{"id":1370,"date":"2017-12-03T18:43:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T17:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/?p=1370"},"modified":"2024-10-01T14:02:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T13:02:03","slug":"2017-del-11-naeste-etage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/?p=1370","title":{"rendered":"2017 del 11 – N\u00e6ste etage design, Heljan MX, str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

3. december<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nu skal der til at ske noget med hensyn til at f\u00e5 selve skinnelegemet gjort f\u00e6rdig. Jeg mangler paradesporet og lokalbanen SVJ – Skive Vestsalling Jernbane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Det er hele m\u00f8llen – t\u00f8mrerarbejde, str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere + S88, servoer i de nye sporskifter, nivellering, pr\u00f8vek\u00f8rsel osv. osv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T\u00f8mrerarbejde f\u00f8rst.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Parade\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Paradesporet bliver ganske enkelt skruet fast med nogle st\u00e5lvinkler. Og jeg s\u00e6tter en lille sp\u00e5npladeklods oven p\u00e5 hver vinkel, s\u00e5 jeg har noget at skrue den 6 mm tynde krydsfinerplade fast i.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"SVJ\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_2\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_1\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_4\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
\n
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_3\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

SVJ er lidt mere besv\u00e6rligt at konstruere, fordi det skal klodses op, der skal laves h\u00e6ldninger og det skal samtidig v\u00e6re grundlaget for landskabsbyggeri p\u00e5 aftagelige moduler osv.. Jeg har lavet mig et par konstruktionstegninger:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S\u00e5 nu er det s\u00e5dan set bare et sp\u00f8rgsm\u00e5l om at f\u00e5 tid. Det bliver nok ikke p\u00e5 denne side af jul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For jeg har kun 10 minutter af gangen til modeltog. Og det er bare ikke nok, n\u00e5r der skal bygges. Der m\u00e5 n\u00f8dvendigvis v\u00e6re halve dage, hvor jeg kan koncentrere mig om det.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mellemtiden er der kommet komponenter hjem fra Kina til str\u00f8mf\u00f8lerne. Det har taget op til 59 dage – helt sikkert i den danske told for de 56 dages vedkommende. Men s\u00e5dan er det.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endvidere har jeg f\u00e5et optaget en lille video med mit SQ8 kamera (se separat side), hvor jeg satte kameraet fast med en god klat “elefantsnot” p\u00e5 et lokomotiv, og s\u00e5 ellers k\u00f8rte banen rundt. Det er ikke jordens bedste opl\u00f8sning, og farvegengivelsen er ogs\u00e5 set bedre. Men man kan godt se, hvordan en lokof\u00f8rer ville opleve turen, s\u00e5 det er meget sjovt. Og det har kun kostet mig 8,55 Euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En anden \u201clille\u201d ting, jeg har tumlet lidt med, er endnu et Heljan k\u00f8b. Min undskyldning er, at jeg manglede et MX lokomotiv, og kun Heljan kan levere et, der kan k\u00f8re i de sn\u00e6vre R1 kurver. Godt nok er mine erfaringer fra Heljan IC3 <\/a>toget ikke udtalt positive. Men RC-kongen havde et godt tilbud p\u00e5 en Heljan MX. Cirka 30% rabat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeg havde mine tvivl, og derfor unders\u00f8gte jeg sagen lidt p\u00e5 forh\u00e5nd. Lokomotivet har ingen h\u00e6fteringe, og derfor ved jeg, at nogen har skiftet aksler og hjul ud med dem fra Hobbytrades ME. Problemet er bare, at de ikke kan skaffes mere. Og op til flere forhandlere fik mig overbevist om, at det ikke er et problem. Men det er det. Read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeg k\u00f8bte lokomotivet. Og det blev leveret meget hurtigt. Vinduesviskerne var til min store gl\u00e6de monterede. Det har jeg ellers l\u00e6st om, at folk havde store kvaler med selv at skulle g\u00f8re. Og lokomotivet er af nyeste generation og derfor udstyret med b\u00e5de ESU LokSound 4.0 og kortkoblingskulisser. S\u00e5 langt s\u00e5 godt. Lyden er god, selvom det vist nok er MY og ikke MX lyd. Det tager sikkert pippet fra nogen, men jeg kender ikke forskellen, s\u00e5 jeg er lidt ligeglad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Min bane er – som n\u00e6vnt efterh\u00e5nden nogen gange – fra cirka 1987. Derfor skal der v\u00e6re sneplove og ikke sk\u00f8rter p\u00e5 min MXer. S\u00e5 det var jo \u201cbare\u201d at montere dem. I den medf\u00f8lgende vejledning st\u00e5r der en s\u00e6tning om, at man s\u00e6tter plove eller sk\u00f8rter (begge dele f\u00f8lger med i kassen) fast bag p\u00e5 pufferne. Der st\u00e5r ikke, at det er n\u00e6sten umuligt at g\u00f8re. Men det er det. Det lykkedes dog vha. b\u00e5de vold, skruetr\u00e6kker, sandpapir og opvaskemiddel. Sandpapiret brugte jeg til forsigtigt at afrunde kanten p\u00e5 \u201cstilken\u201d af pufferne. Opvaskemidlet til at sm\u00f8re stilkene, s\u00e5 de netop lod sig proppe ind i hullerne i plovene. Volden til at skubbe pufferne ind i hullerne i plovene. Og skruetr\u00e6kkeren til at holde igen \/ skubbe bag p\u00e5 plovene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Og kunne lokomotivet s\u00e5 k\u00f8re? Nej. Det kortsluttede, s\u00e5 ECOS\u2019en slog fra, n\u00e5r sl\u00e6beskoen skulle pasere et sporskifte. Det problem l\u00f8ste jeg ved at lade lokomotivet st\u00e5 med en elastik omkring hver ende af sl\u00e6beskoen, s\u00e5 sl\u00e6beskoen nu sidder lige og ret t\u00e6t op mod bunden af bogien. N\u00e6ste problem var, at lokomotivet afsporede. Dette, fandt jeg ud af, skyldtes, at den koblingskulisse, der sidder i den ende, hvor sl\u00e6beskoen sidder, ikke sad rigtigt. Det bet\u00f8d, at bogien ikke kunne dreje frit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tilbage har jeg to problemer (se ogs\u00e5 forts\u00e6ttelse 28\/2-2018):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Lokomotivet kan ikke passere sporskifterne uden at h\u00e6nge lidt fast. Det er v\u00e6rre p\u00e5 nogen sporskifter end p\u00e5 andre. Og det betyder, at der hvor den skal passere et sporskifte op ad bakke, kan den ikke tr\u00e6kke to vogne. Det er som om der ikke er plads til sl\u00e6beskoen. Bo fra nettog.dk har fortalt, at jeg kan skifte sl\u00e6beskoen ud med en M\u00e4rklin nummer 7164. Den skulle fylde en anelse mindre. H\u00e6fteringe ville dog nok v\u00e6re en endnu bedre l\u00f8sning. Men der kan som n\u00e6vnt ikke f\u00e5s hjul med h\u00e6fteringe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Man kan umuligt f\u00e5 nogen som helst kobling til at fungere sammen med ploven. Slet ikke en Fleishmann Profi kobling. Og ikke en gang de medf\u00f8lgende b\u00f8jlekoblinger. Enten monterer jeg sk\u00f8rter i stedet for plovene. Eller ogs\u00e5 m\u00e5 jeg file noget af ploven. Det er ikke tilstr\u00e6kkeligt at klippe og file i koblingen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Og RC-kongen har glimret ved ikke at svare p\u00e5 e-mails efter k\u00f8bet (han kunne godt svare p\u00e5 sp\u00f8rgsm\u00e5l f\u00f8r k\u00f8bet), og senest ved at n\u00e6gte at sende mig en returlabel, da jeg troede at det med afsporingerne ikke var noget, jeg selv kunne fikse. Og det p\u00e5 trods af, at en returlabel i forbindelse med en reklamation if\u00f8lge e-m\u00e6rket<\/a> er \u201clige s\u00e5 almindeligt som b\u00f8f i en burger\u201d. S\u00e5 et godt r\u00e5d: Hvis du k\u00f8ber et Heljan produkt, s\u00e5 g\u00f8r det hos din lokale forhandler.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"GM-litraAB\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Og s\u00e5 er der den r\u00f8de farve p\u00e5 Heljan versus Mck produkter. Jeg har l\u00e6st her<\/a> at  Heljan farven (RAL 3003) er den DSB faktisk anvendte, mens Mck farven (RAL 3002) skal ligne farven efter nogle \u00e5r med regn, vind og solskin:Sagen er bare, at de er forskellige og giver brogede togstammer. Men det var togstammerne p\u00e5 den anden side ogs\u00e5 i virkeligheden:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"RAL3002vs3002\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

17. december<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nu lader jeg det rullende materiel v\u00e6re som det er og g\u00e5r i gang med byggeriet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dog str\u00f8mf\u00f8lerne f\u00f8rst. Jeg har loddet endnu et S88N modul samt et print med 16 str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere af ny type sammen. Jeg mangler dog at programmere PIC kredsene og at forbinde de to moduler med hinanden:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"266E8B49-1348-4E09-9A02-52F050A8AFD5\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Den nye model str\u00f8mf\u00f8ler er en del mere kompakt end den gamle. Og de gr\u00f8nne connectors i stedet for kronemuffer ser en hel del bedre ud. Nu h\u00e5ber jeg bare, at det virker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Den gr\u00e5 ledning, der ses p\u00e5 billedet, indeholder forh\u00e5bentlig forklaringen p\u00e5, at mange af de gamle str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere ikke fungerer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mit S88-N-P modul er jo til for at skabe galvanisk adskillelse mellem ECOS og S88 system. Endvidere s\u00f8rger den for separat str\u00f8mforsyning med egen transformator til S88 systemet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alligevel har jeg hidtil blandet stelforbindelserne, p\u00e5 den m\u00e5de at jeg har forbundet S88-stel med k\u00f8restr\u00f8m-stel p\u00e5 S88-N-P modulet samt bruger k\u00f8restr\u00f8m-stel i str\u00f8mf\u00f8lerne p\u00e5 de optokoblere, der skal tr\u00e6kke indgangene p\u00e5 S88-N modulerne lav. Men der er flere meter stel-ledning (af begge slags) imellem S88-N-P og S88-N modulerne. S\u00e5 hvem siger, at der ikke ogs\u00e5 er en sp\u00e6ndingsforskel, der g\u00f8r, at S88-N modulet ikke bliver trukket ordentligt lav?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derfor den gr\u00e5 ledning, som er rigtig S88-stel, loddet direkte p\u00e5 printet, fordi printet mangler en connector til S88-stel. Denne stelforbindelse skal bruges til optokoblerne i str\u00f8mf\u00f8lerne. Og s\u00e5 skal k\u00f8restr\u00f8m-stel afbrydes fra S88-N-P modulet. Den manglende S88-stel-connector burde jeg have t\u00e6nkt p\u00e5 fra starten. En tilsvarende connector (med Loconet-stel) er til stede p\u00e5 det Uhlenbrock Loconet feedback modul, som jeg anvendte i starten med de selvsamme str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere, og som jeg i begyndelsen af 2015 erstattede med det f\u00f8rste S88-N modul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men alt dette stel-snak er indtil videre kun en teori. N\u00e6ste skridt bliver at tr\u00e6kke ledninger hen til mit arbejdsbord, s\u00e5 jeg kan teste og m\u00e5le p\u00e5 S88-N moduler og nye og gamle str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18. december<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

S\u00e5 meget for stel-teorien: Det er desv\u00e6rre ikke problemet. Jeg har m\u00e5lt p\u00e5 b\u00e5de den gamle og den nye str\u00f8mf\u00f8lertype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Den nye fungerer fint. Udgangen af optokobleren er 5 V, n\u00e5r der ikke detekteres str\u00f8m og 0,2 V, n\u00e5r der detekteres str\u00f8m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men den gamle type kommer ikke under 2,5 V. Og ved den sp\u00e6nding tror nogen indgange p\u00e5 en PIC kreds (som er hovedkomponenten i S88-N modulerne) at den skal opfatte det som 0, mens andre indgange tror, at det betyder 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeg har brugt et par timer p\u00e5 at l\u00f8se mysteriet: De gamle optokoblere detekterer kun str\u00f8m i \u00e9n retning. De nye detekterer i begge retninger. Det betyder, at det lave signal fra den nye type er en rimelig p\u00e6n DC p\u00e5 ca. 0,2V, mens det fra den gamle type er en firkant p\u00e5 hhv. 0,2 og 4,8V. Gennemsnittet, som jeg m\u00e5ler med mit voltmeter, er 2,5V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeg kan l\u00f8se problemet ved at indf\u00f8re den kondensator, som var p\u00e5 det helt oprindelige diagram for str\u00f8mdetektorer:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Processed<\/a>
Processed with Snapseed.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Haakon fra litra.dk har dog hjulpet mig med at finde en nemmere l\u00f8sning end at addere en kondensator: Jeg skal vende IR dioden omvendt i forhold til diagrammet ovenfor, alts\u00e5 bytte rundt p\u00e5 forbindelserne til ben 1 og 2 p\u00e5 optokobleren. Det virker, fordi DCC signalet ikke er en fuldt balanceret firkantsp\u00e6nding, men snarere blot et antal pulser med varierende mellemrum. Det f\u00e5r ikke den lave sp\u00e6nding ned p\u00e5 0,2V, men dog ned p\u00e5 0,4V. Og det er tilstr\u00e6kkeligt.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"DCC-signal\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Forklaringen skal ses ud fra, hvordan et DCC signal “ser ud”. Denne tegning (eller er det et oscilloskop billede?) er fra NMRA standarden for DCC:Den vandrette streg i midten er 0V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dvs., at hvis man ser p\u00e5 de to ledninger, der kommer ud af ECOS’en, s\u00e5 er de skiftevis + og -. Det vil ogs\u00e5 sige, at str\u00f8mmen flyder skiftevis den ene og den anden vej i 2 af de 4 dioder i diagrammet, og der vil opst\u00e5 et sp\u00e6ndingsfald over de to dioder, som leder str\u00f8m. Dette sp\u00e6ndingsfald over de 2 x 2 dioder vil alts\u00e5 v\u00e6re fuldst\u00e6ndig som det DCC signal, der kommer ud af ECOS’en, bortset fra, at det kun er +\/- et par volt, mens der kommer m\u00e5ske +\/- 16V ud af ECOS’en.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optokobleren aktiveres kun med str\u00f8mmen i den ene af de to retninger. Og i standarden er der lange perioder “over 0-stregen”, alts\u00e5 med str\u00f8mmen g\u00e5ende fra h\u00f8jre til venstre gennem dioderne p\u00e5 diagrammet, og dermed med optokobleren inaktiv. Med mindre alts\u00e5, at man vender optokobleren, hvorved den bliver aktiv i de lange perioder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bem\u00e6rk, at hvis der ikke er et lokomotiv i blokken, s\u00e5 flyder der slet ingen str\u00f8m i nogen af retningerne gennem dioderne, hvorved optokobleren hele tiden er inaktiv, uanset hvordan den vender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

28. december<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

S\u00e5 er de gamle str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere bygget om, og JMRI Warrants fungerer igen, fordi JMRI nu igen f\u00e5r at vide hvilke blokke, der er optaget.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"E433328A-9ECC-470C-AFB8-E096DAC6C6A1\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Jeg har rykket banen ud fra v\u00e6ggen og savet de f\u00f8rste tr\u00e6stykker, s\u00e5 jeg kan f\u00e5 bygget sidste halv-etage p\u00e5 banen. Her er lidt af det sat p\u00e5 med skruetvinger:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29. december<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"E94FE523-A31C-485D-AF4B-D1D2A56D7DE9\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"C82157CD-210A-43BF-A45E-6A68AD526CB5\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Den yderste underst\u00f8ttelse er n\u00e6sten f\u00e6rdig. Og den inderste er mokket op med skruetvinger. Det er lidt sp\u00e6ndende, om jeg vil kunne komme til at s\u00e6tte afsporede tog tilbage p\u00e5 sporet p\u00e5 den nederste og skjulte baneg\u00e5rd:
\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

31. december<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"A0C6292C-7C92-48EA-BAC8-4B487DF06BE3\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"18B9145D-7B8C-43D8-ACC4-227683DFC87D\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

S\u00e5 gik det \u00e5r. Jeg var i Silvan i g\u00e5r for at k\u00f8be 6mm krydsfiner til Skive – Vestsalling banen. Men det var udsolgt. Jeg har dog nok at g\u00f8re indtil videre med at konstruere underbygningen til den nye plade. I dag har jeg skruet Skive Station ordentligt fast og fjernet gevindjernet, som sad lige der hvor de nye skinner skal v\u00e6re: <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"CC551690-64B4-437B-9E16-1D1BADE133A1\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Og med de nye skinner, selvom jeg endnu ikke har k\u00f8bt krydsfineren, de skal ligge p\u00e5:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"EE02B25A-BBC2-4E61-98A8-7598DA88C21E\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Godt nyt\u00e5r.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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December 3<\/h2>\n

It is about time to get all track on my layout done. I am still missing the local line SVJ \u2013 Skive Vestsalling Jernbane – as well as the front most visible piece of track at the lower level.<\/p>\n

It is all the way through: “Timber”-work, current sensors, S88N module, servos in the new turnouts as well as leveling, test driving etc. etc.<\/p>\n

\"Parade\"<\/a><\/figure>

I am attaching the front track using steel brackets. And I am using small pieces of maybe 10mm wood between the brackets and the 6mm thin plywood, so that I have something to attach screws from both sides into. <\/p>\n

\"SVJ\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_2\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_1\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_4\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"Konstruktion_SVJ_3\"<\/a><\/figure>

SVJ is a bit more tricky to construct, since it has to “hover” 10 cm above the existing track. I.e. slopes must be calculated and implemented. It is also tricky, since landscaping and housing shall be constructed on top of it in detachable modules. I have made a few construction sketches:Now it is only a matter of free time for me to get it done. It is probably not going to happen this side of Christmas, since I seem to only be able to set 10 minutes at a time aside for model trains. And that is simply not sufficient. I need at least \u00bd days where I can concentrate on it.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, components for new current sensors have arrived from China. It has taken up to 59 days – probably in the Danish customs for 56 days.<\/p>\n

In addition, I have recorded a small video with my new SQ8 mini camera (see separate page), where I attached the camera to a locomotive with a good lump of sticky tack and then just drove around the track. It is not the best video resolution in the world and colors are also far from natural. But it gives an impression on how my layout looks from the perspective of a locomotive. That is kind of funny. And it only set me back 8,55 Euro.<\/p>\n

Another “little” thing, I have been messing with is another Heljan purchase. My excuse is that I “needed” an MX locomotive, and only Heljans can drive in the narrow R1 curves. My  previous experiences with Heljan IC3 <\/a>are not exactly positive. But RC-kongen made a good offer on a Heljan MX. About 30% discount.<\/p>\n

I had my doubts, so I investigated a little beforehand. The locomotive has no traction tires, and I know that some owners have exchanged axles and wheels with those from a Hobbytrade ME. The problem is however that those axles are no longer available. And more than one dealer convinced me that it is not a problem. But it is! Read on.<\/p>\n

I bought the locomotive. And it was a swift delivery. To my great joy, the windshield wipers were already mounted. I have been reading about people having great difficulties mounting those themselves. And since the locomotive is of the newest generation, it is equipped with an ESU LokSound decoder as well as short coupling possibility. So far so good. The sound is good, even though rumors has it that it is from an MY and not from an MX. That might take the fun away from some, but I don’t care, since I don’t know the difference anyway.<\/p>\n

My layout is – as mentioned a couple of times – from around 1987. That means that an MX must be equipped with snow-plows. So it was “just” a matter of mounting those. In the “manual”, it is stated as a single sentence that they shall be mounted at the back of the buffers. It is not stated that it is close to impossible to do so. But it is. However, I succeeded by using violence, a screwdriver, sanding paper and dish washer fluid. I used the sand paper to round off the edges of the back of the buffers. The dish washer fluid was used to lubricate the back of the buffers. Violence was then applied to force the buffers through the holes in the snowplows while also using the screwdriver to push on the back of the plows.<\/p>\n

And could the locomotive run? No. It short-circuited so that the ECOS switched off when the collector shoe should enter a turnout. I solved that problem by letting the locomotive stand with rubber band holding the collector shoe tightly up against the boogie. So now the collector shoe is correctly adjusted.<\/p>\n

Next problem was de-railing of the locomotive. After some time, I found out that the bottom of the locomotive was not correctly seated, so the the boogie in one end could not move freely from side to side.<\/p>\n

There are two remaining problems (see the continuation February 28, 2018):<\/p>\n

1. Every time the locomotive shall pass a turnout, it hangs a little “on top of” the turnout. It is worse on some turnouts than on others. This has the consequence that it cannot haul to wagons uphill, if it must pass a turnout uphill (which it has to on my layout). It is as if there is not room enough for the collector shoe. Bo from nettog.dk has told me that I can change the collector shoe to M\u00e4rklin 7164. It should be a tiny bit more flat than the standard collector shoe (which looks like a Roco). Traction tires would supposedly be an even better solution. But as mentioned, they are not available.<\/p>\n

2. It is impossible to make any kind of coupler work with the snowplow. Especially the Fleishmann Profi couplings. And not even the standard couplings that are delivered with the locomotive. I have to cut in either the plow or the coupling or both.<\/p>\n

And RC-kongen has all the way been not helpful at all. He has not been answering e-mails after the purchase. He was able to answer questions before the purchase though. And latest he has been rejecting to pay for returning the locomotive for repairs. That was when I thought the de-railing problem was a thing that I could not fix myself. And that is even though the Danish e-m\u00e6rket<\/a> states that such a paid return is “as common as beef in a burger”. So a piece of good advice: Buy your Heljan products from your local dealer and do not try to save a few hundred DKK.<\/p>\n

\"RAL3002vs3002\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"GM-litraAB\"<\/a><\/figure>

And then there is the red color of Heljan versus Mck products. I have been reading here <\/a>that the Heljan color (RAL 3003) is the one DSB actually used, whereas the Mck color (RAL 3002) is supposed to be how the rolling stock looked like after a few years of rain, wind and sunshine:The thing is that that they look different. But so did the actual trains:<\/p>\n

December 17<\/h2>\n

I will leave the rolling stock be for a while and will start the building process instead.<\/p>\n

\"266E8B49-1348-4E09-9A02-52F050A8AFD5\"<\/a><\/figure>

Current sensors first, however. I have been making another S88N module. And I have made a board with 16 current sensors of the new type. I have still not programmed the PICs and I have not interconnected the two modules:The new sensor type is more compact than the old one. And the green connectors instead of the home-made ones looks quite a bit nicer. Now I only hope that it works.<\/p>\n

The grey wire on the picture is hopefully the explanation why many of the old sensors have stopped working:<\/p>\n

My S88N-P module is supposed to do galvanic separation between the ECOS and the feedback system as well as being a power supply for the feedback system.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I have so far been mixing ground connections between the two parts. This way there are several meters of ground wire between the S88N module and the current sensor. So who says that doesn’t make up a voltage difference big enough to hinder the input on the S88N module to become low enough? Hence the grey wire, that is real S88-ground. I am going to use this ground connection for the optocouplers in the current sensors. I should have thought of this from the beginning, since my Uhlenbrock LocoNet feedback module is equipped with such a (LocoNet-)ground connector.<\/p>\n

But all this ground-talk is still only a theory. Next step will be to actually start testing and measuring.<\/p>\n

December 18<\/h2>\n

So much for the ground-theory: That is not the problem. I have been measuring on both the old and the new sensor type.<\/p>\n

The new type works great. Output from the optocoupler is 5V when no current is drawn and 0,2V when current is flowing.<\/p>\n

But the old type never comes below 2,5V. And that voltage is undefined in the sense that it means neither 0 nor 1 for the PIC inputs.<\/p>\n

I have spent a couple of hours to solve the mystery: The old optocouplers only detects current in one direction. The new optocouplers detects in both directions. This means that the low signal from the new type is a fairly decent DC on about 0,2V, whereas the old type output is a square switching between 0,2V and 4,8V. The DC mean that I can measure with my voltmeter is about 2,5V.<\/p>\n

I could solve the problem by introducing the capacitor that I had on my original diagram for current sensors:<\/p>\n

\"Processed<\/a>
Processed with Snapseed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Haakon from litra.dk has helped me by finding an easier solution: I shall turn the IR-diode in the optocoupler the other way, i.e. switch legs 1 and 2 on the optocoupler. That will work because the DCC signal is not a fully balanced square. It is more of a series of pulses with varying spaces between them. I have tried doing so, which doesn’t bring the low voltahe down to 0,2V, but only to 0,4V. But that is sufficient.<\/p>\n

\"DCC-signal\"<\/a><\/figure>

The explanation must be seen along with a picture of how a DCC signal “looks”. This illustration from NMRAs DCC standard shows just that:The horizontal line is 0V.<\/p>\n

I.e. looking at the two wire comming out of the ECOS, they are alternately + and -. That also means that current is flowing alternately in both directions in 2 out of the 4 diodes in the diagram, and a voltage drop will arise over the two diodes that current is flowing through. This voltage drop across the 2 x 2 diodes will thereby be a replica of the DCC signal – just with only +\/- a couple of volts as opposed to the maybe +\/- 16V coming out of the ECOS.<\/p>\n

The optocoupler is only activated with current flowing in one of the two directions. And in the DCC standard there are long periods “above 0”, i.e with current flowing through the diodes from right to left in the diagram and thereby with the optocoupler inactive. Unless that is I am turning the IR-diode in the optocoupler the other way around, in which case it is going to become active during those long periods.<\/p>\n

Note that if there is no locomotive in the block, no current at all will flow and therefore the optocoupler will stay inactive no matter which way it is directed.<\/p>\n

December 28<\/h2>\n

The old current sensors have been fixed and JMRI warrants works again, since JMRI now again knows which blocks are occupied and which are not.<\/p>\n

\"E433328A-9ECC-470C-AFB8-E096DAC6C6A1\"<\/a><\/figure>

I have moved the layout away from the walls and I have sawed the first pieces of wood, so that I can build the last \u00bd floor on the layout. Some of it has been attached using clamps:<\/p>\n

December 29<\/h2>\n
\"E94FE523-A31C-485D-AF4B-D1D2A56D7DE9\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"C82157CD-210A-43BF-A45E-6A68AD526CB5\"<\/a><\/figure>

The outer support is nearly finished. And the inner one is attached using clamps. It is a good question if I am going to be able to putting de-railed trains back on track on the lower level:
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

December 31<\/h2>\n
\"A0C6292C-7C92-48EA-BAC8-4B487DF06BE3\"<\/a><\/figure>
\"18B9145D-7B8C-43D8-ACC4-227683DFC87D\"<\/a><\/figure>

That was the end of 2017. I was at Silvan yesterday to buy 6mm plywood. But it was sold out. I have plenty to do anyway by constructing the skeleton that the plywood shall be mounted to. Today, I have been attaching Skive H the way it should be attached and I have removed the threaded rods, that were placed right where the new track is going: <\/p>\n

\"CC551690-64B4-437B-9E16-1D1BADE133A1\"<\/a><\/figure>

And here with the new track hovering in the air since I could not get hold of any plywood yesterday:<\/p>\n

\"EE02B25A-BBC2-4E61-98A8-7598DA88C21E\"<\/a><\/figure>

Happy newyear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

[:]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3. december Nu skal der til at ske noget med hensyn til at f\u00e5 selve skinnelegemet gjort f\u00e6rdig. Jeg mangler paradesporet og lokalbanen SVJ – Skive Vestsalling Jernbane. Det er hele m\u00f8llen – t\u00f8mrerarbejde, str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere + S88, servoer i de nye sporskifter, nivellering, pr\u00f8vek\u00f8rsel osv. osv. T\u00f8mrerarbejde f\u00f8rst. Paradesporet bliver ganske enkelt skruet fast med … Continue reading 2017 del 11 – N\u00e6ste etage design, Heljan MX, str\u00f8mf\u00f8lere<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3650,"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions\/3650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisby.dk\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}