Illuminated Controls for Rokuhan Turnouts?

strut Aug 6, 2021

  1. strut

    strut TrainBoard Member

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    It took a while, but I finally received my first 4-channel Rokuhan (and Kato) turnout controller from Colin. He was able to combine the international portion of the shipping with others to a single recipient who in-turn mailed items to others that ordered one or more of the products he offers so the cost ended up being about $ 5.00 - as originally advertised on Ebay. He's now quoting $ 6.50 and I suspect that too will involve a wait until he's able to ship in bulk, but its well worth the time if you have it. The controller operates as expected with the capacitor circuit triggering the point while the LED indicators stayed lit. I'll be moving the switches and LEDs (which I intend to upgrade to 5mm) to a larger panel as things progress on my layout. So far, I couldn't be more pleased with the prospect of designing my own panel rather than having to deal with twenty-five or so Rokuhan turnout controllers lined up next to the train controller completely out-of-context with the layout.
     
  2. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    Just throwing this out there... While not a *cheap* solution, you can do this using Digitrax components just announced. The DS74 and related accessories will provide the functionality you are asking for. (keeping in mind that the relative position of the Rokuhan turnouts could be affected by manually throwing the turnouts, true of probably any solution unless you have some type of sensor on the turnout itself.) The price is a magnitude more than your cheap eBay/China solution, but then again you do get DCC capabilities added to the mix. (I do believe that the DS74's can function stand-alone until you get ready to go the DCC route, but I could be wrong about that.)
     
  3. strut

    strut TrainBoard Member

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    Wow! I have so much to learn. I watched the video explaining the DS74 and didn't understand a word that he said. It certainly looks like it would do what I want, but as you say its not a cheap alternative. My plan is to initially wire my layout analog and gradually convert to DCC starting with the yard. When I get to that stage this is definitely something I'll revisit. Thanks!
     
    Doug A. likes this.

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