| Archive for thecentralstation.myfreeforum.org Railway modelling for all Scales and Gauges |
| poliss |
Does anyone know of a passing contact switch with LEDsSo that when you turn the switch it would show what route was set.Something similar to this shape. http://www.epreston.co.uk/epblog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/Cam1.jpg |
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| Teleman |
I've been thinking *noise of rusty gears* did not some one do a switch just for railways on a track plan ? Iv'e seen it on eBay but can't remember the make !*grind grind* it was a EU county i think , I will have a look | ||
| poliss |
The Arnold switches look quite nice. Unfortunately they use a different electrical system. e.g. not passing contact but continuous current. | ||
| Teleman |
Thats the name i was thinking of , better stop looking then | ||
| poliss |
The Arnold rapido switch machines had an unusual feature, one not commonly found on model railroads. If electricity continued to flow in the activated switch machine coil, heat would build up and eventually the coil would burn out. The Arnold switch machine had a pair of electrical contacts which prevented this. Once the switch machine had done what it was directed to, the coil itself was disconnected electrically, but electrical current would continue to flow. In this way, Arnold rapido switches could send electrical current to other devices, effectively providing position indication to another location. | ||
| Teleman |
The Peco one is close but no led but the lever stays up or down
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PECO-PL26-P...PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem picture of one i found on ebay |
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| poliss |
I thought about using them, but I want a lit up track diagram with the switches on it. I have the old type Peco passing contact switches and was trying to work out how to adapt them. I'm always trying to think of new ideas to make things work better
*This is why my layout takes so long to build.* |
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| Teleman |
Sticky tape the led to the lever 
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| Teleman |
Just thought .. you might be able to fit in extra contacts on the Hornby switch as its bigger and the lever takes the common voltage .
If you can use the 12 volt dc output to drive the point motors then you will only have to add a resistor or if ac a diode first and a higher value resistor to feed the led |
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| Rog (RJ) |
The easiest way is probably separate LEDs on a mimic panel. You could mount the passing contact switches either on or off the mimic panel.
You don't have to use passing contact switches. Sprung centre off switches, (on)-off-(on), are perfectly ok and a lot cheaper than the extortionate Hornby switches or Peco switches. The LEDS can be powered from the track and switched by the moving point rails if the two frog rails have insulating fishplates fitted at the frog (marked X) 
The LED shown will light when the point is set for straight. A second LED/resistor can be connected to the rails marked 1 and 2 An alternative method is to wire LEDs through a Peco accesssory switch (PL13) attached to the point motor. It will fit Hornby point motors as well as Peco. If you use the PL13 switch you can use a separate power supply for the LEDs and both LEDs for each point are wired through the one switch. You can also wire a light signal (LED type) to the same track connection or switch. |
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| poliss |
I have loads of the old (flat) style peco point switches that I'd like to use somehow. My layout will be switched between DC and DCC for operating my older and newer loco's.
For my track plan I have to use three different kinds of points. Peco, Minitrix and Kato. The Peco ones I can fit the Pl-13 to. The Kato scissors crossover has it's own special type of lever switch. I'd like something that lights up like the Arnold 0722 switches seen here http://www.guidetozscale.com/gene...rack_Switches/track_switches.html but using a rotary switch as seen here http://www.faqs.org/docs/electric/DC/50036.jpg |
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| upnick |
This idea looks like something i want set up on the control panel to show when the point is set against a loco aproaching a point, the four ttracks coming out of the point have isolated fishplates and pick up after them again (running on DCC) would this work on DCC or cause problems and how much drain would there be on the bus wires if its suitable to do, as it looks like there are going to be up to 20 points on the boards. I have looked at IR sensors but they make it expensive to do so if soldering the two wires to an led from track and on the panel work ok then all well and good ...... but as soon as the control is plugged up some light are going to be on permanently surely. Bought some nice holders for the leds on the panel here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAP...%26_nkw%3D120315032342%26_fvi%3D1 |
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| Rog (RJ) |
The LEDs will take about 20mA each so if you have 20 points which all have LEDs fitted then 400ma will be used. You could fit larger resistors to reduce the current consumption, LEDs are often bright enough at lower currents. There are also low current LEDs available which only take about 2ma. There is also the option of using transistors with a very high Resistance feed from the track to reduce the current drawn to an absolute minimum.
An alternative method is to wire LEDs (on a mimic board) through a Peco accessory switch (PL13) attached to the point motor. It will fit Hornby point motors perfectly and you can then use a separate power supply for the LEDs so there is no load on the track supply.
Correct. You could chose to connect an LED only to the divergent track or have, say, a red LED for divergent and a green one for straight ahead |
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