You can't beat the realism of a 'control panel' when it comes to operating switches, especially if you have a mimic diagram, and enhanced with indicator lights. I use Tortoise motors, with LED's wired into the control panel to indicate the switch direction.Cheap, simple, and authentic. I'm with you Jim.
--- In [email protected], Jim and Cheryl Martin <farnhamhouse@...> wrote: > > Hi Guys: > Just to feed the debate, I'm going to play the iconoclast here.  > My limited exposure to switch machine decoders left me unimpressed.  In fact > the member of our group who installed them on his module later opted to > return to simple toggle switches. The toggle switches are only about 40 > percent of the cost of a 4-address stationary decoder.  What's more, they > require only a flip of the finger to operate.  My recollection of the switch > machine decoder is that you had to push 4 or 5 buttons for each turnout > activation.  I for one don't want to have to "text" my switch machines.  I > hide my toggles switches just under the layout fascia directly opposite the > turnout points.  To operate I simply run my finger along the bottom of the > fascia until I feel the toggle, and then throw the switch.  It's that simple > and I have a clean, uncluttered fascia. > As for powering turnout motors from the DCC track buss, I think that could > become problematic.  The machines are low draw, but get enough of them (19) > making demands on track power and you might have throttle control problems. >  It's really not that complicated to run a second buss setup and power it > from a simple 3 - 12 volt wall transformer...that kind we all seem to have > lying around from our surplus electronic devices. > Jim > > --- On Tue, 5/3/11, Peter Vanvliet <pavanvliet@...> wrote: > > From: Peter Vanvliet <pavanvliet@...> > Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Look Don - No Control Panel > To: [email protected] > Received: Tuesday, May 3, 2011, 1:53 PM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >  > > > > > > > > > > Bill, > > > > I'm not sure you can use normal motor decoders to control switch > > machines. I don't know the exact difference as to the electronics. > > Generally, stationary decoders are pretty cheap, in the sense that you > > can control a number of switch machines using one decoder. I use the > > Digitrax DS44, for example, to control four Tortoises (Tony's sells it > > for $32, and so that comes out to $8 per turnout; much cheaper than a > > motor-control decoder). I suspect the stationary decoders are more of a > > "switch type" of control rather than a "continuous feed" type of control > > needed by a motor. You might even damage the switch machine (not > > speaking from experience here). > > > > http://pmrr.org/Articles/DCC/DS44.htm > > > > I use stationary decoders on my layout. I have been doing that for about > > 7 years now. I don't use a control panel at all. The only downside I see > > is that you have to have a DCC system throttle that lets you control the > > stationary decoders. Digitrax' "simple" throttles don't support > > controlling switch machines, so they are useless on my layouts. I don't > > know about other systems' ability to control stationary decoders. > > > > I would recommend that you seriously look into stationary decoders as > > the solution to your problem. You connect one side to your track feeder > > bus, and connect the other wires to individual switch machines. Very > > simple installation. My decoders are hidden under scenery. Once > > installed and programmed (i.e. assigning unique IDs to the switch > > machines), they can be completely ignored. I used velcro to attach them > > to the layout. Note that if you have a double-track crossover, you can > > wire the two switch machines to one stationary decoder output, so that > > they are both flipped at the same time. Thereby saving one decoder's output. > > > > Another note: consider using a separate DCC power district to control > > your stationary decoders (yes... that does mean an extra DCC feeder > > bus). This is helpful when your engine runs a switch and the power > > district that controls the engine's decoder is shut down due to the > > short. If the stationary decoders are on a separate power district, you > > can flip the turnout's position using your throttle. I forgot to do that > > on my current layout, so whenever I have an engine run a switch, I have > > to physically push the engine back off of the switch, then using my > > other hand try to flip the turnout while preventing the engine from > > running forward again. It's not the end-of-the-world, but it is still a > > pain. > > > > The other thing to keep in mind, Bill, is that there may be things you > > can do now that make construction simple, but future operations hard. > > Or, things that require a bit more energy/time/money now that may make > > future operations easier. For me the concept of using stationary > > decoders is the latter. It takes some effort to get the stationary > > decoders installed, but now I don't have some complicated control panel > > to deal with. I just punch in the turnout's ID, and flip the switch on > > my throttle. I have operated and/or visited a good number of layouts > > that use control panels, and the truth of the matter is that, unless you > > are intimately familiar with the layout and its control panel, or the > > layout is small/simple, a control panel is hard to use. It is hard to > > design an intuitive control panel; I have yet to see one. > > > > - Peter. > > > > On 05/03/2011 7:26 am, Bill Lane wrote: > > > In my vein of "Keep It Simple" on my new layout I was **very against** > > > performing turnout control functions from the DCC handle. But for a module > > > that is now going to be DCC only forever, I thought about using regular > > > motor decoders to run the switch machines. They are cheap enough and easy to > > > get. > > > > > > Thank You, > > > Bill Lane > > > > -- > > Peter Vanvliet (pavanvliet@..., or peter@...) > > Houston, Texas > > > > "It is easy to give up; anyone can do that..." > > > > http://pmrr.org/ (my model railroad - RSS feed <http://pmrr.org/rss.xml>) > > http://fourthray.com/ (my company) > > http://houstonsgaugers.org/ (model railroad club) > > -- > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! 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