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... --- N Scale Roundhouse Turntable Bridge ---

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This is the start of my turntable build that will hopefully work with the roundhouse ( HERE ) but could also be used with a different roundhouse or by itself. It is a 3D print. As I write this I have the bridge done and the hand controller also finished (at least all but the bottom of it). The turntable will be operated by a stepper motor, stepper motor controller, two Arduino Unos (or clones) and a handheld controller.

This is my first attempt at using any of these. I did program some in the early 80's so getting back into that. Of course the code used then isn't what is used with the Arduino. The internet is a huge help and I've found a lot of the basic code I need and have been merging it together and adding my own. I'll go into the controller on a following page but have it almost all working. Still need to add the code to turn the track power to the table on/off and to index it to the 'In Track'. The rest of the indexing will be done manually using the hand controller. The stepper motor allows really slow rotation when needed and I think I'm going to enjoy aligning the table tracks with the roundhouse tracks more so than if all of that was automatic indexing.

On this page I'll start with pictures of the bridge. As I write this I'm working on the decking that will go on top of the bridge and will consist of the walkways, track and a small control shack along with railings and overhead lighting. Post if you see this on a forum or email if you have questions (contact20 (at) purplesagetradingpost (dot) com if you have questions and I'll try and answer them I'll post the build files on my thingiverse.com account when I have them all finished (will be a while).

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I first saw the printed circuit strips shown above and following pictures on Jens decoder install of an ESU LokSound micro v5 in his Kato GS-4 on nscale.net ( HERE ) and lots of good ideas in that install besides the strips.

I could see a lot of potential for using the strips in decoder installs but also in other applications. I looked for them on eBay and some of the China sites but couldn't find ones that were exactly the same. He is in Denmark and ordered them from Germany but they don't export them to the U.S.. He was so kind and ordered some and mailed them over to me. Hopefully a more local source becomes available.

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I'll try and report back when this experiment is finished. LighthouseLEDs sells the small bridge rectifiers and says they work well for converting DCC current into DC current for things like LED's. They are cheap there and their freight is very reasonable and I got them very quickly so can recommend them. I hope to hide them and the associated resistors down inside the turntable bridge and run magnet wire up to LED'S above the turntable for nighttime illumination, although they will be on any time the track is powered on the turntable. I only ordered a 4 wire slip ring electrical connector (a mistake) so can't power them from below.

At the moment I'm using two of the four wires for track power that will be turned off and reversed via the hand controller. The other two wires will go to a LED in the control shack on the table and to one or two pulsing LED's that will pulse light when the table is rotating as warning lights. The one in the control shack will go off during that (don't want to night blind the operator there). With some code work with the Arduino's I was able to control both sets of lights with just two wires but also the reason only one can be on at a time. Also the reason for the two Arduino's is they need to be doing two different jobs at the same time and I'm not good enough to figure out how to do that with one Arduino. They are cheap so I took the easy way out and have the two talking to each other to both rotate the table and control the lights at the same time. More on all that on a subsequent page.

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Above and ( HERE ) is a YouTube of the turntable operating via the Arduino's. I now have it operating the the handheld control and will get that up soon.

The files to print the bridge or on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ).

You can find all the turntable files on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ).

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