I’m builing a test switching layout that will eventually be a part of a larger layout. I want to use caboose hobbies switch machines for single turnouts and Tam valley servors for crossovers. I want an easy functional crossover that is pretty much plug and play plus at a lower cost than a tortoise setup. What do I need to order from Tam Valley? I will not be controlling turnouts with DCC. Thanks!
Just the two servos as far as I can see.
https://www.tamvalleydepot.com/products/servosaccessories.html
Plus a double pole double throw toggle switch to act as a reversing switch to provide reversing DC power to drive the servos. Maybe their DY-5001 DPDT relay would make wiring the servos easier?
If you are powering the frog you would get the servo model with the add-on snap-switch.
Good Luck, Ed
Thanks Ed! I very new to this…
Seems to me that I would need the following (but clearly could be wrong):
2 Singlet servos,
1 fascia controller (FCB020),
1 recessed fascia mount MFC3D1
1 y-cord to operate both turnouts with a depressing the controller SRX003
I don’t see how they are powered? Can you tell me? Thanks!
Based on my understanding, I’m looking at $21 per crossover.
Thanks for the link. How are the servos powered?
I use the Tower SG90 servos and they run on 5 volts, they can draw up to 100ma depending on the servo load.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
8-24V DC
Sorry, I’m a complete newbie to this system of turnout control. I should have gone directly to tam valley, explained I’m a complete novice relative to their system, and asked their advice. I don’t know where and how the Tam Valley products connect to the power supply. My question was way too basic to ask on this forum… Apologies
Easy, plug and play, and low cost doesn’t really happen.
I don’t think you should apologize. The Electrical Cognescenti know how to build this with $10 of parts from Ebay. You just need to get one of them to spell it out. I’ll be standing by ready to take notes.
edit for spelin
The SG90 servos are powered by 4 to 6 volts or nominal 5 volts. They can be driven with many controllers available, I prefer using an Arduino but I also like the Tam Valley controllers.
I also use the SG9 servos and the Micro 7G servos for automation. For their cost the Tam Valley looks pretty good and simple to install.
I’m using the 7G servos for door automation. At less than $1 off eBay they go a long way. They are small enough to fit in the overhead above my roundhouse doors for opening and closing the doors.
It’s rather easy to automate figures with the servos.
NO NO NO
Servos don’t change direction based on polarity like a Tortoise. Nor do they like to be stalled like a Tortoise. Understandable to get this wrong, since MR published an article a couple of years ago saying to do exactly this, although it required modification of the servos. But they get very hot if stalled, and I can;t imagine them lasting long used as a stall motor, they aren’t meant for that.
Most of the Tam Valley controllers will drive 2 servos - so a Singlet plus a second servo would work for a crossover. If there are more than one crossover to control, the Octopus may be the controller, it can control up to 8 servos, serveral can be doubled up but not all 8, for crossovers.
–Randy
Didn’t intend to steer the OP wrong. He was asking for non-DCC control and that’s where I thought the DY-5001 would drive the servos.
I stand corrected [:$] Ed
I missed using the servo like a Tortoise and agree with Randy that is a NO NO!!!
When a servo is in stall mode it will draw high current, can easily draw over 80ma. The SG90 servo gets hot at 40ma and in less than 5 minutes will be hot enough to ding the servo housing.
I highly recommend the Tam Valley No-Buzz In-Line Servo Quieter, that can make or break using a servo to control turnouts. It will stop the high current to the servo when stalled.
The servo stall current was the hardest part of me using servos for my turnouts. I wanted to have the servo keep pressure on the points against the outside rails and doing so the current was to high and the servos got supper hot at 40ma. Adjusting the servo driver to be at a low idle current prevented the servo from applying pressure against the point rails. The No-Buzz In-Line Servo Quieter**,** lets the servo apply pressure then drops the servo preventing the high current until the servo drive is changed.
Using servos for turnout contr
Thanks, this has been somewhat helpful (remember I’m a total newbie on this topic). My whole thought process on this was simple. I had read a post of Randy’s where he talked about using Tam Valley components to control a turnout. Randy has helped me times and never steered me wrong so I thought, I ought to give this a try. I did some reading on the Tam Valley Depot website which gives some general direction but would benefit (IMO) with a practical example showing all the components needed for a simple single crossover and how everything goes together. They could convert me to a “true believer” but I need to have a practical example from A to Z for the simple before moving on the complex (controlling multiple crossovers, yard ladders, etc). Mel has given a good start. I prefer to start with Tam Valley based on Randy’s recommendation that it is an easy system for beginners and essentially plug and play. $20 to $25 for the first crossover would not be cheap but would be awesome as a learning experience. Right now on my existing layout I use two caboose hobbies ground throws at each crossover and want to change!
Still cheaper than Tortoises - unless you rig a rather complex mechanical arrangement to use just one, but then you could do the same with a servo and save money there tooo.
The quieter modules aren;t strictly necessary - if you set up the travel when programming the Tam Valley controller, the servo shouldn’t be stalled. Plus some of the newer versioons they have already have that built in to the controller. I used the older Singlets, the ones where the fascia controller was the whole circuit, and none of my servos buzzed after lining a turnout.
My DIY Arduino based servo drivers for my new layout will have the same auto shutoff at end of travel so they don’t buzz even if not totally aligned, as long as the servo get reach the programmed end position, power will then be cut off. Technically the signal gets cut off, but with no signal telling the servo to move to a certain position, it won’t fight back against being moved slightly by the force of the piano wire.
–Randy
Randy please post your no buzz sketch for the Arduino.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield
I did, a while back. It’s now completely wrong, as I discovered trying to lay out a PCB for it, it was easier to change which pins I used for what input or output than trying to route lines around one another, so the curent code no longer matched the pin assignment.
But really all it’s doing is servo.detach() after the servo reaches end of travel. I have a constant for minimum position and one for maximum position, the the move routing keeps moving the servo until the current position is at or less than the minimum or greater than or equal to the maximum.
–Randy
Mel,
What do you use to power your arduino controller? Which arduino controller are you using? What mounts do you use to attach your servos to the layout? What is the process to control two servos on a crossover?
I’ve been looking at alternatives with Tam Valley Depot and they pretty expensive. If I used an OctIII to control 8 servos, it would cost $31 for the OctIII, $80 for the servos + mounts, and $40 for the fascia controllers. Plus another few bucks for servo extensions. Seems to be too expensive for me. I’d like to look at alternatives.
Thanks,
Rick
Rick
I pretty much buy all my supplies off eBay as there isn’t a model railroad hobby shop here, the last store that stocked model railroad stuff closed 8 years ago.
There is one good RC store that stocks a good supply of Evergreen Styrene, Basswood and K&S Brass. He can order HO stuff from his LA Distributor with a several day delay.
I buy the Tower SG90 servos off eBay 10 for $15 and Arduino UNOs for under $6, MEGAs under $9.
The drawing on my earlier post shows my Mel servo mounting bracket, I don’t have anything against the Tam Valley mounts I simply like to do it my self. The servo is $1.50 the mount about $1. eBay connectors are about 20¢, $2.70 isn’t too bad for a turnout machine. A MEGA at a little over $8 will control all of my turnouts, I also use Mel made Arduino expansion boards to interface between the Arduinos and servos as well as the toggles for control. That runs up the cost to about $20 or $1 per turnout plus the $2.70 for the switch machine, total cost less than $4 per turnout vs $17 for a Tortoise.
I use 12 volt switching power supplies off eBay to power everything on my layout except my trains which are reg
Yeah, that’s the one thing Tam Valley is high on - the servos themselves. They are insanely cheap on eBay. You can buy just the mounts for under $5 each from Tam Valley, or just can just glue the servo on its side under the layout - you don;t really need the fancy mounts.
It’s still cheaper than Tortoises. The Octo comes out to less than $4 per turnout, the servo and mount at Tam Valley’s price is $9 each, so you’re at $13 per turnout. A Tortoise is at least $15 in 6 packs. You still have to add the toggle switch and LEDs to get anything like the equivalent of the fascia controller - though the Octo can use a simple toggle as well, you don’t need the fancy fascia controllers. If you get the servos on eBay for about $150 each, the mounts are $6 each, so $7.50 for a servo and mount, plus $4, $11.50 per turnout. Much better than $15+ per.
And for DIY, Geoff Bunza has step by step instructions for setting up an Arduino - you don;t need to know anything about it, his instructions tell you how to load the software and use his existing program on it to then connect servos with buttons or toggles. You can get a suitable Arduino for under $10, I think Geoff’s design that uses buttons drives 6 servos. So $10 for an Arduino, $9 for 6 servos, $36 for 6 mounts. Little over $9 per turnout! And there are cheaper mounts than the ones Tam Valley sells. Iow Scaled Engineering has ones that are $15 for a 6 pack of mounts. That works out to under $6 per turnout for 6 of them.
–Randy