Search results

Brain fart 2: Both the relays and the track coils should have snubber diodes. Yes I would always use diodes. For the cost of 20 diodes (less than a buck) you will stop any arcing, switches will last longer, relay contacts will last longer and you won't induce radio frequency harmonics into...

Typo - brain fart. The coil current is more like 30>100 ma but when you put "open-circuit" into the Volts = current x resistance equation it still arcs somewhere.

Gary, I would look at using less than 24 volts for the control side. Lots of great circuits using LM555 timers to drive relays. The coil voltage could be 12 volts with the switched voltage at 24. I have done some experimenting with 4000 series CMOS devices. A moist finger on two screw...

Not sure from your drawing where you can even put two 22" radius loops for continious running. If you, like me, want continious running I would look at having a swing up section. There have been some good discussions on making these. The local club in my area has a modular show track that...

Gary, Is there a chance you could unwind one of the Kaydee coils and count the turns and measure the length? Knowing the resistance the length will give us the AWG. Knowing the turns will help design custom units that work. ...Jim

P.S. If you add another pair of quad NAND gates to "Fan-out" the inputs you will need to invert the outputs before you feed it into the flip-flop NAND gate.

I did find one page. No recommendation but it shows how many different types of magnet wire are available. http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire%2C+Magnet For 26 AWG it seems to be about $20 > $23 per pound = about 1200 feet. At about 40 ohms per 1,000 feet = 48 ohms = 3 x 16 ohm...

Yes I am "Big" Jim but I thinkI would find 18" width just a little narrow. If you have room for 6 more inches on one side a 24" access area would be nice. If not, maybe the track could be 9" back from the edge toget the 24". I like the look of a double crossover. They actually cost about...

Quick notes: Since you only need to provide a path to ground for a very small amount of current (micro-amps) the set/reset/ground connections can be daisy-chained to multiple screw headl ocations or "touch points" around the layout with very small wire using the simple two input NAND gate...

I hate mechanical switches. I hate spending money. I wanted an low cost method to control tortoise switch machines and to do "route control" to set multiple switches to predetermined routes while still being able to do individual switching. The solution for me is CMOS NAND gates and LM556...

Sounds like a good idea. Some thoughts & changes: Use a 1/2" bolt and a piece of 1/2" copper pipe for a spacer. Make sure you use magnet wire. The insulation on plastic covered wire is to thick to allow the number of turns you need. To space the plates 1/2" apart and have about 1" of...

YmeBP, Feel free to use any or all of it. I did the layout in XTrkCAD. If you want a copy of the data file Imade a download like on http://dixiemtn.com . I wanted the ability to have multiple continuous running tracks and hidden reversing loops so trains would leave and return. A few places...

I plan a parking lot with an auto tunnel to the side of the platform. Platform about 4' wide so I can get at least 1/2 the 8 cars at the station platform.

David, More or less the 1950's >60's. The low platform might work OK but I do like to look of the gantlet track. Yes I have also read about the "extended turnout" with the frog & points separated by a considerable distance of gantlet track. As I remember it was mostly used to keep points...

I will be having a center passenger terminal with track on both sides. I understand that to look besty the platform should be very close to the side of the passenger car and this can cause problems with running freight cars on the same line. Should I? 1) Don't worry about getting the...

Try connecting two turnouts at the diverging leg then extending the passing legs to get the parallel separation distance for your main lines.

Glad to see I eas on the right track (pun intended). Now back to the single/double coil experiment. Did you try turning up the power until the coupler pops open?

re: Yes you were able to buy it. But are you willing to sell them? ...Jim

A Watt-second is a joule. I think we are talking micro-joules to move a small piece of metal. Also the motion is only the conversion of the potential enengy caused by the magnetic field being converted to kenetic energy as the metal "falls" toward the magnet and converted back to heat when it...

OK into theory now. Inductor does store energy. (I guess it is a flux capacitor). Energy needs a time factor. Watt-seconds? The amount of energy stored in the inductor is based on the inductance and the voltage. I would have to look it up but I know 1 Henery is a very large inductor and you...