How do I make and wire up points to make them move when clicked?

[Chrissaf]

As long as the Peco track you buy is Code 100, it should be totally compatible with the Majestic Hornby track you already have and you can mix and match it with Peco Code 100. The 100 / 75 Coding relates to the size of the rail. The height of the rail is measured in 1000ths of an inch. Code 100 is 100/1000ths of an inch or put another way 1/10th of an inch. Code 75 is 75/1000ths of an inch, thus Code 75 track is slightly lower than Code 100 and Hornby track. You can get Peco transition track pieces to convert from one to the other, but it makes sense to keep the track sizes consistent if you can, so standardise on Code 100.

 

Peco do two types of track, 'Set Track' pieces that are Code 100 and provide fixed curves and fixed straight lengths etc. Peco 'Set Track' part numbers start with ST. These are virtually identical to Hornby track pieces. There are NO electrofrog points that start with the ST part number code.

 

And Flexitrack SL-100, each length is 36 inches and Code 100.  Peco Code 100 electrofrog points all have a SL-E** two numerical digit code as stated in a previous reply. In general SL-100 Flexitrack is a significant cost saving compared to 'Set Track' curves and straights and it has less joints to contend with. The downside is that it takes a little bit more effort to lay and fix. I would recommend buying a pair of Xuron track cutters if laying Peco Flexitrack.

[Chrissaf]

Captain,

 

Just one further point to consider. Crossovers!!!

 

If your planned layout includes crossovers. I don't mean crossovers where you place two points back to back. I mean track crossovers that are an elongated X shape. Again, there are Peco electrofrog and insulfrog versions of these. Unfortunately and for some inexplicable reason, Peco do not do an electrofrog version crossover in Code 100 only Code 75 rail. Thus, Code 100 crossovers are ALL insulfrog. This is a very minor point, but worth noting.

[The Captain90]

Jack

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As 37lover says "Do you know about accessory decoders?". To be honest, for people to give advice on "how to wire up and control" they would need to know what products you intend using. There are just too many variables.

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Some very simplistic basics just to get you thinking:

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1) Read the sections in the RM manual relating to configuring an Accessory Decoder. Also read the section in the RM manual on creating a track plan.

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2) If you want to control your points from within RailMaster you will need an Accessory Decoder. There are other's (some people say better) but Hornby's is the R8247. It can control up to 4 individual points and is designed for Hornby solenoid type point motors either the R8014 for under baseboard mounting or the R8243 for surface mounting. The R8014 is designed specifically for Hornby brand points. If you want to control more than 4 points and up to 8 you will need a second 4 port accessory decoder and so on.

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3) The wiring for solenoid point motors consist of three wires; a common return wire, a turn left wire and a turn right wire. These three wires connect the three terminations on the point motor directly back to the point output (port) connector on the accessory decoder. On the Hornby R8247 accessory decoder the point port is marked - C +. The C terminal is the Common return and the - & + terminals control the direction to which the point turns. If using a Hornby R8243 surface mounting point motor, it is shipped with three wires already attached. One Red, one Green and one Black. The Black wire goes to the R8247 C terminal, typically the Red goes to the + terminal and the Green goes to the - terminal. The Red and Green can be reversed if the point goes the wrong way relative to what is indicated on the RM display.

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4) Most (including the Hornby R8247 decoder) also connect to the DCC signal either by direct connection to the track (using a push in connector - the R8247 ships with one in the box) or connect to separate DCC Bus wires if implemented. Thus the DCC controller tells the accessory decoder what point (port) to fire via the DCC digital signalling interface based upon the commands that you send from within RailMaster by clicking on the point control display icon. In a similar way that you use the DCC commands from within RM to control your loco(s) by clicking buttons and moving sliders.

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5) The DCC accessory decoder will need to be configured by you using RailMaster, preferably before all the final wiring is connected, as it (if using a R8247) will need to be programmed first using the 'programming' controller interface and not the main DCC track output interface.

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6) In RailMaster you will need to create a track plan (mimic) i.e a diagram representation of your layout. During that process you will need to add point control buttons to your plan and assign them DCC addresses that correspond to the addresses that you allocated to the ports of your accessory decoder when you configured it.

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7) Once all of the above has been completed correctly, clicking on a point control button on your RailMaster track plan (mimic) will cause the physical point to switch. The point icon on your Railmaster screen will also indicate which way the point has moved i.e left or right.

 

 

Chris,

This is a great instruction sheet for us learners. Unfortunately electrical work is not my strong point and I don't want to "blow" anything up.

Wondering if you are able to do a similar instruction guide for a Gaugemaster Seep Point Motor (PM1). Basically I want to know which of the wires soldiered to  A  C  D  E  F  B go to what fitting on the Hornby R8247 Accessory Decoder and what go to the power bus. Have read the instructions and still not clear to me.

[37lover]

 The Captain 90,

Unfortunately I am at work right now but have wired several of the Seep PM1 in my layout although not to a Hornby Accessory Decoder. I used the ASD 8fx decoders and the bus is connected direct to these decoders not to the point. I should think someone will reply before this evening but if they haven't I'll have a look at the Hornby  R8247 and see if I can advise further.

[96RAF]

Capt90 go here http://www.gaugemaster.com/download.asp  and look for Point Control Instruction part way down the page. You can then download basic instructions for all 3 Seep PM variants.

[cliveg]

Captain,

SEEP solenoids are connected in exactly the same way as Hornby point "motors" to a Hornby R8427, see Chrisaf's point 3) above. His explanation is excellent.

To connect a SEEP PM1, you will need to solder 3 wires, red, green and black are the preferred colours to pads A, B and C respectively. See photo below. Hope this helps.

 

Clive

./media/tinymce_upload/SEEP_PM1.JPG

[Chrissaf]

Captain,

I have had a look at the Gaugemaster download in RAFs reply. Although it does contain all the information required, I do see why it might still confuse you. I am also aware because of earlier posts from yourself (to which I have also previously responded) that you are interested in adopting electrofrog polarity switching. I also believe, maybe wrongly, that you are located in OZ (approx 12 hour time difference).

 

I am more than happy to produce and post a specific reply to you, as per your request above. I will use a drawing or two with supporting text. Thus, an image moderation delay will need to be taken into account. I can't do this straight away as I have other time commitments today. But rest assured, I will do this for you when I get a suitable moment.

 

To the other contributors reading this thread, if you would like to hold fire and leave this one with me, it will save duplicated effort. By all means, once my reply is posted, feel free to comment further if you feel there is something appropriate to add, update or amend.

[Fishmanoz]

Take a look at this site:

 

www.dccwiki.com/DCC_Friendly_Turnout

 

All you'll ever want to know on DCC points wiring best practice including a diagram that switches the point and changes colour to make doubly clear what you need to do.

[Chrissaf]

Captain,

 

As promised, here is the detailed information you requested me to provide you with specifically for Seep PM1 point motors. There are two drawings. The first one shows the wiring between the Seep PM1 motor, a R8247 decoder plus additionally the wiring between the Seep PM1 motor and Peco electrofrog points as this is an option I know you are considering. I have used Red, Green and Black colours in the drawing just to show conformity with Hornby's point wiring colour scheme.

 

The second drawing provides an alternative connection option for operating point based crossovers where a decoder struggles to fire two point motors wired in parallel. I have included this because there have been some reports made on this forum that the R8247 struggles to operate two parallel Seep PM1 motors wired in this configuration. In essence, you buy an additional R8247 accessory decoder and give the ports indentical port addresses to another existing R8247. The second R8247 (clone) operates in unison to the same point throwing commands given to the first. This is a documented Hornby solution and does not cause any issues (as far as I am aware so far) with any aspects of RM and Hornby operation. It does mean however that you need to route all your crossover point wiring to the same two R8247 decoders. If you have more than four point crossovers then repeat same again on two more R8247 decoders E & F, this time using address 0013 to 0016. These port addresses and the ones shown in the second drawing are just used as examples.

 

Note: with regard to the first drawing. If you do want to try first wiring two Seep PM1 motors in parallel to a single R8247 port. Then just route the Black, Green & Red wires as shown on the drawing from both point motors and connect them to the same R8247 port. In other words:

 

1. Red wire from point 1 A terminal to point 2 A terminal to R8247 + terminal
2. Green wire from point 1 B terminal to point 2 B terminal to R8247 - terminal
3. Black wire from point 1 C terminal to point 2 C terminal to R8247 C terminal

 

The D, E & F wiring on each point remain separate and as shown in the drawing.

 

If you follow my wiring plan exactly, then you shouldn't need to perform any Green and Red wire reversals to throw the points in the correct direction. As long as in the RM track plan mimic you always place the RED throw point icon on the LEFT hand side of the point relative to the point entry position.

 

In order to see the drawings in greater detail, there are two options available to you. First of all 'Right Click' inside the drawing. In the resultant pop up menu click words to the effect of 'view image' the terms displayed might differ depending upon your particular browser. This should open up the drawing in a full page display. Alternatively, click the 'save image' option or words to that effect. This should give you the option to download and save my original image file exactly as I uploaded it, to your hard drive where you can then open to view or print out a paper copy in an image application of your choice.

 

../../../media/wysiwyg/Hornby/Forums/Chrissaf_Image_Update_06-03-15.JPG

 

/media/tinymce_upload/Slide2.JPG

 

Any further help I can provide or questions answered, please ask.

regards

Chris Saf

 

[Chrissaf]

Take a look at this site:  

 www.dccwiki.com/DCC_Friendly_Turnout 

All you'll ever want to know on DCC points wiring best practice including a diagram that switches the point and changes colour to make doubly clear what you need to do.

 

Fismanoz, your link is broken. It returns you back to the forum thread. I have just this minute uploaded the detailed reply that Captain asked me for. It is now just subject to image moderation delay.

 

PS - Have had a look at the site by manually typing in address. The animation doesn't seem to work in my Firefox browser, maybe it's an IE specific thing.

[Fishmanoz]

Note the DCCWiki site is an excellent one for basic and more advanced DCC reference.

 

Admin edit: I've corrected the link and removed discussion about the link not working.

[The Captain90]

Many thanks Chris. You information will be very helpful.

[Chrissaf]

Captain,

Post bumped just to bring to your attention a slight amendment has been made to my first drawing in my original post reply above. Nothing drastically different, just a couple of modifications to improve clarity of meaning.

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Thank you Adam for doing the update for me.