In your opinion, what is a good and reasonably priced switch motor to use with Digitrax? What type of electrical switch would be used to activate the motor? Are lights indicating the switch position much of a problem at add? I have a number of switches on my HO layout that are too difficult to activate by hand. Perhaps I will motorize all of my switches if the cost is not too high. Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help!
I wish I knew. I’d like to see MR come up with a how to article, complete with parts list on how to use servos as switch motors.
Manufacturers seem to think that $14 (buying in quantity) to $22 is reasonable. I don’t want to send this thread to the “This Hobby is Too Expensive” thread. Somebody thinks that’s reasonable.
Well if you both want to really save money, make your own using control rods. Looks like you will have to crawl under the layout anyway.
I did that some years ago. I had the rods operate switches for power routing. I looked up varius types of switches in catalogs and using Google. Google helped me a lot. Rare that I have to ask in a forum.
Rich
Dare I mention there are other magazines for the hobby besides MR, that have already covered using servos. And in one case, the magazine is free. As are the back issues, including the one that shows how to make a servo switch machine controller.
There has been information posted by a few people in this forum on doing it as well.
Frankly, I am not a fan of controller turnouts via the DCC throttle - Digitrax, NCE, MRC, no matter WHAT system you have, you have to switch out of train control mode into accessory control mode, enter the address of the switch you want to throw, and then switch back to train control mode. Awkward at best regardless of the DCC system brand. Especially compared to just hitting a button right there on the fascia adjacent to the turnout being controlled. So, leaving the DCC part out of it, it is extremely cheap to motorize the turnouts using an Arduno and some servos. And pushbuttons. Detailed instructions including the code, so you don’t have to write program, it’s alreayd been done, are available on Goeff Bunza’s web site.
If you don’t want to DIY, Tam Valley makes some nice commercial modules to do this. The Octopus is the most inexpensive version, the basic Octo does not do DCC, just switches or buttons. You don’t have to buy the servos from them, I get mine on ebay, usually 6 for less than $15 shipped. If ou do want DCC control, there is an add on board to the Octopus that adds a DCC controller.
After using servos on my last layout - I won’t be going back to other swich motors. They work well and are very inexpensive. I am designing my own controller, which I have posted about here a few times. It’s probably more complex than most people need due to my requirements for CTC control as wlel as local control and lockout of mainline turnouts, but everything will be freely available for anyone to copy - I’m not about to start selling anything. For simply controlling turnouts with serv
Henry
I’ve been dinking around with the Tower SG90 servos and an Arduino UNO, right now it’s looking pretty good. A China UNO for under $6 will drive several China $1.50 SG90s servos.
I’m still experimenting but Randy got me over the hump with the stall current and so far I have one turnout installed in a bench test track with a servo and one that is my test turnout that work pretty good.
There are positives as well as negatives using servos. The best positive is the cost. The main negative is the large hole for the servo.
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Randy,
I guess I was not very clear in my original question. I stated I use Digitrax so whoever read the question would know what I am using to power the track. What I want to do is simply control each switch (turnout) with an electrical switch that I may mount near the turnout or on a switch control board. For me, using my Digitrax throttle to control each switch (turnout) would be more than I want to do. Sorry for the confusion I caused.
Everything I said still applies. I don’t like trying to control turnouts from the throttle either.
As for Mel’s hole - this is similar to using Peco’s switch motors on their turnouts - they clip right to the bottom of the turnout, so you need to dig out a fairly large hole to fit it all. If you don’t have a problem getting under the layout - you only need a small hole for the actuating wire. Or, you can mount the servo on top of the benchwork, off to the side. You’d have to hid them under structures, but then there would be no holes to cut out.
For underneath mount, there are several commercial mounts, or you cna literally just glue the servo to the underside of the layout. Or make your own sort of mount - using scrap wood, or small metal angles, all sorts of ways to go about it.
–Ran
I appreciate the hints and wasn’t aware of the other articles nor the octopus. Does Bunza have his own website? (I found his Facebook page and articles on another mag’s site)
Looks like all his articles and circuits are now hosted as a blog section on the other magazine’s forums. I thought he had an independent web site but all searches now just take me there. It is a master post with a listing (in reverse order - he sort of numbers each project) of each project name which is a link to the specific post on how to build that particular one. Not all have been published in the actual magazine.
–Randy