[Chinahand]

Hi Ebaykal,

You beat me to it !!

I received a number of V2s this week and my planned project for this weekend is to do exactly as you have done i.e. put a dummy point motor assembly together. 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.

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (ebaykal @ 28 Aug 2008, 11:48) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Expat,

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

Yes I thought as much.

Re. My Control Panel - (See my gallery for pictures)

The box itself is polished solid beech and the top panel is 3mm white acrylic sheet.

I designed the track diagram using the graphics/drawing tools in MS Excel.

This was then printed onto A3 paper using a colour lazerjet printer. If you use an ordinary ink-jet printer you may find that the ink runs when you apply spray paint, depending on which paint you use, so best to do some tests first.

The rear side of the print was sprayed with 3 coats of white latex spray paint followed by 3 coats of clear polyurethane spray onto the front thus effectively laminating the paper between the 2 layers of paint. This produces a smooth durable surface which can be kept clean with a wipe over.

Once all paint was completely dry the diagram was then stuck down to the acrylic sheet using spray adhesive and any overhanging edges trimmed back.

Hope this is helpful,

Expat.

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 28 Aug 2008, 19:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Expat

The leads of the LED are 3 different lengths - note which goes to which pad and just test one and you have the answer for all of them

Richard

Aaaaah. All is now revealed. Very clever.

Thanks Richard,

Trevor.

 

[Chinahand]

Hi guys,

Well I did promise/threaten to make up my Masterswitch V2 test rig this week-end and here it is.

This set-up uses the Seep PM1 Point Motor and 2 No, Bi-colour LEDs which change colour depending on which way the point is set. The red is quite intense but I'm a bit disappointed at the green which is barely visible.

Any comment on that Richard ??.

The spare blue, orange & purple wiring terminals on the 6 way connection block will go to the DCC Bus and the point frog respectively.

All in all I think that's mission accomplished.

One thing that is bugging me though. Why do my photos always get reduced in size??

They are 640 x 480 as recommended.

Expat.

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (dwb @ 29 Aug 2008, 22:35) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I hope this helps.

David

It does indeed David and I will now place photos in my album, before posting them into a topic.

Thanks very much.

Trevor

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 30 Aug 2008, 08:46) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>(1) When in a panel, you will be looking at the end of the LED only. LED's are lensed and throw most light out the front... it will look different then, and it will be quite bright enough to do its job as an indicator light.

(2) When I make a product I have to assume several things

a/ that most modellers hate soldering so it needs to be minimised and ....inevitably many will connect things up and then read the instructions. So I have to keep it simple and build a resistor into the product!

b/ The resistor has to work with any customer LED type or colour choice, as sometimes customers want to use separated LEDs rather than the bicolours, and they can be any colour they choose.

Richard

Thanks for that Richard. I have now masked the sides of the LEDs and that has improved the visibility of the green a little though it does seem to vary from LED to LED.

Not sure if I'm understanding you correctly but are you saying that the resistor incorporated into the MS V2 is a "one for all" solution, in which case would changing the resistor do anything to give a more balanced intensity for each colour ?? Not that I'm about to start taking your MS apart. Just curiosity.

Apart from this I can only endorse the comments by others. The MS V2 is a splendid bit of kit which does everything I need to do and more.
Regards,

Trevor

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (ebaykal @ 4 Sep 2008, 10:41) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>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.

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.

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE (ebaykal @ 4 Sep 2008, 21:33) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>One thing tough OO Hornby semaphores dwarfs the HO Viessmanns

Hi Baykal,

Thanks for that though I suspect the size difference may be related to the difference between H0 and 00. As I model in N Gauge I'm hoping that won't be a problem.

Having said that, however, the design of the posts is, as you say, entirely different. What would probably be ideal is to get hold of just the Veissmann damping mechanism and attach it to some prototypical UK signal kits.

Any idea if this is possible ???

Trevor.

 

[Chinahand]

I'm with you on that Brian.

For a single unit that is simple to install and controls:-

1. The operation of multiple point motors via an in-built CDU
2. Changes the frog polarity
3. Activates LED indicator lights and/or layout signals

all from either the flick of a single switch or an accessory decoder, I don't think there's anything to beat it and I can't believe there is anything else on the market that does all of this for the price of a MASTERswitch.

I have 42 points on my layout and they are ALL operated via MASTERswitches.

 

[Chinahand]

QUOTE I'd like to use these with Seep PM2/4 motors but when i use the MS V2 with a laptop power supply after throwing the point either way the solonoids start getting very hot so if it cant be resolved or the problem found then i have 6 that are surplus to me gathering dust a waste.

Have you contacted Richard ? He might be able to throw some light on the problem.

QUOTE or leave it and regret it later.

Only you know how hard you're going to kick yourself later if you don't do it.

 

[Chinahand]

There you go Nick. You can't ask for better service than that.