Model Railway Forum

Hi All,

I'm in the process of upgrading my layout to DCC and have the Hornby Elite controller that is operated via a computer. So far, so good.

Question: I have around 30 Gaugemaster solenoid points on the layout and wat to fit them with a DCC chip, or whatever is required, so that I can activate them from the computer setup. Is there such an item on the market that will do this for to change the motors over to dedicated DCC ones would be an anatomical cost. I did see something out there from Arduino, but that uses its own software and I don't think that can be picked up by the Hornby program.

any help and hints would be appreciated.

Best Rgds,
Dave R.
Australia

To have points operated by DCC you require an accessory decoder. DCC Concepts have point motors that have inbuilt individual decoders but that would be an expensive conversion with your 30 solenoid motors so a stand alone units are probably your cheapest options. Many DCC manufacturers make such accessories but you appear to be using Hornby Railmaster software which I am not familiar with but suspect may be designed to work exclusively with Hornby DCC equipment.

Hornby do make DCC accessory decoders and these can be used to control up to 4 point motors each, so for your 30 motors you would require at least 8

https://uk.hornby.com/products/digital- ... oder-r8247

That would cost in excess of £250 don’t know what that translates into Aus$

Richard

Check out the DCC Concepts ADS series of dcc solenoid driver decoders. They have built in CDU for each point and inputs for manual overide.

Hi All,

Thanks for the information. Hornby one would be around AU$45 each so that would be a start. The DCC Concepts one is not shown on their website so I've asked for an update and cost to see if that comes out any cheaper.

Thanks again.

Best Rgds,
Dve R.

teedoubleudee wrote: ↑Thu Feb 16, 2023 9:27 am Check out the DCC Concepts ADS series of dcc solenoid driver decoders. They have built in CDU for each point and inputs for manual overide.

I agree with this suggestion. DCC decoder, CDU (one for each channel) and frog switching all in one box. Very convenient. This is the 8 way version but the are also available in 4 way and 2 way:
https://www.australianmodeller.com.au/p ... ctive-case

At $132aus for an 8-way unit that works out at only about $16.50 per way which isn't bad.

Railmaster works with a large variety of acc decoders including self learning types.

I have just done this using Lenz LS150s. The RRP for these is about £60 these days, but you can get them for half that on eBay.

viewtopic.php?p=45403#p45403

Things to remember are>>>>
DCC operation of points is a quite an intensive operation involving a lot of keyboard and enter button pressing. Simpler with PC operation though.
Accessory decoders come in two differing versions - Pulse or Continuous,. sSome, but not all, can be dual via CV settings. For Solenoid operation you must use a Pulse output.
Next, how many output ports are available-1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 are the norm.
Does the accessory decoder need a separate power source? Some do, while others take power from the DCC system. These are usually the ones with a CDU built in.
Does the accessory decoder include a built in CDU (IMO essential for solenoids really!) Note; you cant normally add a CDU if one is not factory fitted! Their power consumption to recharge the CDU once operated is minimal from the DCC system.
The DCC Concepts AD-S x range (note the "S" which signifies they are for Solenoid motors and x the number of outputs) are extremely good as they include a separate CDU for each output, Means of switching frog polarity on Electrofrog points. LED panel point position indication take off connections and pushbutton/switch panel operation. Power is taken from the DCC system. They also carry a lifetime warranty. BTW I have no connection to DCC Concepts other than being a former satisfied user.