TURNTABLE CONTROL

QUOTE (Doug @ 1 Feb 2008, 13:15) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>You sure have a complicated task ahead.

The best thing is to have some sort of momentary cut-off switch activated when the bridge is in-line with the exit tracks.

This is one of the reasons I bought a Fleischmann turntable (they exist in 'N'). Everything is built in and it works perfectly. You can modify it to resemble a British turntable if you are prepared to hack off some of the detail.

Hi Doug,

I looked at the Fleischmann but thought this was quite an expensive option at £169 and is quite a bit larger than the Peco turntable so opted for the Peco/Frizzinhall combination at less than £20.

I accept that track alignment will have to be 'eye-balled' but am assured that with the Frizzinghall gearbox and a sufficiently slow speed controller this is not a big problem. Only time will tell !!!

What I want to know is the best way of controlling the rotation.

Cheers,

Expat.

I have just done this very conversion. It is in fact quite simple. The turntable is assembled as per the instructions, except I modified mine to an over girder type. Make sure that the gap between the two semi circular copper contacts on the table are as near as possible opposite your entry/exit roads. I by the way did not first time and found that track polarity was changing between two roads.

I have treated the turntable as another loco and run it from the handset on address twenty two. It is controlled by a simple cheap, £12, TCS decoder from Digitrains attached to the gearbox housing with double sided stick on Velcro. Wiring and programming the decoder is exactly as per any loco, only a lot simpler as for once you will not have to worry about cramming everything into a tiny loco body. Both motor and track are simply wired into the nearest supply. Make sure that the polarity for the turntable track matches that of the entry/exit roads. If it shorts first time just swap the feeds over.

I found that the gearbox as supplied is very noisy and far too slow. Removing the gears to the bare minimum solves this and also gives a more controllable speed of rotation especially at 128 steps. I also binned the mounting bolts supplied and replaced them with four 2BA bolts cut so that the are flush with the bottom of the table well and screwed and epoxied in place.

QUOTE (ahammond @ 1 Feb 2008, 14:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I have just done this very conversion. It is in fact quite simple. The turntable is assembled as per the instructions, except I modified mine to an over girder type. Make sure that the gap between the two semi circular copper contacts on the table are as near as possible opposite your entry/exit roads. I by the way did not first time and found that track polarity was changing between two roads.

I have treated the turntable as another loco and run it from the handset on address twenty two. It is controlled by a simple cheap, £12, TCS decoder from Digitrains attached to the gearbox housing with double sided stick on Velcro. Wiring and programming the decoder is exactly as per any loco, only a lot simpler as for once you will not have to worry about cramming everything into a tiny loco body. Both motor and track are simply wired into the nearest supply. Make sure that the polarity for the turntable track matches that of the entry/exit roads. If it shorts first time just swap the feeds over.

I found that the gearbox as supplied is very noisy and far too slow. Removing the gears to the bare minimum solves this and also gives a more controllable speed of rotation especially at 128 steps. I also binned the mounting bolts supplied and replaced them with four 2BA bolts cut so that the are flush with the bottom of the table well and screwed and epoxied in place.

Hi ahammond,

Thanks very much for the input, particularly the info on the noisy motor and the mods you have made. Looks like problem solved.

I'm interested in your remark about track polarity though. Are you using an Auto Reverse Module to control polarity ??

Regards,

Expat

QUOTE (Richard Johnson @ 1 Feb 2008, 14:24) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The simplest, lowest cost and most direct method would be a low cost controller such as is packed with train sets (to set motor speed) and a panel mounted switch to set direction & stop it when you want to. The best would be a Centre-off DPDT or (preferable perhaps) a 3 position double pole rotary switch wired as a reverse/off/forward control.

With luck the controller will be free or close to it. The switch not much more

You could also if you really want to do it with DCC use a TCS T-1 decoder (They are I think unique in that they allow motor control to be remapped to / done by Fn buttons) and remap the motor control to two function buttons for forward/reverse.

However, even though I'm "DCC through and through" I really don't see any advantage in driving a turntable with DCC - I'm quite happy with conventional control for a conventional turntable motor...

Hi Richard,

Thanks too for your input.

I was also originally inclined to go with a conventional controller (hence the comment on the Guagemaster 100) but after reading ahammond's reply I am leaning towards going with DCC.

Regards,

Expat

LOW TECH

Alternativly a couple of MECCANO wheels joined by a belt drive, simply turn it by hand from the edge of base board.

QUOTE (Swingcats @ 4 Mar 2008, 02:12) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>LOW TECH

Alternativly a couple of MECCANO wheels joined by a belt drive, simply turn it by hand from the edge of base board.

Thanks for that Swingcats but I have already committed to something a bit more high-tech than that. Power and control are resolved thanks to a helping hand from Brian who has made up a little voltage reducing circuit board and speed controller for me. All systems are now GO.

Expat.