#Tam valley octopus iii with rocrail how to
#Tam valley octopus iii with rocrail Activator
#Tam valley octopus iii with rocrail free

In order to mark the hole to be drilled, I cut the head off a push pin and ran it through the small hole. I would like toggle or pushbutton inputs and LED indication of turnout location. This item appears to not currently be in stock But is still available to order. more info on Octocoder DCC Add-on Decoder. No frills just throws the turnouts from your throttle or JMRI. By adding this DCC stationary/accessory decoder to the Octopus you can control your turnouts with servos and DCC at the lowest possible cost per turnout.

#Tam valley octopus iii with rocrail how to

Tam Valley does provide circuit diagrams for alternative inputs but I don't know how to interpret the diagrams. Tam Valley - Octocoder DCC Add-on Decoder. The fascia controller kits for turnouts and constructed crossover fascia controllers are very hard to find. Second attempt worked great and it was on to the test bed. I procrastinated too long before making an order.

#Tam valley octopus iii with rocrail Activator

As the drill bit (hand drilled with a pin vise) came through the activator bar, it pushed off the top cap and completely trashed the turnout mechanism. Serious lesson learned - drill from the top not the bottom. The first thing I noticed was that the 'power supply' I bought looked like a standard laptop charger and the end connection would not fit into the Octopus III Controller.

Add to Wishlist Add to Compare DTX022 DRS1 MKIII TRANSMITTER 868MHZ. Add to Wishlist Add to Compare DRX022 DRS1 MKIII RECEIVER 869MHZ. I moved out with my test turnout and drilled out a small hole in the center of the activator bar. So the Tam Valley Depot products came in yesterday and it seemed a little overwhelming at first. Stationary DCC decoder Add-on for Octopus II/III. Those plastic extension were going to be nothing but a potential problem down the road. It occurred to me - that's the way to go. I saw a section about having the servo wire in the middle of the activator slide bar. Use servo extension cables to plug in to Octopus III controller ports. In order to get the colors of the LEDs correct note that they have a flat side which is corresponds to the flat line on the back side of the board.

#Tam valley octopus iii with rocrail free

I reread Duncan's (owner of Tam Valley) article in the July 09 Model Railroad Hobbyist (great FREE online magazine - with every issue online). The 3-lead LEDs and the push-button switch are not mounted so that you can arrange them on your panel as you wish. The Tam Valley instructions for the Octopus II were excellent.Īt the end of Turnout Turmoil Part I - I had installed a small extension on the turnout activator bar and planned on using the side wire mount method. With the turnout requiring only about 1/8' of travel, I need to really tighten up the range of motion. Servos can move up to 70 degrees each side of center. I spent about an hour last night learning to get the servo aligned and adjusting the left and right limits. It comes with a 7' connector cord, which will be handy once everything is in place on the layout, especially since I have a couple turnouts that will be nearly 4' from the Octopus. I also bought the Remote Aligner which will allow the servo to be calibrated while installed in the final location and with the Octopus mounted to it's permanent location. With my order, I bought the Servo Centering Tool (battery operated device that will center the servo - OK, that was obvious). I have never worked with servos before and I have to say, it took a little work but I think that was mostly my lack of knowledge and failure to read through the entire process before diving in. Can this be made to work, or do I need to choose either DCC or push button control but not both? I had hoped to add a local panel for the other octopus/octocoders used on the layout.One note about the servo and Octopus Controller. The 'R' and 'B' power connections are common for all LEDs and buttons through one connection to the octocoder control pins. The control connections are made through the pins on the octocoder, the wires between the octocoder and the remote panel are about 20 inches long. With no LEDs or buttons connected, the octocoder works as expected.

However, issuing DCC accessory commands to the octocoder via NCE PowerCab will only move the machine from normal to reverse, but not back to normal. In the reverse (thrown) position, the reverse LED illuminates, but at a reduced brightness - I am using the same yellow LEDs for both indicators. In the normal (closed) position, the normal LED illuminates. I've connected LEDs and buttons as shown in the octopus documentation - mashing the two schematics: The push button causes the switch machine to move between normal and reverse as expected. Goal: To be able to operate servo-switch machines via DCC accessory commands and local control panel with buttons and indicator lights. From: On Behalf Of Sent: Tuesday, J7:51 AM To: Subject: Octopus III / octocoder with remote buttons and lights