Is electronics the most intimidating aspect of the hobby?

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

I’ll be the first to admit that it is for me. My DCS book alone contains over 100 pages of instructions. Wiring, soldering, installing relays and switches and phasing bricks and circuitry gizmos can fry your brain.

It is also one of the most satisfying and educational aspects of the hobby.

Although my knowledge of electronics is very limited, the little I’ve done so far gave me the confidence to wire my entire basement when I remodeled; and toy train electronics can actually be more complex than house wiring.

I’ve noticed over the years, that a majority of the questions on forums deal with electronics. There’s always something new to learn in this realm and always something neat you can add to your finished layout, from adding lighted number boards to your locomotives, to creating your own animated accessories, there’s no reason you should ever get bored.

Dave Vergun

2

Dave, if you believe all the hype they say that the electronics simplifies things, but I’m with you. I have no knowlege of electronics. I will say that it sure daunts me from modifying or kitbashing engines, much less tackling a completely scratch built O gauge engine. I am more interested in building models than building layouts. Odd-d

3

David,

How are you doing? Nice to see your posts both here and on the OGR Forum.

I shied away from electronics for years and am now very sorry I did so. It has added a whole new aspect to toy trains and their operation. While challenging sometimes, it is always interesting to learn and understand new things. Like many of us, I had access to the greatest resource known to the hobby-the individuals on the OGR Forum. I can never explain in words the value of that resource.

I am looking forward to this forum being an additional resource of the same type!

4

David and Odd-D, welcome to the CTT forum, until OGR came up with a fee this was a intimate little group now it’s drawing a much welcomed crowd.

To answer your question, the electrronics don’t bother me as to installing and even minor adaptations, I’ve built my own voltage rectifier/reducing and constant voltage circuits to enable using battery powered accessories powered by my AC access. transformer. Where the problem comes in is when something goes up. With someone to walk me through trouble shooting I know enough to understand what they;re talking about but my test instruement is limited to an analogue volt/ohm meter. If a voltage, resistance, or continuity check doesn’t cut it I’m sunk.

5

Electronics is what I make my living at, so no, for me that isn’t the most intimidating part. I have little artistic talent so for me painting and weathering is the most intimidating. I have the deepest respect for those who can paint their own backdrops.

Pete

6

I’m with Pete, electronics is my day job, but there is nothing I enjoy more than to see a 80 year old train running around my layout. I will stick to the old stuff for a few more years, then maybe I’ll buy my first modern engine, hook up the gizmo’s and see what happens.

Dave

7

Electronics can be a very intimidating subject for people, mainly because it is somewhat mysterious since you can’t SEE what is going on.

In the past I have had knowledgible people around me, including electrical engineers and one guy that even taught the subject. Part of my problem is that I relied on them so heavily in the past, that I became dependent on them.

While some of their knowledge did manage to rub off on me, it was only enough to understand the basics. I now find myself in a situation with no experts behind me, and a great deal of theoretical knowledge, but little practical experience.

I have purchased some books and done some reading, but have always dreaded the math required in circuit design, and have been reluctant to push forward.

I have spent the last few months working on my layout, mainly on benchwork and track, with only a little attention to things electrical. I know what I want to do, and have laid the basic wiring for that, but while one end is connected to the track, the other end just hangs, connected to NOTHING.

Part of my problem is that I have all of this equipment leftover from my time at the mall, and need to reuse it for financial reasons. I need to redesign it and rebuild it to suit my new needs. Some of this is basic rewiring, but there are some aspects of the project that I have identified, for which I have no solution yet. It is like missing pieces of a puzzle.

I don’t ask a lot of questions on the forum, I usually try to answer other people’s, but this is one subject where I know I need help, in spite of trying to learn to do it all myself.

8

anything DCS or MTH.

pax[:)]

9

It used to be that wiring a layout was as simple as “bell wiring”

Now that more than just current is traveling thru the track or in the air, there are other considerations than just getting power to the layout. It has become HOW you get power to the track.

This complicates the wiring of the layout, but at the same time who needs a control panel. So as one aspect of the wiring has increased in complexity other parts are much simpler.

Alan

10

Electronics is the least intimidating aspect of this hobby. Do what the instructions say and it works, usually.[banghead]

The most intimidating aspect of this hobby for me, is to successfully sneak into the house with that new unbudgeted engine purchase. [B)]

11

Electronics certainly is the most intimidating aspect of the hobby for me. But I am optimistic that things are going in the right direction. I can see some similarity between where the hobby is now and where computer operating systems were just 10-12 years ago. Continuing the analogy, we have moved away from DOS (but it is still in the background, i.e. conventional control), and well into Windows. I can’t wait for the TMCC or DSC equivalent of Apple plug-and-play. We’re close, I think.

12

I find the electrics in general to be the most intimidating or I guess confusing. This from a relative newcomer to the hobby. I thought I was getting the hang of it in N scale :wink: This is easier though, no reverse loop hassles…