hobbyhorse

I've recently acquired one of the LNWI from the states and I'm very pleased with it. I must admit that I prefer the LNWI over the JMRI version on the layout as it quickly up and running once the base station is switched on. Simon

This is a standard message embedded within the WEB site, it's the easiest way of effectively switching off the site to stop any access. Simon

For a starting point this is a good one, but you'll find lots on youtube and the ones from the USA are good also. My advice is to keep it simple at first and built each element one at a time which is what I have done. This link is to part 2 of 8. Don't give up as once you understand it its straight forward. Simon https://youtu.be/ZCvJV4tnEig

Thanks Andy

After resolving the pulley problem next was the wheels, as it was made to be pushed along these needed replacement as gauging them was a problem with all the wheels rotating on the axles. After a bit of thought it was decided to fit double flanged wheels, which removes a lot of the side play and helps the way the units tracks. As all eight wheels are the same size it was an easy job machining the replacements, four being screwed on with the other four push fits into some insulating material. On the Gantry section of the crane it also became apparent that the frame work was twisted so one of the axles has been modified to give a bit of compensation.

Chris the Sentinel is from the Imputus kit, now long defunct. The drive is RG4 via Delrin chain as the photo shows. I've used a soundtrax USA chip for the sounds and have reworked it to remove the unwanted sounds, its good because of the coasting clanks are better than most of the UK sounds. Also redone the chuff rate to speed it upto 10 per rotation. The sound was a quick install before the show, just got to tidy up the speaker wiring and other than that it sounds good.

One of one of the first jobs on the layout build was to motorise the gantry crane. It had been well built but was hand operated so we looked at various options and settled with small geared motors with plastic final drive gears. Operationally we need all the control gear located in the cabin and on the gantry and as it’s going to be RC operated the battery would also be located in the cabin. For the RC we used the Deltang system as it's small with good functionality. Fitting the motors and gears for the three functions didn't cause any headaches. The gears are designed as press fits onto the motors but we felt that as the crane will be the heart of the layout some additional fixtures would be worth while, so some brass bushes that are screw fixed to the gear and the motor shaft should remove the risk of them slipping. It worked well for the two days of the show, but it did have issues which needed looking into, and as it it centre of operations on the layout we need reliability. Next is the wheels which need replacing, time to fire up the lathe.

https://flic.kr/p/23QnugF

Always have had excellent service from the shop, Andy the owner is very welcoming and I find it difficult to come away from the shop without buying something. We are very lucky to have a shop like this locally and I agree that negative comments can do untold damage. I'm going to visit next week, must leave the wallet at home!! Simon

After operating the Crane for two days several issues came to light, one of which was how the pulley and hook behaved when attaching to a load. Because the original one had no weight to it and the pulley did rotate easily it was very entertaining finding the chains on the loads. Hopefully this new one which has a lot more weight will solve the problem, on the bench it does work much better. The other jobs to do are, provide the chain with easily removable fixings in case of breakages, new axles and wheels on both moving sections. Simon

I tried to sell my collection last year, over 300 books. Contacted 6 dealers around the country with photos and lists of the collection, none of them interested. Ended up giving them to a friend that runs a show, who will sell them with all the money going to charity. The magazine collection went to the dump. Simon

Hopefully the DCC problems have been resolved. The replacement DCS240 arrived and instead of just plugging it into the layout and seeing what happened, I used 3 new point decoders and programmed them with the same id's and switch numbers like those on the layout to test them on the work bench. Instead of wiring on the motors I used some LED's following some advice from Neale Brodie, and with the DCS240 connected all worked well. Next I connected the unit to the layout and the problem returned, so replaced the point decoders with the news ones and no problems with the points. Next I connected up system to JMRI to see if anything else was happening and found that the power management boards, detection and signalling boards weren't communicating with the base station, so after reprogramming those the layout is at long last electrically stable. And having reprogrammed the old point decoders and tested them those work ok also. So the conclusion is that the old DCS100 is sending out slightly different DCC packets that the newer unit doesn't agree with. Now back to point building.

Have a look on Train Master TV, Matt from ESU gave two good updates about the system. I'm a Digitrax user and happy with it, but with ESU doing something like this it might influence other manufacturer. Simon

I've used 32/0.2 for the bus and 22/0.2 for the droppers, also using the Digitrax system. Had no problems with it.

Here's one for the DCC experts, I've just upgraded to the new DCS240 base station and it's got a habit of throwing points randomly, it's got the latest firmware. If I swap it over to the old DCS100 no problems at all. All the points are controlled via the DS64's which have been setup for cascade power up and no point throwing until told to. On the DCS240 any options for points have been checked and reset to don't do anything. Any ideas. Simon

If you want something free you won't go far wrong with YouTube for all the information you need. Or get JMRI and have a go yourself. Simon

These are two different locos and chips, the first is a Locsound L fitted into the Bachmann 2-8-0 and the second a soundtrax Tsunami 2 fitted to a Bachmann 2-4-4-2. Both of these are still being worked on and run well, and the 2-8-0 will have the motor overload protection on when complete. I've only ever programmed with the JMRI setup so not taken much notice of the cv numbers. One thing worth pointing out is you can't always use the same settings in the same types of locos, I've found that some variations exist on the same locos, some motors run differently, might be a bit of stiffness in the drive etc. I've done a lot of programming for customers in the past and JMRI makes it straightforward once you understand the program. It does take a bit of time to get them running well and would point out always save the settings and keep a backup copy on a USB. Simon

I'll fire up the laptop tomorrow and have a look at the settings I've used. Simon

I've never had any problem fitting the soundtrax chips to the Bachmann locos, mostly leave the pcd board in as it's useful with the resistors for the lights. I've used JMRL for tuning the locos after fitting the chips and motor control is very straightforward with excellent results. Simon

You could always leave it in the loco, as it runs on DC. It doesn't cost much so you might get between £5/£10. Simon

I've used the BDL168's for some time and can't understand what's going wrong with you set up. I've got a separate power supply and other than the different connector which make the wiring easier it works without problems.

Either 1 or 8, depends on how it's been configured. Simon

I'd do a reset and start again, not knowing what cv,s have been fiddled with. Simon

Although I don't use that system I find any programming easier using JMRI, as it's all visible on screen and the most important thing is you can save the files to reload if you have problems. Simon

This was the first testing of the board. Simon