Howbi Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Morairamike mentioned recently he would like a track occupancy indicator for the holding bays on his layout.........this may be a solution using 3-wire IR sensors which are very cheap on Ebay...... The LED could be wired back to a control panel/media/tinymce_upload/e96b2acb054c44e7c4a475496ee9d7f3.png /media/tinymce_upload/b380bea96995c8ed34c85f80a9d5cbe0.pngThe module can either be set down in the baseboard between rails (one sleeper needs to be removed) or laterally at the side of the track. Any vehicle covering the IR will result in the LED exstinguishing. The potentiometer needs an adjustment to get the LED to go out when required........HB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Got a link for these please Howard.Some of us on here are running with a DIY project for loco detection but it requires 4-wire detectors (TCRT5000). The sensors feed into collector modules, thence to a multiplexer unit talking to a PC, Arduino or Ras-Pi. Currently we can find 4-wire basic sensor only at Qty 50 for less than a fiver with free P&P. External circuitry is required to drive leds, etc, unlike yours which seems to have it built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howbi Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 Rob.......there are several outlets for these on EB and Amazon.......these are from Ireland so should be short delivery time.......these are designed to feed back to Arduino.........HB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I had that very thing on my loft layout 20 years ago, still available. IRDOT. https://heathcote-electronics.co.uk/irdot1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnGee Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Interesting, when you look at the 2 boards, to see how technology has changed over 20 years. Especially regarding the size of the components and the overall board size, and even more so the price. I have just ordered 10 of these boards for £2.50 (free P&P), whilst the IRDOT costs £12 (+ £3.80 P&P) !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morairamike Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Thanks for the heads-up. Just bought 10 for £4.98 free p p from Dublin. Problem will be hopefully solved for blind tunnel sidings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Thanks Howard. We may have to stick with the four wire devices and external circuitry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 That is a big price difference. The IRDOT lit up when the siding was occupied as opposed to extinguishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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