Please help me with my crossing signals........

Crossing signals operate on direct current supplied by batteries. The batteries are in turn kept constantly charged by a battery charger inside the bungalow. The GPS3000 module that operates the gates and lights costs about US$5000 per bungalow.

Your lights will operate on 10 volts AC or DC. Incandescent light bulbs do not care which they get. The prototype usually runs at a slightly lower voltage than ten volts, usually around 8.5. You can build a cheap flasher from an automotive turn signal flasher and an inexpensive relay that has both NC and NO outputs. Connect one set of bulbs to the NO (normally open) pole of the relay. Connect the other set to the NC (normally closed) pole. Connect the hot wire to the relay input of the heel, or moveable part, of the relay Connect a ground wire to the ground side of the bulbs Connect the relay coil to the power source via the turn signal flasher. Connect the other side of the coil to a ground

When you turn the main power on the relay will energize and the A bulbs will light. When the turn signal flasher opens, the relay will de-energize. The B bulbs will then light and the A bulbs will go out.

This will repeat as long as you have the main power energized.

You cannot do this using two turn signal flashers because they will cycle at different rates and there will be merely random flashing of the lights. You may have to experiment with flashers to find one that cycles at the rate you want. Such is the nature of "cheapo" projects

You will need a transformer to convert the house current into a suitable output voltage. You may need to get a 12 volt output and build a voltage regulator or a voltage divider to reduce to 8.5 - 10 volts. You will need a relay with a 12 volt coil and contactors rated for 100 watts or more. Figure 8 amperes@12 Volts and add a "fudge factor" Better safe than incinerated.

If you need any more on this, post back here.

.............F>

You might try using some of the many modules available for model flashers and then buffer them. The buffer being some kind of module than can handle the high current requirements of the lamps. Might be as simple as a darlington pair (transistor pair) on a large heatsink

May I suggest

You can get these from the school bus dealers around the country. There is one not too far from here.

But with those you have a lot of extra STUFF involved inside the box and most of those use relays to run the lights on the bus. Relays will fail eventually and then you have to replace the relays or get a new module.

Find an electronics friend and ask them to make a circuit for you that will run the lights the way you want them to. It could be as simple as a 555 timer driving some buffer circuitry to run the lights.

What voltage did you hook the lights to in order to test the unit?

If it is 120 volts then someone has changed the bulbs. This will have to be taken into consideration to make the buffer circuit. If they are still 10 volt bulbs, then a DC power supply capable of the current output would be required to power the lamps and it could also be used to power the flasher circuit. If it uses 120 volt bulbs then either TRIACS or SCRs could be used to turn AC power on and off to the lamps. But you would still need a relatively small power supply to run the circuitry.

There are a good number of circuits published for turning on and off lamps and then the data sheet for the 555 timer will show how to hook that up, The hardest part will be setting up between the 555 timer and the power switches. But not impossible.

Al Butler

Perhaps a circuit like this might work.