Model Train Signal Cost Got You Down? Make Your Own

!: Model Train Signal Cost Got You Down? Make Your Own

A model train display just does not seem complete without the addition of signals. Unfortunately, the cost of such signals can be very prohibitive for the standard model builder. If this is the case for you then why not just build your own? You can pick up the parts as you have a bit of extra money and then when you have them all you can assemble and install them onto your display.

As an example for this article we will use an H0 scale model. At the end you will find a list of necessary supplies to build this particular setup. One warning: if you are just getting into model train building and have very little experience in working with electronic components then this article is not for you unless you want to take the time to learn a bit more about the subject before you get started.

The first thing that you would need to do is to create a base for your signal. A piece of .080" styrene will work for this size model. Cut your base out and set it aside. Now you will cut your stack base to go on the top of this. As you cut out your pieces you stack them one on top of the other. These pieces should be 4'x6' in size and should stack until about 6' in height. The next step is to add a piece of 3' square styrene with the edges beveled off to the top of this stack. Once you have all pieces cut you will cement them together along with the base itself.

Once thing you might want to do for ease of use is to sand any sharp edges off of the stack and smooth it out before you cement it to the base. When you do add it you need to make sure and center it properly. Now you are ready to cut a door for your signal. Use a piece of .020" styrene that is 3' square and cement it to the side of the base that faces away from your track. You can also add little pieces of styrene as hinges and a piece of .015" brass wire will work perfect as a door latch.

The next step is to drill a hole through your stack. Make sure it is centered in the middle of the 3' piece of styrene and use a #22 drill. If you go too fast you will melt the styrene so go slow and take your time. Solder your 1/8" and 5/32" pieces of brass tubing together. The 1/8" piece should be just inside the top of the 5/32" piece when you solder it. Slide the assembly through your stack until only a small bit of the large tubing is showing out the top of the stack base. The bottom needs to be just long enough to penetrate your table display. The top pole should be cut off to 20' in H0 scale. If you choose you can add a styrene point to the top of the pole.

Next you need to cut a piece of the 7/32" brass tubing at a 30 to 45 degree angle and leave it about 1/4" long. The square cut end of the tube needs to be inserted into the center of the #10 washer. While your LED may have to be slightly filed down for a good fit it should then fit into the center of this assembly which makes up your head. Make sure to glue everything together from the back of the signal. Now you must decide where on your mast you want to mount your signal head or heads if you choose to make more than one.

Use a round file to notch the back side of the mast and then glue the head to the mast. Take and bend one of your LED light's leads so that they touch the mast and solder it into place. Solder a piece of telephone wire to the other lead and run it through the mast via the notch.

At the bottom section of brass tubing underneath your searchlight you need to add another wire that will act as the circuit common for all the heads you have attached. The next part is very important, if you do not connect it correctly it will not work and could be a fire hazard. If you are using 5 volt TTL signal logic you should add a 180 ohm resistor in series with each wire going to an LED. Use a 510 ohm resistor if you are using 12 volt logic. You will need to add the Walthers signal bridge ladder stock on the backside of the signal mast. Also there are many masts that are marked with a letter "A" that you can add via a piece of styrene cut to shape if you so choose.

You can now paint your signal. The head should be black and the rest will be silver. Once you reverse polarity your LEDs will switch between red and green. While your new signal might be a bit larger than scale it should not be noticeably so. Enjoy!

Items needed for this project:180 ohm, 1/4-watt resistors - super glue - styrene glue - Walthers signal ladder stock - .080" styrene plastic - .020" styrene plastic - #36 gauge telephone wire - 1/8" O.D. Brass tubing - 5/32" O.D. Brass tubing - 7/32" O.D. Brass tubing - T-1 size bi-color LED (red/green dual lead) - #10 S.A.E. Steel-zinc washers

Model Train Signal Cost Got You Down? Make Your Own

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How To Light A Doll House

!: How To Light A Doll House

Doll house lighting is much easier than most people think. Many new collectors are daunted by the task but there are many dolls house wiring kits that make the job very easy and even a novice can light a dolls house.

You should start planning your doll house lighting even before you build your house. The reason for this is your dolls house will look it's best if you can disguise the wires that run to the electric lights by cutting grooves in the floor's of your dolls house to run the wires along and this is easiest to do while the dolls house is unbuilt.

Step one when you get your dolls house should be to start planning your doll house lighting.

Step 1 Decide on the location of all the lights in your dolls house. Will they be on the ceiling, walls, free standing or table lights? You don't have to purchase all the lights at this point but you need to decide on the quantity you will be using and where they will be situated. The quantity of lights you use determines what transformer and socket board you use for your doll house lighting.

Step 2 One you have decided on the lights for your dolls house you are ready to get your transformer and wiring. To determine what transformer you need count up the number of bulbs that will be used in your dolls house lighting. Remember that this is the number of bulbs and not the number of lights, so a three armed tulip light will count as three bulbs.

Step 3 Once you have your socket board it is time to decide where it will be positioned. This is the heart of your doll house lighting system and should be placed somewhere that is easily accessible. For front opening dolls houses the best place is on the back of the house positioned centrally and at the bottom. Once you have done this stick your socket board to the doll house, most boards have adhesive tape attached but you could use double sided tape.

Step 4 Once you have drilled your holes you need to position your lights. If you are using a ceiling roses remember to put these in place first you can stick these down with wood or PVA glue.

Before you can run the wire from the lights through their respective holes and to the socket board you will have to remove the plug. To do this pull out the two pins with a pair of pliers and pull on the wire, the plug should slip off. You can now feed the wire through the holes and along the wire grooves.

Next stick the light in place using its adhesive pad, never use glue. You should also hold the wire in place along its route to the back of the house using masking tape.

Step 5 Plug each light into the socket board and tidy up the wires by masking taping them to the back of the house.

How To Light A Doll House

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Model Train Hobby Shops - The Hobbyist's Best Choice

!: Model Train Hobby Shops - The Hobbyist's Best Choice

Becoming involved with a hobby which is as challenging as model railroading is can seem overwhelming if you are a beginner. This is a hobby where the novice will quickly discover that there are a number of skill sets which they will have to master, and a new vocabulary directly associated with model trains that is a must to learn. However, if there is a draw to this hobby these are the special qualities about model railroading which make it one of the more popular hobbies in the world.

In fact, the interest in model trains is constantly on the rise, and it captures the attention of people from every walk of life, age, and gender. There is a shared concern among new hobbyist that this is a hobby which can become expensive, and in some ways this has the potential for being true. Holding costs down is frequently an important issue for the inexperienced hobbyist, and one way to accomplish this goal is to make your purchases at a model train hobby shop rather than a regular hobby shop.

If you are determined to shop for your model trains and accessories at your local hobby store the well known caveat "let the buyer beware" certainly applies. It isn't that the employees of these stores aren't well intentioned. The problem is that their knowledge about this hobby is more often than not of a limited nature. After all, they deal with more than one hobby in dealing with their customers, and expecting them to have the ability to answer specific questions about model railroading isn't a reasonable expectation. Remember that the objective of any sales person is to sell as many of their products as they possibly can, and that will in all probability cause you to spend money that you may not have to if you make the mistake of going to a hobby store for you needs.

When you visit a model train hobby shop, you can rely on the fact that you'll be interacting with an employee who has in depth knowledge about model trains, and who is also quite willing to be of assistance.

Before you ever consider buying anything for your future model train layout you should address a other few issues first. Research and good planning is and will continue to be the key to being a successful model railroader, and in knowing this there a few things you should decide before purchasing anything.

For example, are you going to buy a ready made model train set or are you going to build your model train layout from the ground up? If you buy a ready made kit and you have future plans for expanding your layout you'll encounter some troubling problems. It is true that your kit may have everything you'll need to get started but when you decide to expand, one of the first things you may discover is that your transformer doesn't have the ability to power your trains. Although it may have been unintentional, you just set yourself up to incur an additional expense. The problem here is that advanced transformers are not inexpensive. Additionally, you may be planning a model train layout that is entirely to big, both for the space you have available and your budget.

These are just two of the problems that you may end up dealing with and both will cost you more money. The best advice is to do thorough research before committing to anything related to your model train layout, and when your satisfied with the results of your efforts, it is then time to visit a model train hobby shop. At the very least, even if your sales person is very knowledgeable, you'll also be armed with the knowledge that will help you make the best decisions for your initial purchases.

Model Train Hobby Shops - The Hobbyist's Best Choice

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solar ability 3d animation

!: solar ability 3d animation

This 3D video animation shows how we gather concentrated solar power from the sun through the help of heliostats (or reflected mirrors) which track the suns motion. It shows the basic process from collecting power from the sun and sending the resulting electricity through a step-up transformer and sent down power lines. www.imaker.ca http www.technical3danimation.com

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Power Bright VC1000W Voltage Transformer 1000 Watt Step Up/Down 110 Volt - 220 Volt

!: Cheaper Power Bright VC1000W Voltage Transformer 1000 Watt Step Up/Down 110 Volt - 220 Volt fast

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This is a voltage converter or transformer that can be used as a step up transformer in 110/120 volt countries or as a step down transformer in 220/230/240 volt countries. This heavy duty voltage transformer can be used for continuous duty. It will convert voltages of 220-240 volts to 110-120 and will also convert voltages from 110-120 to 220-240 volts.

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Linear Power VS Switching Power Supplies

!: Linear Power VS Switching Power Supplies

Choosing a power supply is one of the most important steps when building a customized computer. Since the building of customized computers have risen in popularity due largely to the gaming community as well as computer enthusiasts, it is important to understand how to choose a power supply for the ensuing stroke of genius that is created as a portal to the Internet. Without the heartbeat of electricity, and a steady stream that can handle the power built into a custom computer, even the best designed customized computers fall into the land of permanent rest.

Linear and switching power supplies are options as well as the uninterrupted power supply variety. The choice comes down to what you need for your particular computer and the amount of voltage necessary to run your new source of pride and joy.

Linear power supply is seldom the answer for customized computer. These types of energy supply require very large transformers and are extremely heavy. Unless you are a body building champion with a need to prove yourself, linear power is probably not what you want at approximately one pound per ampere. Add to that the necessity of large heat sinks to dissipate energy loss and an efficiency of about 50%, linear power options are simply too cumbersome and inefficient to meet the needs of most home computer building purposes.

Most enthusiasts choose something in the switching power supplies category since they want a computer-not a weight lifting championship. There is higher production costs involved, but these options are lighter weight and smaller-meaning they will fit in your house. Another advantage is that these power supplies are about 70-90% efficient. Since the efficient running of your computer is generally the goal, this increase in efficiency has a big pull for power supply choice.

While this sounds confusing, it really isn't. Switching power supplies use AC voltage-120V or 220V-which is generally what a house is equipped to handle anyway. There isn't any sophisticated equipment that you have to have wired into your house for its use. The main difference in the power supply needed comes in choosing the power factor correction and not in changing your plugs and house wiring to be able to use a switching power supply.

You may, however, have to increase your breaker capacity if you already have too much depending upon them when you plug your newest creation in, but that is to be expected with anything you add that uses the electrical circuits available in the average home. Another necessity is protecting your computer from power surges with a properly designed surge protector. Otherwise, there isn't much you have to do to prepare for your power supply choice.

If you are still confused, simply call up your local computer store and ask. Many of the employees in the stores can help you decide and find what you need. Always consider asking a professional computer tech who has experiencing in networking and other hardware areas of computers for the added security of getting the correct information and helpful recommendations that can make your experience with powering your computer an enjoyable one.

Linear Power VS Switching Power Supplies

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