Need advice – control panel wiring

[Bart1701]

For a number of reasons, I will be swapping out the track in my hidden staging yard from N Gauge Atlas Remote Turnouts to Kato Unitrack Turnouts.

I have a control panel that I use to work the turnouts, but I do not believe that my current wiring setup will be a plug-and-play with the Unitrack turnouts. The Atlas turnouts have 3 wires coming out of them and use AC power. If I am correct, Kato has 2 wires and uses DC power.

I need to get some electrical/electronic advice on how I can achieve the same functionality that I have now. I really do not want to build and rewire a completely new control panel.

My current design uses Rocker Switches and Momentary Contact Pushbuttons. The outer posts on one side of the Rocker switches connect to 2 LEDs to illuminate the selected route based on the position of the switch. The center post is connected to one of the DC outputs on a power pack. The outer posts on the other side of the rocker switch go to the Red / Green wires on the Atlas turnouts. The center post is connected to the pushbutton which is also connected to one of the AC posts on the power pack. When the push button is pressed, it sends a momentary burst of power to the Atlas switch to operate it.

The basic operation is to first use the rocker switch to select the desired route, and then use the push button to align the turnout to that route.

The attached diagram illustrates the wiring on my control panel for an Atlas turnout.

How would I revise my current setup to work with the Kato DC powered turnouts? I am not an electrical genius, so simple (and inexpensive) solutions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Bart

[mmagliaro]

I stayed out of this because I figured you would get 10 good answers and wouldn't need mine. 
If it were me, I would replace all that with mini toggles that are NOT momentary.  The toggle position itself would indicate the position of the turnout.  I would use one of those series-capacitor circuits (the "BCD" circuit by Ray Stilwell is a famous one).
And yes, it works with Kato unitrack turnouts.  It is a very clever design.
Now, you don't need two switches for every turnout, just the one little toggle.

The most basic incarnation needs only a SPDT toggle and a 1000uF capacitor for each turnout.  And you can still add the LEDs if you really want them.

If you can't find the Ray Stilwell EasyBCD circuit online, let me know.  I got a .pdf of the info on it years ago and pack-ratted it away.

[Sumner]

If you can't find the Ray Stilwell EasyBCD circuit online, let me know.  I got a .pdf of the info on it years ago and pack-ratted it away.

Here is also a link to a download of the pdf.....

https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?resources/g-ray-stilwell-bcd-circuit.153/

.... and a link to what someone did with that info....

https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/g-ray-stilwell-bcd-circuit.109069/

... not sure if I understand exactly how it works and also powers the LED's so proceed with caution.

TrainBoard has been having some connection problems lately so if those don't work try later

Sumner

[Bart1701]

Thanks for the responses and the info about the Stillwell solution.

I found this YouTube video that also shows a solution to what I am trying to do. The nice thing about it is that I will be able to use my current control panel, rocker switches, and pushbuttons. I also won't have to do much re-wiring either.

Here is a link to the video:

And a screen shot of the approach I will be using.

[/center]wire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=52164]

Thanks,
Bart

[mmagliaro]

Bart,
That will certainly work, and I get you on not wanting to uproot your control panel.  But for me, having two switches to throw a turnout is a big deal breaker, not because of convenience, but because if you forget to push the button or the button doesn't make contact for some reason, the track does not match what is showing on the control panel.  I just think a requirement of a good control panel should be that such a situation be impossible unless there is a part failure.

[Bart1701]

Bart,
That will certainly work, and I get you on not wanting to uproot your control panel.  But for me, having two switches to throw a turnout is a big deal breaker, not because of convenience, but because if you forget to push the button or the button doesn't make contact for some reason, the track does not match what is showing on the control panel.  I just think a requirement of a good control panel should be that such a situation be impossible unless there is a part failure.

I totally get where you are coming from. I have been using my existing design for over 5 years now and it is has become ingrained in me to use the rocker switch to select the desired route and then push the button to activate the route. I haven't screwed up the 2-step process yet - but I am getting older and my memory might start to get weaker someday!

Bart

[brill27mcb]

Also, don't hold down the momentary button too long with Kato turnouts. That's why their own turnout controls use springy wires that just flick quickly past one another - to avoid coil burnout. If you are using momentary buttons, it's better to add a capacitive discharge circuit to supply the power for activating the turnouts. Stillwell did it. That discharge can be tailored to have enough "oomph" to throw the turnout but still be quick enough not to risk damaging the turnout coils.

Rich K.

[Bart1701]

Also, don't hold down the momentary button too long with Kato turnouts. That's why their own turnout controls use springy wires that just flick quickly past one another - to avoid coil burnout. If you are using momentary buttons, it's better to add a capacitive discharge circuit to supply the power for activating the turnouts. Stillwell did it. That discharge can be tailored to have enough "oomph" to throw the turnout but still be quick enough not to risk damaging the turnout coils.

Rich K.

Thanks, Rich!

The same issue would apply to the Atlas turnouts I use now. Never held the button down long enough to burn one out (so far).

Unfortunately, my knowledge of electronics is not very good.

Can you provide more details on how and where I would add these into the diagram i provide earlier? Do I need a capacitor for each turnout's wiring? Also, where would I get the capacitors (and anything else I would need to do this)?

Thanks,
Bart