hey guys was interested in useing some cheap rc servos to control the points of the turnouts on my model railroad im going to be building soon. how do ya hook them up to control points on the turnouts i know ive seen it done but i forget who did it thanks for the help.
Check out Tam Valley Depot for info on servo control and hook up. They have servo controller boards which will provide push-button and DCC control, too.
I'm working on making a how to video, hopefully it will be up within the week. I use tam valley octopuses to control them with toggle switches. They're mechanically linked with 0.032" steel wire, and the RC servos are SG90s. Nice and cheap from Shanghai or Hong Kong
okay awesome yeah im into rc stuff as well as model rr and though thee is gotta be a way to do it haha i will check tam valley out and i will keep my eyes out for your video on them. thansk again guys.
The outdoor HO scale guys use automatic door lock solenoids bought second hand. I hear they are cheaper than over the counter slow action devices.
Here's my mini review of the Tam Valley Depot Quad servo decoder system, right here on TrainBoard: Tam Valley Servo Decoder Mini-Review This shows how I mounted the servos and provides other details. - Jeff
If you are DCC and have live frog turnouts you might like to use a servo decoder with built in frog switching like the Signalist SC2. It is a very compact unit having everything on a single PCB for four turnouts and works really well with the TowerPro SG92R servos which are very inexpensive. You can use servo 'Y' cables to operate a pair of servos on a crossover which can make quite a saving in some situations.
Ok so a couple of months old but my question is how to use the servos as a stall motor and not buy all that extra stuff from Tam Valley. Its some nice stuff but I am on a cheap budget LOL. I need a good diagram that is easy to follow and hook up using my variable 12v power supply. Any ideas would be appreciated. I then would do some sort of write for everyone else if they wanted to do the same. I have the cheap servos from hong kong as well. Resistors and SPDT switchs. Do I need anything else.
If you don't want to use a driver board to control them, then you'll need to remove the little circuit board that's inside the servo. This site shows how. http://www.instructables.com/id/Remove-a-Servo-Controller/ Steve S
Coyote - I suggest performing a Google search for servo control circuit. You will find dozens of circuits suitable for driving servos. Many of these use the inexpensive 555 timer chip, along with a few resistors, capacitors, and maybe a couple of transistors. Examples: http://www.talkingelectronics.com/p...ay Projects/75 Model Railway Projects.html#10 http://www.ser-nmra.org/sites/ser-nmra.org/files/clinics/Clinic_Turnout_Motors_from_Servos.pdf These are only two of many, many circuits you'll find if you search. I know, because I spent weeks looking at various do-it-yourself circuits before deciding to use Tam Valley Depot products instead. A Tam Valley Octopus III board will drive 8 servos and costs $39.95. That's $5.00 per turnout -- not too expensive in my opinion. This board lets you control turnouts with toggle or pushbutton switches. If you later want DCC control, there is an add-on board for that. The parts for a do-it-yourself solution might cost a bit less than $5.00 per turnout, but you won't have anywhere near the ease of setup and use that the Octopus III board provides. And you'll have to build and troubleshoot your circuits, of course. I have no relationship with Tam Valley other than being a happy customer. - Jeff
Yea I am trying to avoid buying more electronics. I just want to put the mini servos in a stall condition. It seems easy but not sure how to get a +9volts and a -9volts on each wire and then have a ground as well. Thats three wires LOL and my power supply only has two connections. I have a buddy at work that is electrical engineer that is working on a diagram using some diodes to get the condition that I need. Maybe I should just stick to racing cars. I am building this layout in memory of my father who passed away last year. He always wanted to make a layout but just never had the room. Oh BTW thanks Jeff for the links. It gives me more to think about. I have probably 35-40 turnouts so the octopus thing can get even more expensive. The NMRA link is what I was looking into but don't want to use limit switches.
