Still wiring

I've been slowly continuing wiring efforts on the layout, as I've found time for it (only a few hours per week, in this current season of life). I've got a Keller Onboard control system, and current work is wiring the remote jacks for the controls - running a bus around the layout, and wiring the jacks.

Keller's system comes with 3-circuit 1/4" stereo jacks on their keypads, but I don't like these for a number of reasons - they're hard to pull out, cause a momentary short when plugged in, and the stress from pulling seems like a bad idea for long-term durability. So, I replaced them with - borrowing from my theatre experiences - 3-pin metal XLR jacks, commonly use for microphones. The receptacles are male, while the plugs on the keypads are all female. If you're not familar w/ this type of connector, it's got a spring-loaded locking tab on it - so when you insert the plug it locks into place, and to remove you depress the tab and them pull out - not much stress at all because of this, but very durable.

Because I might someday upgrade to DCC, I researched the control bus requirements for a number of vendors, and decided to use a shielded network cable for my Keller control bus - the idea being that if I upgrade to DCC, I won't want to have to replace the bus wiring. I found - are you ready for this - 1100 feet of just the right cable on eBay a couple years ago, for maybe $60. It's #20 wire, with 2 sets of individually shielded pairs, plus a mesh metal shield around the whole thing.

Probably the only downside is that this wire is solid, and because my control panels drop down, I'm running this wire to terminal blocks near the panels, then switching to stranded wire into the panels themselves. I don't want the wire breaking because of the panel movement.

My usual comment... yes, I should get around to posting pictures, and I will try.

Power supply work done at last!

Had a little more time this weekend, and finally I've gotten all the wiring, circuit breakers, monitor LEDs, and other work related to the new power supplies completed!

Power supplies

I got a bit more work on the layout done this weekend - still wiring up power supplies for electronics and switch motors. I ended up getting three 3A DC supplies. Two will be wired to together to give me a +12v / com / -12v set for Tortise motors. The third will be used for detector power and other electronics needs. All three are identical 12v DC regulated supplies.

I'm also using an old Racal modem / computer power supply, which has a 1A supply of 5v DC, mostly for lighting LEDs around the layout.

I've run all four supplies thru 1A or 3A circuit breakers (from Tyco Electronics), w/ monitor LEDs in the fasica. This way, I can tell at a glance if they're all running, and I feel a little better having circuit breaker protection. They probably have internal protection as well, but... oh well.

Fascia paint, and paper updates

If you've been following the updated pages on my RGS site, you may have noticed that the RGS Paper page has been vastly updated - thanks to Ted Klaveren and his son's scanning abilities, that page now sports a large assortment of paperwork from the RGS.

At home, I found time to prime and get the first couple of coats of paint on the fascia. I'm using a Behr semi-gloss in 'Windsor Moor', which is a dark green. I haven't done a lot of house painting, and I've especially not used semi-gloss much. The primer went on easily, but the first and second coat of the main color were more work, and even w/ the second coat it's not completely covering. I'll try to get a third coat on this week. Also, why hasn't anyone invented disposable rollers yet? Man, I hate trying to clean those buggers!

Fascia sanding, more wiring

After spending some time working on replacing wheelsets and selling off some unneeded parts on eBay, I've moved back into the basement and have been prepping the fascia for painting - at last. Because it's very smooth-surfaced masonite, I gave all of it a light sanding, so the primer will have be able to adhere properly.

I've also been continuing to work on wiring, and now have all of the Ridgway yard wired (and have gained some skills in upside-down soldering!).

Once the fascia is painted, I'll post some new pictures. I know it's been a while, but wiring just isn't very photogenic, and that's all I've been doing lately.