Hi Niel

An unfortunate postscript to this whole affair :

I was in the process of converting to a dpdt switch before we sorted the AR-1/Zephyr out. This involved removing the under-board peco point motor and substituting a surface mounted one so that I could use Peco's switch. The peco system needs the carrying baseplate to be screwed down. Having started to fit a new motor, I was going to carry on but the screw driver slipped and now I have to replace the whole point and motor assembly. Grrrrrrrr. I can't blame anybody but myself and that makes it more annoying...... Anyway, now I'll go back to putting the motor underneath because I don't need the switch anymore.

Happy days?

Cheers

Bob

My first digital control system was Bachmann's Dynamis (without the 'pro' box add-on or the latest version). The system worked OK but I needed a console type set up so that I had one hand free for the push button controls for the un-couplers.

When EMRIG adopted Digitrax as a standard I switched as well. It's OK but as stated previously I think it is expensive and the jargon that they use is terrible.

My brother in the UK is using Gaugemaster's system. If it were supported here I think many would find it an acceptable alternative but it could cost more than Digitrax stuff. Gaugemaster's lifetime guarantee applies so the absence of a local dealer may not be a problem.

I've also recently tried the Hornby e-link and railmaster. It's OK I suppose and very cheap if you already have a computer or table or 'phone running Windows but it is very frustrating and I for one will not recommend it to anybody who does not have masochistic tendencies. (I now have an e-link and disc for sale if you're interested after these comments..........)

Mr Burkhardt today offered a refund !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the mean time; Mr Niel Wilson (Freightcars) was kind enough to do some testing with my Zephyr and my locomotives. He came to the conclusion that the Zephyr needed to be set so that there was a longer time for it to re-act to a sensed short so that the AR-1 could trip before the Zephyr stopped everything. Niel set the Zephyr for me and I retrieved the AR-1, re-connected it and hey presto everything worked like a charm.

Thank you very much Niel.

Also, thanks are due to Colin Tanner-Tremaine who performed some testing on behalf of Mr Burkhardt.

I have asked Mr Burkhardt to inform Digitrax of the problem and the successful solution that was adopted with the suggestion that their instructions either include or reference potential problems and their corrections to those problems. I do not know if this will happen. On the one hand, all's well that ends well but did it need to be this difficult ?

Hi Niel, thank you for your response.

As you say, the AR1 is generally very easy to use. The AR1 would not trip when a test locomotive was run slowly around the loop. The loco in question was a run-in Farish small bo-bo diesel. It would trip albeit with a short being detected when run at higher speed with the lights turned on, therefore needing to draw a higher current. This same locomotive worked on another layout using an AR1 with the AR1's TTC potentiometer remaining set at the as supplied mid point.

The reverse loop was isolated at both ends with insulated joiners to give the required "double gap".
The longest train fitted into the reverse loop.
The TTC was set to the minimum setting (as per the set up instructions)
Initially feeds to the track inside the loop were by wires soldered to the underneath of fish plates. I was using Peco 1st radius set track curves (N gauge) so about 180 mm from the gaps. Outside of the reverse loop one feed was on the end of another curve (so again about 180mm) whilst the other end was closer, about 50 mm.
Initially the controller was not from Digitrax but after the trouble started I reverted to using a DCS51 (Zephyr as they used to be known). Its settings were as supplied brand new.

At the insistence of John I soldered two extra track feeds onto the reverse loop at each end "less than 50mm from the ends". This made absolutely no difference to the operation of the unit. Of coarse, the two curves which were so treated are now 'damaged'.

The unit has been returned. John has written that he tested the unit by substituting it in his layout (Big HO american outline) and that it worked perfectly. Because of this he says the unit is not defective. Perhaps he is right but it did not trip for my little diesel, possibly because the current draw was below the specified 0.25 Amps, or perhaps the unit needs more than that to work. In any event it did not work and neither John nor I know why because no electrical readings have been taken.

I am in the process of modifying the track layout to remove some of the compromises entered into for the purposes of getting the Hornby e-link system to operate. Whilst doing this I will wire the reverse loop to operate using an old fashioned DPDT. Whilst I regard this as a retrogressive step, it overcomes the inability to obtain a working reverse loop module here in South Africa.

Hi Big Ed

I've looked at Kato track and the idea seems OK but where to get it, and for what price compared to the Peco stuff I habitually end up using.

I still use pencil and paper because I'm to lazy (or thick) to learn the software for something that should only occur once every few years.

I start with the size and then discard all of the grand ideas until it starts to fit (!)

Yesterday I called into the Caves toy shop in Greenstone mall (Johannesburg). They have received their first shipment of model railway stuff from Dapol and were busy unpacking it. The manager said it was just a small amount to begin with but they will build up things starting next year. They're also doing Peco, Hornby and Bachmann (Farish) stuff as well.

Some interesting train DVD's as well !

Nice to have another retail outlet. Let's hope it works out for them.