Any Experience with SmartSwitch machines?

[Hyperion]

The latest newsletter from Model Railroad Hobbyist happened to mention SmartSwitch switch machines, a product I've never heard of.

I found their site:  http://www.anemodel.com/SmartSwitch.html

And their product looks very interesting and extremely flexible.  Fully adjustable servo speeds, integrated control of 1-4 machines at once, integrated light control, can be mounted in any way, much smaller than a Tortoise, and their "SmartFrog" technology (which is an optional feature that costs a bit much -- about $10) supposedly makes short circuits impossible. 

And, best of all, it appears to be priced very competitively, at least if they can be had for less than full retail and you stay away from the SmartFrog technology, which may or may not be worth the $10 premium, I don't know.  They're just $16/ea and come with everything you need -- mounts, screws, nuts, control wire, toggle switches, etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone's had any experience with these.  I'd actually never even heard of them before.  But I'm just about to the point of worrying about switch machine installation, and changing from a Tortoise is certainly a possibility at this point.

[asciibaron]

i've seen some layouts with similar servos, mostly in Europe.  the videos shows me something troubling - notice the signal aspect clears while the points are moving, very noticeable at the slower speeds.  this is not prototypical and negates the purpose of the signals - they can't protect if they are not lit.

[Hyperion]

i've seen some layouts with similar servos, mostly in Europe.  the videos shows me something troubling - notice the signal aspect clears while the points are moving, very noticeable at the slower speeds.  this is not prototypical and negates the purpose of the signals - they can't protect if they are not lit.

From their documentation, I presume that the videos are made of their "SmartFrog" model which does that on purpose.

Per the manual:

"The Indication/Signal lights on the SmartFrog simulate three realistic stages of switching a turnout (before switching, during switching, after switching).  The SmartFrog turns off the signal lights when the switching motion starts and turns them on again after the switching motion stops."

It doesn't appear from the documentation that the same thing exists on their standard SmartSwitch models.

[asciibaron]

From their documentation, I presume that the videos are made of their "SmartFrog" model which does that on purpose.

um, this looks more like a technical drawback claimed as a feature.  while the points are in motion a contact is disrupted.  there are other ways to keep the light active while the track circuit is switched.  i have never seen a prototypical signal's aspect go dark while the points move.

[Hyperion]

I don't disagree with that at all.  The way the SmartFrog works is simply cutting power to the frog until the switch is complete to prevent any possible short circuits.  Since it is pulling signal indication off the frog, the light is doused during the switch process.

But stay away from the $10 SmartFrog feature and you avoid that particular issue.

[asciibaron]

a 30 cent capacitor keeps the light lit...

[Hyperion]

Sure, which is how you could do it yourself if you wanted.  But the SmartFrog and SmartSwitch are two seperate entities, with the SmartFrog simply plugging into the standard SmartSwitch to manipulate how it routes power to the frog in a DCC setting.  The SmartFrog itself can't control the indicator, that's still part of the normal functionality of the switch machine, so you can't just have a capacitor on the SmartFrog to retain the ability to keep the signal lit which the SmartFrog cuts power to the frog.  You'd have to add that capacitor to the switch machine, which isn't exactly something you can just plug in when it wasn't designed to be there.

I'm they could have redesigned their SmartSwitch to have a capacitor on it by default which I can't imagine would obstruct normal non-SmartFrog operations, but I presume there's some reason they didn't go that route.  Whether it be cost, form factor, or the desire to not make their early adopters mad by adding that feature in later.

[asciibaron]

these guys have something very close to this... i wonder if they blocked the vII system...

http://www.teamdigital1.com/prod_catalogue/smc4_product/smc4.html

[John]

these guys have something very close to this... i wonder if they blocked the vII system...

http://www.teamdigital1.com/prod_catalogue/smc4_product/smc4.html

I have several TD devices, and they are top notch ..

[Ian MacMillan]

these guys have something very close to this... i wonder if they blocked the vII system...

http://www.teamdigital1.com/prod_catalogue/smc4_product/smc4.html

I have several TD devices, and they are top notch ..

I second anything made by TD. They have some damn good products.