feedback controller and DCC

Lots of people do, and justifiably, though I'm not one of them. Still, that's of absolutely no relevance to your argument or my point so you'll probably be wanting a sturdier straw man.

Crispin was the name of the chap's son. The operation of his layout progressed from biological Crispin, then following Crispin's adolescence to mechanical Crispin, and finally to digital Crispin. Lots of fun.

Sure, if you had the knowledge and money in 1982. Much the same as DCC saves me from the Heath Robinson aspects of convoluted wiring and thousands of tiny brass levers. How do you troubleshoot all those bits of wet string without the firm and guiding hand of a Lenz manual, anyway?

"Gregory Procter" replied to

Oh, absolutely, but even I comprehend the Digital Crispin concept. Bit like graduating from an abacus to a pocket calculator - or otherwise known as progress! ;-)

John.

I'm not sure as to what you are refering. While my rail blocks are shorter than the prototype, they serve the same sort of function as on the prototype. My trains don't take a scale distance to brake and I don't have the room to model the prototype station at it's scale length so I use "a suspension of disbelief" and aim at making a recognisable representation of the prototype, but it is considerably foreshortened. It's a fairly common technique with model railways. None of this seems to me to be relevant to a DC vs DCC discussion.

Regards, Greg.P.

Was that last stage written up anywhere? I guess it was if you played with it.

Errr, I didn't really have the money at that stage - two children, big mortgage and almost adequate income.

Well, most of the bits on my layout would have to be there whether the control is by DC + computer or DCC. Replace the multitudes of expensive decoders with a home made interface and a bank of relays and you have the picture. The Lenz/Viessmann plastic boxes just sit there and work or not, but the relays leap about and spark so to me they are easier to troubleshoot.

Either way, I find it best to keep a logical log of where everything electrical goes, and why. It's only taken me forty years and about a dozen layouts to get that one in my head!

Regards, Greg.P.

I had a mis-spent youth playing with point gaps and timing on motorcycles like single cylinder BSAs and AJSs so I can relate to the mechanical Crispin best! :-)

My simple "under a pound" relays operated from the computer interface make the provision of DCC loco decoders unnecessary :-) My hundred year cavalcade is still 20 years away in 1945 and might never happen, but I'm prepared to forego that for the simplicity of section control! ;-)

This is still not going to get us past the problem of two identical (other than running number) locos, of which I have several pairs. While I do have a habit of altering models, the differences are not always obvious to the uninitiated.

I guess you have ZTC equipment?

The capabilities have also greatly improved, with more speed steps, speed mapping and feedback incorporated.

Regards, Greg.P.

Gregory,

As I don't know could you give a brief summary of your layout

e.g. time period / country / region / type of signalling

Cheers,

"Gregory Procter" wrote

LOL - been there done that with British bikes, ranging from a 1920s Triumph SD to a 1990s Trophy 900 triple.

I then matured and bought a BMW - no points, carburettor or anything to mess with, just drag out of the garage and ride. :-)

John.

Phil: Yes, but the 2 busses are separate, (as they were in my 100% Z1 days) - and the points temprarilly remain on the Zero-1 system, off a Zero-1 master with 2metre long Micromimic display (which is what I'm reluctant to lose use of - until a rebuild expected soon makes it out of date)

Phil: I agree, which is why I abandoned using the Zero-1 mode of the ZTC within days, after working out how much cheaper, and more choice I had buying dcc ONLY decoders.

(Trackplan linked from

He sold the program on a cassette tape from a classified ad in the Toddler. There was also a corresponding article, somewhere, sometime.

"Bank of relays" just brings me out in a cold sweat.

"Gregory Procter"

uninitiated.

I run a fleet of locos. Other than yard engines, I always have a minimum or two of anything. For example, I have four, soon to be five, Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0s. Yes, I've kitbashed them to some extent. I've shortened tenders and swapping tenders with other locos so that there's some variety, as there would be in what is supposed to be a large class of locos. However, they all have individual numbers, and that's how they've identified. BY the last two digits of the loco number.

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

In message , Chris Fieldhouse writes

Where can I get a 4-pole double throw LATCHING relay.

I can get 4PDT relays from Maplins, but not LATCHING ones.

For quite some time after the war, railway modellers apparently could do 1 of 3 things. Either hand over large sums of money to the (few) model shops and buy DC controllers. Do without, or build their own. These days, no-one builds their own DC controllers - because the price has come down, as it will with DCC.

Last time I checked - that was exactly how the real things were driven too.

The whole hobby puts limits on my bank balance - do I buy that new loco which has come out - do I build that loft extension to house the new layout - do I buy that book I need to research my prototype? These things might all cost different amounts, but they could be limits on anyones pockets.

You know what? I bet the clockwork guys said exactly the same thing when electric control was new.

In message , John Sullivan writes

You make it latch yourself by wiring in one of the contacts to keep the coil energised.

I agree with Ian, there is not really any application on a model railway that actually needs latching relays, they are used on the prototype to ensure you can get through a power failure safely, not an issue for a model so you can use stick circuits instead.

Such latching relays as can be found will cost much more than the simple relays. However if you really must have some and 2 pole DT will do contact me off list, (address on website). Keith

Make friends in the hobby. Visit Garratt photos for the big steam lovers.

I got flattened by an incompetent woman 'driver' in 1976, otherwise I might now be the owner of a BMW :-(