Looking for some type of lighting control

Hi
I have a few banks of LEDs on my layout - street lights, houses, shops and so on.

They are powered by a 240/12 volt transformer with resistors to bring down the voltage and brightness. Each bank is controlled by an on-off switches on my control panel. 

If possible, I would like to 'automate' the process with some sort of timer to create a day-night scenario. That is they would all come on at once, stay on for a predetermined time, then switch off for a while and so on.

I have tried a couple of lighting controllers from Micro miniatures and train tech but they are too random for what I have in mind.

So far my googling has been unsuccessful.

Has anyone come across something that does what I have in mind?

Cheers
Evan

I’ve not done much with LEDs yet. Control panel green/reds and a couple of lights in houses but a couple of suggestions;

1. potter into Jaycar (an Australian electronics store for those outside of Oz) and have a look at their project kits and talk to guys behind the counter. They are usually pretty helpful.
2. MERG will have something but it’s a paid membership I believe.

Good hunting.

I've just had a look on Jaycars site and found nothing that'd help him. MERG might be the way to go but UK is 16 quid while rest of world is 20… I don't see the reason for that if it's online.

I have all my lights controlled by an Arduino. This enables me to turn them on/off from a PC. Depending on your programming skills you could use a similar method to have lights turn on/off at different times etc. 

If you like your Electronics on the model Railway then Merg is darn good value. I think the Higher cost to world wide members is to help cover postage of the quarterly Journal ?
Members get access to a vast Database of knowledge and a forum area, all  covering a wide range of topics from basic beginners stuff to more complex electronics with ongoing discussions about using Picax, Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc. You also get access to their kit locker kits ( all components needed for a project for you to build) and other components at VERY competitive prices. Not sure about postage out to Australia but there is an Australian group so I'm sure they must be able to get stuff.

  Due to Lockdown they have started doing Zoom meetings instead of local meets which have proved HUGELY popular, with members from around the world taking part in various groups, These have proved SO popular I believe they are looking to continue them after lockdown is lifted and face to face meets can resume?  These meetings can be anything from 5 To 50+ members with topics varying from beginners courses, guest speakers on various topics, problem solving clinics covering basic problems to more advanced stuff etc.

If you like dabbling in Electronics it's Well worth £16 or even £20 a year and if you find you arent getting anything out of it you can just not renew

HTH

Cheers

Matt

Thanks for the various comments.

I will have a stroll through the MERG site and see what they have to offer.

Something like the Arduino look interesting but I know the programming is beyond me.

Cheers
Evan

I'm hoping I may have found a timer to control my lights.
It is called a 'cycle timer' and this one comes from Kyte's Lights. According to Joe Kyte it can be set to turn the lights on and off for up to 15 Minutes. Either as a one-off or on a repeat mode.



Having found what they are actually called, I then found stacks of them on ebay! I found Joe very helpful and prompt in answering my questions so I have ordered one from him.

Cheers
Evan

That looks just the job Evan ! Are you going to rig it so you can have permanently on or permanently off ? Well I suppose off you can just switch it off, but permanently on then ?  
Look forward to seeing it in action  :thumbs

Cheers

Matt

Matt,

I confess my ignorance but I am not sure what permanently on or permanently off means.

Cheers
Evan

Permanently off means broken!

 Bill

[user=1814]Longchap[/user] wrote:

Permanently off means broken!

Bill

Bill they tell me even broken clocks are right TWICE a year, SO even if its broken, its working FINE when the lights SHOULD be off !!!  :cool wink


 

Evan

Ok let me explain young one, if its on a random Timer, ( as in the wizardry of this unit) its on and orf randomly. If you pulls the plug out it's orf, permanently ( or at least until you plug it in !). BUT I asks myself " what if I wants me lights on All the time "  :hmm or at least LONGER than 15 Minutes ???  I.E. on permanently  :thumbs. 


Cheers

Matt

Thank you, Matt, o wise one.

The lights will be off permanently. When I turn on the power at the wall they will still be off permanently. Then, when I turn on the power on the unit, the lights will be off temporarily and then they will be on temporarily. The lights could do this permanently. Which also means they were never off permanently in the first place.

I also found a similar item on ebay which allows the timer to be set for up to an hour. But I think that is still temporary.

:hmm

Cheers
Evan

Is this a permanent solution ? Or temporary  :hmm


Cheers

Matt

I'm confused …………………….or is that just "fused" ………… :???: