Cheers Geoff you beat me to it, just done that as a split sched, down to tt yes successor tt to down.  :Happy 

Geoff there is no reason for not using the up block its early days and was using it purely for test. When i get going properly it would look good having a loco shunting to the TT from UP and a train arriving and passing through the down line more visual interest.

Thanks Geoff hope you are enjoying it..i am.

JD can have a chill on return from his opening day and have few more snifters!

Its certainly a cracking start, and seems like a very easy solution. I am impressed that TC seems to do all from the TT operations tab really chuffed. I guess there is no need for a TT hardware to be anymore complicated than a unique DCC address for each potential exit/entry.

I will put it on my layout and lets have casual video tomorrow.

Put the Heljan down for Christmas

 

As usual i have gone several steps ahead of myself.

Ok all Traincontrollers, i have developed, imo, a complex schedule to run in simulator which will form the basis of my terminus operations. I hope this will be able to run perpetually!

It features terminus operations, both in the station and fiddle yard, with loco exchanges using join and seperate commands, runrounds  and of course the Heljan going through its paces doing 180's.

i think this was my main objective for TC. Obviously the fun starts when on the layout with speed profiling, kadee shuffles, magnets, getting B&S markers in the right place etc. etc.

Big thanks for to all of you for your help over the last year or so.

Run the"1015 Steam Pax Preston - Stonebridge" schedule in simulator and enjoy. Don't forget to see the TT window it is neat.

Sorry guys read on the YRR doesn't open as it should, cheers Geoff for pointing it out.

 

Yes Pete, very good and fun to watch. I think you could help us though, by saying what stock should be positioned in which blocks, facing in which directions before the schedule is started. I put a loco in Engine One - because of the start up call to Engine One to FY3, but that just shuttled onto the TT and back into Engine One. I also put a loco in FY3 at the start and that did sensible things, but I guess it should have had a train in FY3 not just the engine. I guess that if I had just put carriages in FY3, then the initial listed schedule may have put the loco from Engine One onto that train. I will try again.

Sorry Geoff i have opened the file and seen the dilemma, it doesn't save as exactly as it should.

in FY3 only should be a train set made up of one of the locos and 2 coaches, also in the block should be the second tank loco but seperated and facing the opposite way like below




Switchboard should look like this everything in FY3.




The reason i have a loco exchange in the FY is because i don't have a loop to get the train facing the right way again.

The idea is to run a 24 hour timetable with 8 fiddle yards!

Just start the sched and irt should run ok and at the end everything will be back in the fiddle yard but with a different loco at the head of the stock,

Here we go the 180 conumdrum solved using Geoffs solution in posts 35 & 40. Cheers Geoff :doublethumb

This uses the desired direction of travel off the bridge as the discriminator and regardless of the bridge position very very clever




Anyway here is the proof of the pudding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1Tufrlgz4c

Well done, lads.  That must be very satisfying.  Also easy to video!  

JD can have a chill on return from his opening day and have few more snifters!

Chill is the right term……….it was wet cold and windy. Had my wet gear on until I was about 100yds from the flagship…….it was freezing……………..the party afterwards was ok though. 

Lots happening while I was away:thumbs. This turntable thread is brilliant…….you guys have done a great job….loved the video Pete and again I was so impressed at the slow movement of the TT and precise indexing at the end 

Clearly you have established another of those fundamental but unwritten TC rules : A schedule can only have the bridge as an intermediate block if the destination block is different from the start block.

Using the "exit forward " is such an elegant and in hindsight obvious solution you wonder why its not made clearer in the manual:roll: 

Does this mean that you only use the Properties Operations Tab for precise manual operation?

 

Put the Heljan down for Christmas

 
Its there already

In summary John i think the fundimentals for Heljan operation are to allocate the push buttons on the switchboard for the Heljan track addresses, then tell TC in the turntable operations tab what button it needs to press to turn the bridge to the right track, then TC does the rest so to speak. Use the new momentary push option.

Some tips now for the use of the Heljan in TC,

1.  Keep the pit clean, otherwise dust etc. will clog the running gears.
2. When switching on the layout run calibration on the TT via the Heljan control then send it a programmed track. (takes a minute or two)
3. Make sure where the bridge is sitting physically matches where TC thinks it is LOL! got the t-shirt on that one.
4. Ensure the time set for a 360 turn in TC (TT General tab) is longer than the physical turn, otherwise TC will think the bridge has stopped at the spot and your loco will start trundling off the bridge. Another LOL!

Have fun.

[user=450]wogga[/user] wrote:

In summary John i think the fundimentals for Heljan operation are to allocate the push buttons on the switchboard for the Heljan track addresses, then tell TC in the turntable operations tab what button it needs to press to turn the bridge to the right track, then TC does the rest so to speak. Use the new momentary push option.

Some tips now for the use of the Heljan in TC,

1. Keep the pit clean, otherwise dust etc. will clog the running gears.
2. When switching on the layout run calibration on the TT via the Heljan control then send it a programmed track. (takes a minute or two)
3. Make sure where the bridge is sitting physically matches where TC thinks it is LOL! got the t-shirt on that one.
4. Ensure the time set for a 360 turn in TC (TT General tab) is longer than the physical turn, otherwise TC will think the bridge has stopped at the spot and your loco will start trundling off the bridge. Another LOL!

Have fun.

Thanks Pete………….I am filing this carefully away until Christmas

Regarding the operations…….there are a number of them but you only set up the [Go to] for each exit…………are the other options [Stop] [Turn] etc redundant?

Thats correct John, the Heljan is limited to go to, i read that the more complex TT's like Marklin have individual addresses that tells it to 180, stop, turn clockwise/anticlockwise, index to next track.

But i think we have proved that goto is enough with TC, especially when TC has other variables. And i think it would be suffcient even for the manual hands on  DCC operation for the knob twiddlers.

[user=450]wogga[/user] wrote:

Thats correct John, the Heljan is limited to go to, i read that the more complex TT's like Marklin have individual addresses that tells it to 180, stop, turn clockwise/anticlockwise, index to next track.

But i think we have proved that goto is enough with TC, especially when TC has other variables. And i think it would be suffcient even for the manual hands on  DCC operation for the knob twiddlers.

Thanks Pete………it doesnt really seem to be a limitation…..you have certainly achieved everything I would wish for from a TT

Glad it worked, Pete. Liked the video which shows just how smooth that TT is. Great to know that TC handles it so well.

Hi, I'm looking at getting the Heljan turntable for use with Train Controller and can't believe this is the only thread on the internet where its described on how to set it up! (and its 10 years old) Just wondering if it's all still relevant or if anything has changed/improved? Thanks in advance.
Eddie

Reded23 wrote:

Hi,  I'm looking at getting the Heljan turntable for use with Train  Controller and can't believe this is the only thread on the internet  where its described on how to set it up! (and its 10 years old) Just  wondering if it's all still relevant or if anything has  changed/improved? Thanks in advance.
Eddie

Hi Eddie

Probably not good news I am afraid.

Pete traded his Heljan for a Fleischmann shortly after this series of Posts.

I did buy my Heljan that Christmas and persevered with it for 4 years  before calling it a day and buying a Fleischmann controlled by their  Turncontrol unit.  
 
I believe Heljan have introduced a new controller but, unlike the Fleischmann, it is still not supported by Train Controller.  As a result it has to be operated as a "generic" TT with a series of switches as described by Pete.

If you are planning to run the Heljan and TC with a just a couple of exit roads then it may work for you but based on my experience I could not recommend it for use with TC and anything remotely complicated. I had consistent problems trying to get it to synch with TC in relation to loco orientation……you can imagine the fun that was!

Regardless of TC, the Heljan had a tendency to regularly lose its memory which meant that all the exit roads had to be re programmed……very time consuming

The Fleischmann on the other hand is superb (usual disclaimer …..just a satisfied customer) Works seamlessly with TC and has prove completely trouble free. There is a video on my thread I can dig out if you wish.

Best wishes

HI not been around for a long while and unfortunately no longer have the layout I don't have the real estate.
John great to see you still about I must and will catch up on Granby, sincerely hope you are well.

I have just ebayed all my kit and was pleasantly surprised there is still a lot interest in TC.

Eddie, John is bang on about the Heljan, a good price point but far too fickle for use with TC. The Fleischmann in my experience worked faultlessly when combined with the Littfinski LDT TT DEC.

en:tt-dec [LDT]

In provided smooth transition between tracks in any direction and I suspect was designed with a Fleischmann TT. It will work with either the long to short TT. Here is a video of me playing with the TT. The clicking noise is the relay on the TT motor assembly.

Thanks guys for taking the time to reply, I’ll definitely take a look at the Fleischmann, I always thought it looked a little unrealistic, plastic….but I suppose some weathering could fix that 🙂 Eddie

[yt]fGihvfuo54g[/yt]

I have weathered mine so its not too obvious…….the mechanism is a bit clunky but I will settle for that in return for total reliability

Thanks, thats really nice! Yes I agree that reliability is key with Train Controller, other wise things can messy if you are not paying attention :-)  So all I would need is the Turntable and the LDT controller. Is there anything else I need to know or is it reasonably straight forward. I do have a largish layout all controlled by TC so know the software well. After a two year period of hardy any work on the layout (new girlfriend) I'm thinking Christmas is the ideal time to get back on it.Cheers Eddie

Glad you liked the video.

If you havent bought the LDT  yet you might want to consider the Fleischman Turn Control unit instead……..its a bit more expensive but very good……..I know some users have had problems with Traincontroller and the LDT unit. Turn Control integrates seamlessly with TC. If I use Turn Control to manually move the TT the next time I boot up RR&Co the TT moves to match the mimic diagram on TC….brilliant

Have fun and let us know how you get on

Cheers

[user=450]wogga[/user] wrote:

HI not been around for a long while and unfortunately no longer have the layout I don't have the real estate.
John great to see you still about I must and will catch up on Granby, sincerely hope you are well.

Great to hear from you Pete…..you have been missed…..I have sent you a PM