Hornby Point Decoders

[bocaj]

Hi everyone,
I am getting to that stage where I am ready to wire up my layout.
I am planning to make all of my points moterised to avoid damaging scenery.
Now, I know that you can put point moters underneath the board but can you have point

decoders underneath the layout?
Also, will I still beable to operate my layout by hand just for the few DC trains I will have?

Please Help,

Jacob

[FinnerZ]

The dedcoder can be fixed under the layout, but be warned that sometimes the screws poke out through the top of the baseboard so best to mount it under a buildinig or future building (or just put a tree or car over them). The points can also be switched

by hand, but unless you're planning to use computer controll for your points, you can do what some people do and controll your points using a separate analogue power supply not connected to the layout. Good luck.

[Brightstar]

Hi FinnerZ,

I would alway recommend filing the ends of the screws protruding through the boards so they are flush with the top of the boards. Leaving them sticking out of the boards surface is never a good idea. If you cannot gain access to the

screws from the top of the baseboards remove them and rub the ends on a file to reduce their length. The other alternative is to use shorter screws, if you have them.

Word of advice, never, ever leave screws or nails protruding from the surface or the

underrneath of a baseboard especislly the underneath of the board as you could injure your scalp when you crswl under the boards. The same applies to cables, secure then without any loops dangling down, otherwise you could pull them out of connections to the

rsils, points etc.

[walkingthedog]

Why not use shorter screws?

[Rog RJ]

Or screw them to the baseboard legs, or fit spacer washers

[walkingthedog]

Quite right Rog. You'd think screws only came in one length!

[poliss]

Screws don't poke through my 12mm thick baseboard. :-) Do poke through the lid though. :-( I wish I'd used 12mm for that too, as not only do the screws poke through, it's also bendy. :-(
Yes, shorter screws would be good, but try finding shorter screws

for MDF. There's none here.

[bocaj]

Hi everyone,
If the case is that screws will stick out of the base board I'll just put them all in the of-scene area of the board, along with my controllers, turntable and a few locomotives.
I'll proboly do some more reserch into it.

Thanks

for the help,

Jacob

[FinnerZ]

The reason I haven't done any of the things recommended is that I hadn't noticed that they protruded untill I had done all the wiring (and now one of them has come loose). Luckily they protrude very near the track and as I'll probably have to redo some

of the wiring I will try shorter screws. While using my grandfather's garage is a problem in that I have very little time with my layout (only about 10-15 days a year!) it does mean I have access to a wide range of tools, screws and other useful items (like

mains wire and bauden cables). I'll try and sort this out next time. Thank's for the advise. And to Jacob, all you have to do is to put a thin bit of wood between the decoder and the baseboard - one of the main attractions of DCC points is being able to put

the unit as near to the points as posssible without miles of wires. Good luck.

[bocaj]

Thanks FinnerZ,
So aslong as you out some wood underneath the point decoder it should be fine,
Do you recomend any thickness or type of wood?

[FinnerZ]

Something cheap (you won't see it), and it has to be thick enough so that the decoder screws don't come through the baseboard, i.e. if the screws are 5 cm long (which they probably aren't), and your baseboard was 2.5 cm thick, you would need wood at least

2.5 cm thick. Hardboard is quite thin but very cheap.

[bocaj]

Hi FinnerZ,
Thanks for telling me how to do it, i'll take your advice into acount.

Thanks for the help,

Jacob