Having now agreed on the final name for our layout - Sterte Bay, we are preparing the final bit of electronics to ensure we can operate it. The schematic diagram was designed on MS Powerpoint and then sized onto 2 x A4 sheets. The 'box' is made from 3mm ply and as can be seen above, will be finished off with wooden edging. Before fitting the actual toggle switches and individual LED's, the whole printout was sprayed with matt sealant to help promote a longer life.
Besides the point control, there are switches for Initailising the whole board and also any scenery lighting we place. There are also LED's to show Board power and Track power.
Now the time consuming wiring and soldering of all the switches and a lot of LED's!!
The computer looking board above left is a CML Towermaster (DTM 30) which allows the whole control board to be hooked up to the layout with just two wires; 12v power and our Loconet bus.
Preparing the Led's - Each Led has a positive and negative stem, (anode and cathode) when fitted on the control board it is difficult to identify especially if you want to cut down the length of the stems. The solution is to use some small wire sheath sections and slide these on the appropriate stems. The Led' can then be cut down and the tops bent over for easy soldering later.
Here are the stages for preparing the Led's... top right - sheath applied to stems, top left stems now bent over, centre bottom - the stems are cut down.
Look out for the Sterte Bay layout at the forthcoming Poole Club exhibition on Nov 5th where we will show progress to date.
