R070 Hornby Turn-table to DCC including images

[Nictor]

Deaf ears Nictor, if they'd listened to comments on here it would have been upgraded years ago.

Sad and they wonder why kids are no longer interested! A little loco going round a circle of track will hold interest for all of five minutes. Even the post Xmas glut of starter sets on eBay has gone! This is the IT age, we should have chipped wagons and coaches that auto uncouple or at least couplings that respond to a DCC track signal, accessories that are DCC fitted and designed for that and so on, same for signals. What do they have, stuff that dates back to the dawn of Triang, switches have not changed, mail coach still the same, turntable and so on. Lyddle end gone, live steam gone, lighting gone and so on. The 'B' manufacturer steaming forward on all fronts and now into O gauge and narrow gauge and with a damn good collectors club and interesting themed train packs.. 

[Yelrow]

Could be the market is a tad bigger, in the  USA. john

[Nictor]

Could be the market is a tad bigger, in the  USA. john

...for british stuff???

[Silver Shiney]

I believe the market for Hornby, or at least British vehicles, is also very big in Australia.  Strange, how I can get a DCC Concepts digital points controller cheaper here than in Melbourne - I was hoping to stock up when I go there in September, but that is not going to financially viable!

 

Anyways, I've now got the new decoder and wired it up, this time leaving a goodly loop of wires taped round the chip to prevent accidentally pulling them off again!  I've also put a chocolate-block connector at the end of the dropper wires, as recommended, before it gets connected to the bus, for easier reconnection to the programming track if required in the future.

 

I again rotated the large cog bringing the bridge through two full rotations without snagging.  Then I tried it using the small spindle and experienced a jam.  Taking the bridge off the base, I found a couple of rail chairs that had broken off when the handrail jammed against the inlet track, so hopefully that is the end of that issue.

 

I hope to get everything connected to the power bus later today.

[Fishmanoz]

SS, from Melbourne, DCC Concepts is still 4,000km away.  If you visit Perth, you can drop in at the shop.

[Silver Shiney]

Thanks, Fishmanoz, I wasn't looking to go to their premises but there are a couple of decent-looking model railway shops in Melbourne.  One's near Flinders Street station, which isn't too far from where I'm staying, the other is some distance out in the suburbs.  Even so, I had expected "local" prices to be lower than in the UK, where they have to factor in the cost of importing the items!

[Joe4]

I have read and read this so many times and I'm stilll clueless. A novice knows more than me. 

I think I get some of it but how do you get the TT to turn? Is it via control of the decoder? If yes, how do you get it to stop and slign at the right place? I have visions of me going backwards and forwards for hours on end. 

I should say I've not touched model railways for 50 years so its a bit different. I'm only doing this for my Grandson who is losing interest because I cannot get it finished after 3 years of working on it. I'm ready to demolish it all and get rid of everything. 

I'm desperate.

[Chrissaf]

....how do you get the TT to turn?

.

By applying power to the electric motor drive of the turntable. In a DC Analogue layout the optimum power source to use to turn the bridge of the turntable is to use an old spare DC Analogue controller rather than a fixed voltage power supply. Using an old controller means that you can select whether the turntable rotates clockwise or anti-clockwise (shortest path to the destination inlet/outlet track piece) as well as the speed at which the turntable rotates.

.

 

Is it via control of the decoder?

.

You would only use a DCC decoder (a Loco decoder, not an Accessory Decoder) if your whole layout is Digital DCC controlled. The Hornby R070 turntable is designed for DC Analogue working and needs to be modified to make it Digital DCC friendly. It is this 'make it DCC friendly' modification that is documented in this specific thread you have posted in. The Hornby R070 turntable is used 'as is' out of the box when used on a DC Analogue controlled layout.

.

....how do you get it to stop and align at the right place?

.

The Hornby R070 TT has a specially designed physical mechanism to help with track alignment. Although the electric motor that drives the TT continues to turn at a consistent speed. The actual turntable automatically rotates in 'stop start' steps. Each step being equal to the gap between an inlet/outlet track around the turntable perimeter. When the turntable aligns with an inlet/outlet track, the turntable stops briefly, even if the electric motor is still turning. It waits at each inlet/outlet for a couple of seconds before starting to move again to the next rotational inlet/outlet.

.

Thus, when the turntable reaches the inlet/outlet you want. You have a couple of seconds to stop the motor (remove power from it) and the turntable will then stay at the selected inlet/outlet it is aligned to. If the mechanism of the turntable is in good order and not worn, then the accuracy of the track alignments is quite high. Thus on a well maintained turntable it is not necessary to keep tweaking the turntable back and forth for track alignment.

.

TIP: As a newbie poster on the forum, just be aware that the 'Blue Button with the White Arrow' is not a 'Reply to this post' button. If you want to reply to any of the posts, scroll down and write your reply in the reply text box at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

.

See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/

.

[Joe4]

Thanks.

[ColinB]

I must admit when I was looking for a turntable, I initially bought a second hand Triang one as it looked more realistic, but unfortunately it eventually died and was incredably noisy. I looked at the Hornby offering and I gather they are still virtually the original design of the eighties and they were very expensive. I eventually bought a Heljan as the concept is really great, it uses stepper motors, although their software leaves a lot to be desired. Given how small you can get stepper motors (they even use them in the instrument cluster in a car), I am surprised Hornby hasn't upgraded their one but I suppose it is time and money. When I was at TMC in Yorkshire on holiday, they were weathering some Peco ones, which looked great, now if someone could put a stepper motor on that it would be brilliant.

[DK123GWR]

I've read through this thread and I am still not sure about everything. If I have converted the track to avoid short cicuits, is it still possible to power the turntable motor using an old analogue controller while the track itself is digital. This is my understanding but I need it confirmed before I launch into anything.

[Chrissaf]

Yes you can do it that way if you want. Using a loco decoder to turn the bridge turntable is totally optional.

.

TIP: As a newbie poster on the forum, just be aware that the 'Blue Button with the White Arrow' is not a 'Reply to this post' button. If you want to reply to any of the posts, scroll down and write your reply in the reply text box at the bottom of the page and click the Green 'Reply' button.

.

See also – further TIPs on how to get the best user experience from this forum.

https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/tips-on-using-the-forum/

.

[DK123GWR]

Thank you!