Mars light?

No, but there's a discussion going on MARS lights, several options.  Ngineering MARS light simulators are available that do a good job, and they're tiny.  You just need a source of DC to supply the module.

 

John, by chance have you tried this 3 Led Mars light kit in a PS2 locomotive? It appears to be very impressive to say the least. Would one run a bridge rectifier from the pick up rollers? I realize the light would come on when track power is applied.The PS2 wiring harness can be intimidating with very limited knowledge of electronics.

I have one of each, but I've only tried the single LED model so far.  I want to build a proper 3-light group to test the three light model.

 

To power them, you'll likely want a bridge rectifier, capacitor, and a regulator.  Too much voltage would likely cook them.

 

You could use a logic relay to power them only when the front headlight was on, which is probably how I'd run them if I couldn't tap power directly.  For a Lionel rig, there's enough power to the headlight to run them directly.  For MTH PS/2, I believe you should be able to do so as well if you only have a single headlight without the MARS light.

John, You have got further than I have with trying the Ngineering products but I have also got one of their N8101 power supply boards, which is advertised as being able to convert AC track power up to 16 volts to drive either the single or triple light Mars simulator boards.

 

When I measure track voltage with an engine on the rails it is seldom above 14 volts and I wonder whether the N8101 board would be suitable for 3rail use? It has a bridge rectifier and capacitor. I had not thought of wiring it to the headlight although presumably that is already DC powered and stepped down to 5 or 6 volts. Of course there is still the issue of providing a method of getting the Mars light to go on only when the loco is moving forward.

I think the board is pretty flexible.  The Lionel TMCC headlight is DC (sort of), but I'd use a diode anyway.  You get about 10-12 volts from the TMCC R2LC, the PS/2 boards have 6V bulbs, I'm not sure what the Legacy locomotives have, most have LED headlights so they're probably not suitable for driving this board.

 

Their suggested connection to the track is a bridge rectifier and a capacitor, so they obviously have regulation on-board.  I'd think 10-12 VDC would work just fine, that's readily available from the track pickups with a little work.

 

Maybe tomorrow I'll dig it back out and see what the low voltage is.

 

 

If someone figures out the the means to install the 3 light Ngineering simulator, I would love the know the key.  I was going to attempt it myself but haven't had the time.

 

The video is very impressive.

 

Divejuice - REJ- I thought the Lionel Alco PA's came with a Mars light in the upper headlight housing like the one in this video.

 

I don't think installing the 3-light Ngineering MARS light unit is all that difficult.  First, you need a source of DC power, that applies to any of them. 

 

My plan for the 3-light unit is to use three 2mm post LED's and extend them with a short fiber-optic pipe to make a triangular grouping inside a standard headlight lens.  I have some fairly large fiber that I picked up just for this kind of purpose. 

 

The biggest issue I see is having room for my little cluster of LED's feeding the fiber-optic strands going to the headlight.  You can do the same thing with really small chip LED's, but it's a bit trickier mounting them in many of the headlight lenses on typical locomotives.

John,

Thank you for your replies. This is turning out to be a very interesting thread for me.

Can't wait to see your project come together

John, you probably already know this, but an easy to obtain source of fibre-optic cable suitable for model railway use is to buy the optical cables used to connect many DVD players to many 'home cinema' or 'surround-sound' systems. I've used them for several lighting projects in the past. It's probably not the cheapest option, but they are easy to find.

I got a bunch of fiber-optic cable of various sizes on eBay for peanuts, there's a wide selection.  It's worked well for me for several projects, and I think I have a lifetime supply.

Another option that the references to fiber optics reminds me of is Miniatronics' Mars light simulator kit.

 

This is a relatively small board (but unfortunately not cheap) that comes ready-made with a single LED bulb attached and is adjustable in terms of the timing of the light's phasing from semi-dim to bright. By itself it is an improvement on the simple blinking LEDs that started me thinking about alternatives, but it also comes with an HO scale clear plastic tubular headlight assembly the LED fits into.

 

Once the LED is mounted in it, the light effect actually looks similar to Ngineering's three LED simulator due to the diffraction the lens seems to cause, although of course not nearly so bright. The headlight tube is small enough to fit in place of the LEDs I am looking to replace; also it does not have their annoying blue tint. But it does require DC power and so you're back to providing a bridge rectifier etc.

 

I'll try posting a video of this when I do my own Ngineering Super Mars Light simulator O gauge adaptation to compare with it. 

The fact that the Ngineering boards are pretty inexpensive makes my not that eager to opt for an "expensive" MARS simulator.   I'll have to get my three-LED bundle put together and see how it looks with the three-LED board.  I looked up the Miniatronics 100MAR01, and they provide very little information on the size of the board or the exact operation.  Given the fact that the Ngineering boards are less than half the price and very tiny, it's even harder for me to consider that alternative.

Marker, the Lionel legacy Alco PA does not have the Mars light feature. Unless I missed something! I have been through the software. Also I am not satisfied with the volume also. Cheers!