Search found 142 matches
- Thu Feb 04, 2021 3:32 pm
- Forum: Electrical & Electronics
- Topic: Improving conductivity and reliability with... a pencil
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3264
Re: Improving conductivity and reliability with... a pencil
Yes, adding a little graphite to the wheel backs supposedly aids conductivity from the wheel to the pickup. I run little tank engines, so I need all the electrical assistance I can!
- Thu Feb 04, 2021 12:24 pm
- Forum: Electrical & Electronics
- Topic: Improving conductivity and reliability with... a pencil
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3264
Re: Improving conductivity and reliability with... a pencil
Interesting idea. You'd still need to power your frog (and connected track) to ensure the polarity is always right, and that might require a bit of work as insulfrog points are connected up assuming the frog will be dead. It's probably possible, but you'd need to get the wiring right otherwise you'd...
- Mon Feb 01, 2021 8:32 am
- Forum: Electrical & Electronics
- Topic: Arduino Bluetooth DC controller
- Replies: 11
- Views: 3373
Re: Arduino Bluetooth DC controller
Hi Gigidu94, glad to hear you liked the solution. I'm afraid there isn't really any "code" to speak of, because I use a visual editor with drag and drop blocks to make it. I used the MIT App Inventor (http://appinventor.mit.edu). It was a lot of trial and error, to be honest, and if I did ...
- Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:16 am
- Forum: Personal Layouts - Planning
- Topic: Modular DCC Inglenook
- Replies: 16
- Views: 4457
Re: Modular DCC Inglenook
(Continued...) Once the ground surface was dry I printed out some suitable brick texture onto card, and fashioned a tunnel mouth by hand, to no particular design. I've even put interior walls in, as they'd be visible too. I was pleasantly surprised that the PVA didn't make the printer ink bleed on t...
- Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:10 am
- Forum: Personal Layouts - Planning
- Topic: Modular DCC Inglenook
- Replies: 16
- Views: 4457
Re: Modular DCC Inglenook
Some progress has been made on this little project recently. Thanks to a gift of a rotary cutting tool, I've managed to finish installing my point motors. They're all wired up, and the polarity switch for the frogs works like a charm. Well, sort of. The fly in the ointment is that the point motors s...
- Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:52 am
- Forum: Personal Layouts - Under Construction
- Topic: Frontington & Backwoods Railway
- Replies: 104
- Views: 18847
Re: Frontington & Backwoods Railway
If anyone's interested, here's a video of my October 2020 layout update.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtx5NONjXHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtx5NONjXHY
- Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:14 am
- Forum: Scenery
- Topic: How to disguise reed switches?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 683
Re: How to disguise reed switches?
Hmm, interesting idea. The hall effect sensor, I mean, not the mustache. Although that would be pretty cool too. Those little hall effect sensors are certainly more discrete. In fact they look the perfect size to squeeze between the sleepers on OO scale track. Wish I'd known about this before I boug...
- Mon Oct 12, 2020 8:35 am
- Forum: Scenery
- Topic: How to disguise reed switches?
- Replies: 3
- Views: 683
How to disguise reed switches?
I have an idea to install some little reed switches around my layout, to act as sensors to activate a level crossing or two. I'll mount some magnets on the bottom of my locos, and use an Arduino to handle the logic. But I wondered if anyone had any goods ideas for how to hide or disguise the reed sw...
- Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:26 pm
- Forum: Electrical & Electronics
- Topic: Improving conductivity and reliability with... a pencil
- Replies: 18
- Views: 3264
Re: Improving conductivity and reliability with... a pencil
Sounds like an ideal sort of layout for this technique. Yes, any art supply shop should sell something appropriate. Failing that, online. And if you do find that you're getting too much slippage, just clean your tracks and the graphite will come straight back off again.
- Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:55 am
- Forum: The Workbench
- Topic: Taming Smokey Joe
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2968
Re: Taming Smokey Joe
Next, I had to make it all look pretty. I had started with an old Hornby 5 plank wagon, on the basis that it was a fairly short wheelbase, and I didn't really like the look of it anyway - it was in a bright blue livery with "Crook and Greenway" written on it. So I had not qualms about hack...
- Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:57 am
- Forum: The Workbench
- Topic: Taming Smokey Joe
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2968
Re: Taming Smokey Joe
They say if you have a problem, sleep on it. I'm glad I did. I made some excellent progress as a result. The first idea was to use a strip of metal to pick up electricity from the tops of both wheels on both sides. I pulled apart an old Hornby power clip that was surplus to requirements, so that I c...
- Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:11 am
- Forum: The Workbench
- Topic: Taming Smokey Joe
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2968
Re: Taming Smokey Joe
End2End, those are exactly the sort of axles I'm interested in! My challenge at the moment is finding them within budget. DCC Concepts sells them in packs of 48, which seems a little excessive given that I only want 2! Metal axles are probably easier to come by in smaller quantities, and I can proba...
- Sun Sep 06, 2020 6:43 pm
- Forum: The Workbench
- Topic: Taming Smokey Joe
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2968
Re: Taming Smokey Joe
This afternoon I took Smokey Joe apart (again) and soldered wires to the pickups, as suggested. In case anyone's interested, the motor has to be turned over, and you have to remember to cross over the wires otherwise the polarity will be wrong and it'll run the wrong way. I did think of this beforeh...
- Sun Sep 06, 2020 9:21 am
- Forum: The Workbench
- Topic: Taming Smokey Joe
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2968
Re: Taming Smokey Joe
Thanks for your comments, everyone. Great to see some more photos of the real thing. I ordered a new motor for Smokey Joe, which arrived yesterday. Installing it was a breeze. It certainly sounds much quieter than the old motor, and I'm pretty sure it's a little slower too. Unfortunately the perform...
- Sun Sep 06, 2020 9:08 am
- Forum: Personal Layouts - Under Construction
- Topic: Frontington & Backwoods Railway
- Replies: 104
- Views: 18847
Re: Frontington & Backwoods Railway
Oh, and some other small scenery items I did recently included some low garden walls around the patio, some hedging (visible in the background by the fence) and a scratch-built archway. I made it using a couple of bits of wire, bent into shape using a handle of a tool in the garage, and a piece of t...