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Post by nosubfor3 on Mar 9, 2016 5:05:53 GMT -7
Seeing all the cool track details on the net I got to thinking I would like to detail mine like those I see. Problem is I know very little about micro electronic wiring. (I'm better with pictures)It would be very cool if those who have such neat things like working christmas trees,powered return roads,lighting overhead gantry s for the start and finish sensors and the likes to create a wiring schematic and parts list for all to attempt to build.
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Post by kiwidave on Mar 11, 2016 17:03:14 GMT -7
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2016 17:28:47 GMT -7
sweet
thank you for the links
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Post by AJR on Mar 12, 2016 6:20:55 GMT -7
Man that's nice Dave!! Voltage Valley is a beautiful track!
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Post by AJR on Mar 12, 2016 6:47:14 GMT -7
I have a little to add to what Dave said. That Ebay post is current and those lights are the same as what I used as well. for (20) the cost is less than $20 incl shipping. A cheap and easy upgrade and no electronics genius needed. I've always worked with electricity but never electronics. My projects have been trial and error and for fun. I use an LED array wizard calculator for all my strings. I had to use it for the IR LED emitter gantries too. The criteria is put into the calculator....supply voltage, diode forward voltage, diode forward current (mA), and number of LEDs in the array or string. The diode information is in the Ebay item description of the LEDs. They tell you what power supply to use and usually send resistors with the LEDs, but with the wizard you can use a different power supply. All you have to do is get the resistors. I use old cell phone chargers for my power supplies. The calculator will tell you what resistors are needed and where to put them in the circuit. It will have a simple schematic that can be printed. This sounds complicated but it really isn't. All the info. is there. I just twist my wires together like Dave does also. I soldered my first string and regretted it when they had to be moved. No problems so far. I will get out my info on my IR emitters and post on that. That project was purely trial and error because I honestly did not have a clue as to IR emitters and their characteristics. But they are very cheap....literally pennies each. A new Do it yourself IR emitter kit without the gantry is $25...pre wired with a gantry is about $65.....each! I can build these for literally less than $20 for two incl gantry. Not to mention it was fun. Anyway......point is anybody can do it. Thanks for posting that Dave. Link to LED array wizard led.linear1.org/led.wizThis is the electronics supplier that I use. There are a ton of suppliers out there but I tend to stay with who treats me right and these people do that. www.digikey.com/product-search/en |
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Post by AJR on Mar 12, 2016 8:52:00 GMT -7
These are the exact specs on my track lights: - (1) 4.9vdc power supply (LG phone charger) - (20) LED light posts from Ebay listing (China) - diode forward voltage 3vdc (found on Ebay item description) - diode forward current 20 mA (found on Ebay item description) ** an LED is a diode ** led.linear1.org/led.wizIf you plug that info into the array wizard it says that I need (20) 1/4watt 100ohm resistors to be placed after each light in the circuit. It does matter how the LED is wired. Power can only travel one direction thru a diode/LED. The copper wire is the anode + and the white coated wire is the cathode -. So power would come into the anode wire and exit through the cathode and on to the next LED. Hope this is helpful. |
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Post by AJR on Mar 12, 2016 9:45:31 GMT -7
Here is the exact info for (each) of the IR emitters that I made to work with the Trackmate IR track sensors: - bread board or perforated circuit board - (1) 5vdc power supplies (old cell phone charger) - (8) blue IR emitters (DigiKey #1080-1071-ND LED 5mm GRAA1AS BLUE TH) - diode forward voltage 1.2vdc (found in DigiKey item description) - diode forward current 100mA (found in DigiKey item description) led.linear1.org/led.wiz Once again...plug that info into the array wizzard and it says that I need (2) 1/4watt 2.2 ohm resistors. One resistor for each group of 4 LEDs to be placed after each group in the circuit. Now on this project I had no idea where to start because I did not know how to read the specs on the emitteres to tell how powerful one was compared to another. So I did a little research and compared some of the specs and made a choice. The first emitters I got were too weak and had to be too close to the track sensors to work so I tried some stronger ones. To make a long story short.....instead of looking for a single emitter, I ended up grouping four together to get the stength and the coverage that I needed. I have been using these for over a year and they have performed flawlessly. The bread board can be scribed and broken into the size that is needed. I measure the distance between my sensors and cut the board to leave room for mounting in a gantry. Gantry's can be bought or fabricated. I chose fabrication. These are called axial components because they have the wire coming off of them. The circuits are then laid out on the board in relation to the sensors in the track. Twist the wires on the other side of the board, and solder. Mount in a gantry...route the wires...and walla IR emitter gantrys. No more bulky lights hanging over the track. Cheap and fun project too! The components are so inexpensive that I ordered waaay more than I needed just to make the order worth it. Needless to say I have a surplus. I finished making another set for Blacktop Raceway last year. - (40) 1080-1071-ND IR emitters $8.98 (DigiKey) - (25) JF-2822 1/4 watt 2.2 ohm resistors $1.10 (DigiKey)    |
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