[ebaykal]

I can't find words of how to thank Richard for his MASTERswitch V2.

They arrived a long time ago but it was until today that I truely found time to test them.

I really do not care if it sounds advertisement or whatever you call it, let it be.

A truely magnificent gadget, idiot proof for the likes of me who has nil knowledge of electricity and it simply works wonders.

No hassel of soldering, no resistors, no diodes, no CDU units, just a simple switch and you control your solenoid motors easily. AC,DC or DCC whatever the source, it works.

I tried it with a 13V DC supply, used an old Hornby Point motor, along with the LED supplied for the control panel. Here are the results:

Once you get the grip of it seems like endless possibilities are in front of you , shall try to accuplate my Viessmann No: 4500 semaphore signals to it.

Once again thanks Richard for an outstanding product.

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

QUOTE (Expat @ 27 Aug 2008, 20:19) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>You seem to suggest that there is no soldering to do but the tags for attaching the feeds to the LEDs are on the bottom of the V2 and do have to be soldered.

One question though. Have you managed to fathom out how to identify which way round to wire the LED for either red or green ?? I am going to have 2 bicolour LEDs for each point (Red for Route Closed and Green for Route Open) but can't see any identification marks on the LED so guess it's a case of trial and error.

Well done.

Expat.

Hi Expat,

..yes there is a itchy bitchy soldering

, even I could manage it.

Haven't checked that part out but seems trial and error.

By the way, your control panel, what is the material that you used to make it ? Plexiglass ? or for that matter, what is usually used ? Aluminium plates? Am about to dwell in that area now.

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

Ok , now that we all got our masterswitch's working, time to search other possibilities that we can do with it.
One that comes to my mind are my Viessmann semaphores.

Need your help on this one Richard. Basically its as below:

Now;

The 2 Blues; one is "proceed" the other is "stop"
The 2 Yellows;one is Common pole for the drive coils and the other which has a resistor is the light.
The 1 Brown is light (+diode for LED lighting) (ground )
The 2 Reds are contacts for train control.

Question is how can I operate the semaphore with the masterswitch+Points ?

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 31 Aug 2008, 04:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I don't really know the impedance of their mech, but you could measure the impedance of one coil and calculate with ohms law.

Peco is a very inneficient low impedance/very high current coil so a couple at best unless the power supply is exceptional, however with a good power supply MS can deliver better than 6 amps in a pulse, so if they are say 50 ohm coils and you have 15 volts, thats 300mA so it will do more many comfortably - again, its a wee bit dependent on your power supply more than the MS.

The proviso is that they are all the same - as I mentioned previously, if the coils are significantly different the less efficient ones will not get a fair share of power.

Richard

Richard,

Fiddled with the masterswitch+point motor+control panel LED's and Viessmann Semaphore this evening with no result . Obviously I am doing something wrong.

Semaphore Tech specs:
Signal has a electromagnetic drive unit with dampening effect
Operating voltage :16 v (AC/DC)
Peak inrush current ( for approx 0.1sec) : 0.7 amp

For more detail :

http://www.viessmann-modell.com/en/produkt...r=2&gr_nr=2

Cat no 4500 and click on "installation"

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

QUOTE (john woodall @ 2 Sep 2008, 07:48) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Baykal,

Have you tried it with a different signal. I ended up with a duff shunting signal that took a while for me to work out it was the signal not me.

Does the signal work with out the masterswithch?

Cheers

John

Yes it does John. I am obviously doing something wrong with the connections. Maybe I need a different power source for the lights, I will try that out.

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED !

Finally I have done it without burning up anything.

By just throwing a switch, I can control the point motor ( without worrying of frying it )+ Control panel LED + Viessmann Semaphore. Only the light of the semaphore being controled by a different power source.

Proceed:

Stop

..now time to experiment and explore any other possibilities that this amazing gadget can do.

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 4 Sep 2008, 06:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>*** Thats really great news Erkut - You've made my day! I was confident you'd get there as MS hasn't let us down yet and the pictures of it all in action are a nice motivating bonus for me!

Keep experimenting and do it without worry - if you do manage to let the smoke out, I will of course cover you with the goof proof warranty!

I really will have to look closer at those Veissmann damped solenoids - they look excellent.

I'm not ready to consider stocking them until I take a good close look, but I really should get several to play with so I can know about them in detail before I decide to sell them...

Who is the best EU retailer/source for them price wise?

Re MS - I was really pleasantly surprised to see that Iain Rice has given MASTERswitch a lot of kind words in his excellent new book "Railway modelling the realistic way" - in two places... (one is on page 159, can't recall the other). A positive endorsement from Iain is a great thing!

Richard

Richard,

I thank you for the MSV2. Saved me a lot of trouble in wiring..etc when you come to think I have 20 odd points to consider in my layout.

In continental modelling there are two basic companies dealing with lighting,catanery systems and signals, one is Viessmann the other is Sommerfeldt.

Viessmann is the top notch producer off all.The dampening action of the semaphores is exactly as the prototype. A joy to watch it in action.

Check out their site:

http://www.viessmann-modell.com/en/aktuell/inhalt.php

I usually buy all my stuff from:

http://www.modellbahn-kramm.com/index.cfm

Find that they are the cheapest in Europe and personally know the people, had a chance to visit them during Dortmound fair.Very reliable company.

Cheers

Baykal

 

[ebaykal]

QUOTE (Expat @ 4 Sep 2008, 12:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Baykal,

Must admit I like the sound of those Veissmann semaphore signals but obviously they follow contiental prototype.

Do you have any idea what the options/possibilities/problems would be in converting them to UK prototype (GWR in particular). Would it be just a case of changing the arms to some brass etched ones and a repaint or is there such a fundamental difference that it's not worth considering further ??

Cheers,

Expat.

Trevor Hi,

Dead easy to change the arms, clip type. I have seen the Hornby UK OO signals, can easily pop one out and can mount it or as you say can make them yourself too.
One thing tough OO Hornby semaphores dwarfs the HO Viessmanns, i.e; there is a considerable difference in size,plus it really will take a considerable effort to change the body for a UK prototype without damaging the damping mechanism , but anything is possible.

Baykal