Has anyone made a working scratch built ETD, or “Fred” to put on some rolling stock? I saw a few at the local train show but the layout was ropped off so you couldn’t get to close. It looked like they were LEDs.
There is a kalmbach book called something like " Electronic Projects for Toy Trains". The book has a project for an E.O.T. device. You should be able to find it if you search their site. That project did use a red LED.
George
Thanks George[8D]
TAS makes one.
TAS? Im unaware of this company. Could you help me out Doug?
Thanks
Here is the link for TAS, maybe Doug is away right now.
That’s Train America Studios
http://www.tastudios.com/index2.htm
The book to which George referred is “Easy Electronic Projects for Toy Trains” by David E. Greenwald. I couldn’t find it on CTT’s (Kalmbach) Product site, and Amazon shows it as out of print with limited availability. You might find a copy at your Local Hobby Shop.
The book shows an EOT device with a blinking red LED from Radio Shack; it’s operated by a lithium battery (flat disk).
As an alternative, Lionel sells replacement EOT devices (610-6617-050, $2.00) and circuit boards (610-6617-088, $6.50). The circuit board bracket (610-6617-015) is not listed; you might have to mount the board with foam tape. You also would need to purchase a roller assembly if your rolling stock doesn’t already have one.
I haven’t built any EOT’s from scratch; I’ve got three cars with the Lionel parts already installed. I got some good information from Bob Nelson (lionelsoni) which I intend to use for loco strobes, but so far I’ve only used the info to build running lights for my motorcycle using Superbrite LED’s.
Click on the link, then scroll down.
http://www.tastudios.com/lightupgrades/cvlightupgrades.htm
Sorry, should have included this with the first posting. [:I]
If you can get a copy of the “Easy Electronics” book it is well worth the price. I’ve come up with many uses of the ideas, and methods, they present, even if my use is other than the projects they offer.
I bought one at a train show. It had the battery attached. All you had to do was drill a hole in the rear of the car and place the battery inside the car. It had an on-off switch. I see these all the time at train shows so they should be readily avaiable.