Fundamental advice on train controllers please

[yelrow]

Before you commit , look at Morley. Superb, also come with hand held controllers. I have 2, cant fault them.

[Mountain Goat]

Before you commit , look at Morley. Superb, also come with hand held controllers. I have 2, cant fault them.

I don't have one but I have tried one and it feels nice. It looks well built and solid as well so I can recommend them.
I can also recommend Gaugemaster.

Hornby H&M2000 feels nice to use but like mentioned, it lacks power. Not noticable when using modern motors but I would imagine if one has add on slave controllers then it may be limited. I did have one once for a year or two that came with a limited edition upmarket Hornby set (No longer in production) I found it felt nice to use unlike the budget trainset controllers that normally come with sets.

But for a good "Industry standard" DC controller go for Gaugemaster, and if one wants something with a little extra bling, a Moorley will fit the bill!

[Allan70]

A few weeks ago, after contacting Gaugmaster with a query, I found out that Gaugmaster lifetime guarantee only applies to their DC controller and "NOT" the DCC controller. Just for ref.

[stonesfan]

Just ordered myself a used 4 track Gaugemaster Model Q from ebay. Don't need anything too flash at present, just something that's going to be able to do the job.

Having the lifetime warranty is a big bonus.

[Walkingthedog]

That’s the one I have, also purchased from eBay many moons ago.

[Mountain Goat]

A few weeks ago, after contacting Gaugmaster with a query, I found out that Gaugmaster lifetime guarantee only applies to their DC controller and "NOT" the DCC controller. Just for ref.

Yes. Is because they make their controllers themselves where with the DCC controllers, they buy in and rebadge them. The lifetime guarantee they do honour, as I once had to have two cased transformers looked at, and the work was done for free (I had somehow blown both internal fuses in them which I never actually found out why though I checked everything I could, and it never happened again), but they did charge a heafty price for postage which was a lot in those days, but still a lot cheaper than me buying myself new cased transformers.

[stonesfan]

Out of interest what is the general consensus as far as connecting the cabling to the track? I do have plenty of traditional Hornby connectors which I presume do the job okay. Are there any better means?

Also, have a lot of copper speaker cable, both light and heavy gauge. Lighter gauge stuff should be okay for wiring to the track?

[Stese]

My 'official' advice is to use wire which is at least 7/0.2 stranded wire, perferably using 16/0.2 and these should be soldered to either the underside or outside of the rail.

If your speaker wires are in the same region in size, they would be fine to use. Again, I'd recommend soldering the wire to the rail, rather than using Hornby powerclips if you can.

Brian Lambert's website has a wealth of tried and tested advice on all aspects of model railway building... it's definitely worth a read... https://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical_Page_1.html,

[dtb]

go with walkingtehdog Brian suggests

buy a Gaugemaster controller, they have many options on controllers and have a exceptional customer service and advice

[stonesfan]

Hi all

Just a quick question re peco point motors. My gaugemaster controller has 4x 12v DC and 1x 16v AC outputs.

Am I able to use the peco motors? Appears they require a 12v DC supply to operate. Unless I'm missing something?

Cheers