opening up to me! , thanks Tom. Best wishes Jim.

Thanks Dave, Best wishes Jim. Thanks again Dave! Lol!

Interesting! Yes I like the idea of operating turnouts and signals from a track diagram panel similar to what you would see in a power signal box, either that or operating miniature levers appeals to me, i don't really fancy having to keep punching codes into the DCC unit personally although this suits some people, all down to personal preference of course, I have even considered wire in tube with some sort of add on method of changing frog polarity but the jury is still out while I gather and digest all the great information you're all putting forward, thank you! Best wishes, Jim.

Ahh! That explains that then, smashing! Thank you!

That's interesting, thanks for your input Phil, (Excuse the pun!) Just a quick question to you, when you say an 'SMPS' power supply for DC what is that? Thanks, Best wishes, Jim.

Very useful info, thank you! There will only be about half a dozen turnouts, also a turntable and a small scattering of signals but I would like to keep the available track power purely for train control, no sound though but maybe some coach interior lights, my question has been answered quite thoroughly thank you all........ Although I've got a few more things to consider now! Cost is not a major issue as it's a smallish layout or will be, (traverser and baseboards all built and set up and I have a track plan scribbled out) but I just need to come to a decision about turnout control etc before actually laying track, I've just purchased a NCE Powercab so interesting times ahead for me! Best wishes, Jim.

Excellent! Thank you Best wishes Jim.

Ahh! Thank you! That sounds like another option to consider...... Especially as I would like to control signals via servos, perhaps even from the same 'interface' which would simplify things somewhat as well as being less costly, hmmmm! That's given me something to think about, Best wishes, Jim