It is much dimmer in person, however a CMOS camera is uber sensitive to infrared, so will make it look much brighter than it really looks in person. Th LED turns on at 2 milliamps, and max is 20 ma, and I am running it on a 5V source with 2K of resistance, so it's only getting 2.5 milliamps! I can't go much dimmer! Same with the white LED's
So, I pulled out the Christmas Tree Layout, and discovered the track had warped pretty badly. As trains derail, my agony is heightened. In order to ease my suffering, I am going to re-lay track, and this time it is going to be Rokuhan sectional track. So what I am planning is to use the 270mm radius track for the inside loop, and 270mm radius track with 2" spacer tracks for the outside loop. I drew it up in Corel Draw, and am going to place the track on 1/8" plywood. The outside diameter of the new trackbed will be 24.26" x 24.26" at 4 points where the 2" spacer tracks are installed, and the widest radius will be 25.12" x 25.12", which is about .56" overhang over the edges of the original layout. It would have been easier if Rokuhan produced 295mm radius curved track, but sadly. they do not. so this is the symmetry I will be using: And here is the layout progress so far, I ripped out the old track, and am scraping off the cardstock sub-roadbed for replacement with the plywood sub-roadbed:
DISlike! Bummer man, sad to hear the track warped. Did it have anything to do with wild temperature swings and soldered joints?
Yes, the soldered rails did not have expansion joints, and being a loop, on wood, and ballasted, was too much for garage temperature and humidity swings in Idaho. No soldering this next attempt.
Today I spent considerable time drawing up the new sub-roadbed pieces to fit the existing wiring holes, I disassembled the train controller box and started drawing up a new one to fit, then I powered up the laser and all of a sudden the power went out in my neighborhood. POW! So a while later after the temperature in the house had dropped a bit, the power came back up. And upon rebooting the computer, I found I had lost all the day's work! So I started over, and re-drew up the sub-roadbed parts, this time saving every time I drew a line or circle. Fortunately, I had it in my head so was able to whip it out much faster. So I cut the parts just as it is getting dark outside, and briefly placed the pieces around the layout: Then I took them onto the kitchen table to see if the track loops worked out, and so far it looks like it's a go. Will continue tomorrow, with splice pieces to fit between the tracks to both center the loops and splice the sub-roadbed into a single piece:
I have only found a couple hours to play today, but I made a bit more progress. I aligned then glued down the sub-roadbed parts: Then I designed the new control panel box, and test fit it, checking for clearance from both trains and fitting the previously designed slots OK: And here is the Corel Drawings for the box and preliminary control panel fascia design:
Today I made splice boards to hold the sub-roadbed parts together: Then I worked on the electrical panel. I put embedded warm white LED's in it for power indicators, held in place with UV Resin. I decided to change it up from last year's design and go with side by side speed pots instead of top to bottom. With this design I can slope the panel towards the user, because the speed controller boards are much longer than the direction switches, which are under the speed controllers: After drawing up the control panel I raster etched it in peel and stick sign plastic, here it is under the laser: I sealed the wood with clear paint so when dry, the peel and stick label will stay on the wood: And finally for the day, I assembled the control panel:
Well, I'm in Slow Start Mode today. I think I will watch a couple Christmas Movies this morning while drinking double shot Carmel Macchiato's from my Superautomatic. I woke up to this around 5am: And by 8am it started looking like this:
Similar view for me this morning. But it is not our first this Fall. That came back in mid-October. Hey- It's indoor hobby season!
These are your generic DC Mini PWM Speed /Dimmer controllers that you get 2 of for $7 off Amazon. They work well for everything from Rokuhan Shorties to Marklin to AZL locos and have very good slow speed control. You have add a DPDT direction switch, but the controller pots have a click off position. There is also an onboard power LED, which I removed and added my own wired LED's for the control panel power indicators. As for power source, I harvested the guts of a 12V wall-wart from an old w-ifi hotspot to use as both the 12V accessory lighting and track DC power supply to reduce my e-waste footprint. PWM Controller: Upcycled 12V 2A Wall-Wart Power Supply:
So I applied some foam sealant between the layout scenery and the sub-roadbed for extending the scenery a bit, but it has to harden overnight before I can carve it and apply plaster cloth: And I assembled the control box, ready for wiring to the track and the 12V power supply underneath:
Sunday I did a bit more work. I carved the foam between the old scenery and the new sub-roadbed: Then I glued down the outer track loop: And I centered the inner track loop then glued it down: So this morning I used my Craytex eraser and cleaned the track then tested a couple small locos. Everything seems to run OK, so I made a quick progress video before I move on the scenery:
