Rich's Control Panels

Looks like 22 or 24 ga which is fine.

I've used telephone wire for that. Cheap and works well.

Rich,  I am in process of rebuilding, and I would appreciate it if you could describe how you made your control panel especially the track design imprinted on it.  Thanks.

Nice panel, but you could eliminate a few buttons. There's no need to have two buttons for each switch.

If you use DC power for the switches and build a diode matrix (very easy), you would only need a single button for each track. Just push the button for a given track and all the switches that need to line up for that track move together to set the route.

Rich

I have some info to share with you. Give me a call 908-687-0880 ext 7142 Nice to see your still involved.

Steve H

Steve, are you referring to me or to the OP, Rich Trowbridge?

Message was meant for Rich Trowbridge , sorry for the confusion.

RICHTROW, those wires are plenty for DZ-1000's. They draw very little current. Wire size is dependent on the current you need to carry versus voltage loss. The actual voltage being carried has little to do with it for the voltages that we use. 

Rod

VERY nice panel work by the way. Wish mine were that nice.

Rich Melvin posted:

Nice panel, but you could eliminate a few buttons. There's no need to have two buttons for each switch.

If you use DC power for the switches and build a diode matrix (very easy), you would only need a single button for each track. Just push the button for a given track and all the switches that need to line up for that track move together to set the route.

Rich, is there a further explanation/wiring diagram for this somewhere?? Inquiring minds (me) would like to know!!

Bill Brown posted:

Rich,  I am in process of rebuilding, and I would appreciate it if you could describe how you made your control panel especially the track design imprinted on it.  Thanks.

Hi Bill
This image I posted is a mock-up I made with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.  It's based on photos I have of actual GTW tower panels. If you look closely, I'm even "weathering" the image to look like its been in service for many years.

I'm planning on printing out the illustration on some nice matte photo paper, mounting it to the face of the control panel, and attaching the DZ push-button controllers as shown.

Rich Melvin posted:

Nice panel, but you could eliminate a few buttons. There's no need to have two buttons for each switch.

If you use DC power for the switches and build a diode matrix (very easy), you would only need a single button for each track. Just push the button for a given track and all the switches that need to line up for that track move together to set the route.

Hi Rich, thanks for the suggestion

There are certainly plenty of ways to make this panel better. We used to have the system you describe working on our former Independent Hi-railers layout. It worked like a charm.

My issue is I don't have much experience with that sort of thing. I already have the DZ push-buttons which are pre-wired with LEDs so that's a time saver and a money saver for me.

I'll look on YouTube to see if I can find anything showing what you're talking about. Can you recommend any resources?

Steve Horvath posted:

Rich

I have some info to share with you. Give me a call 908-687-0880 ext 7142 Nice to see your still involved.

Steve H

Hi Steve
Nice to hear from you. I'm definitely still "involved".  I'll give you a call later this week after the Christmas stuff calms down around here. I appreciate any info you think will help.

Woodson posted:

Rich, is there a further explanation/wiring diagram for this somewhere?? Inquiring minds (me) would like to know!!

Using a diode matrix, you can push only ONE BUTTON to line up a route to a yard track, no matter how many switches might be involved. Whatever switches need to line up to set the route do so with a single push of one button.

THIS PAGE has a good explanation of what a Diode Matrix is and how to build one.

Here's ANOTHER PAGE with a good explanation and diagram of a Diode Matrix.

You can use THIS PRODUCT for the diodes themselves. With a current rating of 6 Amps and a 1,000 volt reverse voltage limit, they have tremendous "headroom" for transient pulses that might show up in the system from time to time. These Axial Diode Rectifiers are just $13.88 for a package of 40 on Amazon. You might find similar diodes even cheaper. Just use 6 amps and 1,000 volts as your basic spec. ANY diode with those specs will work.

These things are very popular in HO and 2-Rail O scale yards. They are very simple to build.

^^^^^^ Many thanks, Rich!!!!

Watching this thread !