NJ international PRR signal targets

[Dave V]

I wouldn't kick that out of bed, and I also have Alkem PLs.

I wonder what could be done to strip some of that lumpy paint without damaging the electrical components or the details.  I'm thinking very little.

[peteski]

It is not just the clunkiness. If it was sold for $20 per signal that IMO would be bearable. But paying 50 bucks for that think seems to be a bit much.

[eric220]

No argument on being overpriced.

[Dave V]

With Alken out of the game, though, options are few.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Well, they're better than these...


But are they 5000x as good? I don't think so...

They don't look bad enough to keep them off the layout, but they don't look good enough to convince me to drop $200 per interlocking on em, either.

[jmlaboda]

Unfortunately I don't think that there will be much in the way of a cheap solution for obtaining this type of signal, especially so what with the many strands of wire that would be necessary to make the LEDs work.  Short of building them ourselves there may not be any solution that can be worked out though I am watching the PRR Position Light Signal - Chapter 3 thread to see just where things might yet head... head?  LOL...

[eric220]

Here they are installed and wired up.

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Way to go on the paint, NJI... What silver overspray? 

Apart from that, I find the aspects quite legible. I didn't have time to run trains, but I'm looking forward to that. There's something unspeakably awesome about watching operating signals do their thing!

Side note: wiring was very simple. There's one control wire per aspect, and one common return per head. It's much simpler than building steering diode trees as was required with the Alkem signals.

Second side note: I confirmed that the RRCirkits signal driver has enough power to drive both the signal and a single 5mm LED, as could be used for a cab signal style repeater. Should such a need arise.

[Dave V]

So are the clipped heads dark?  There didn't look like there were enough wires for both heads.

Overspray not withstanding, they look pretty good!

For comparison, my ham-fisted Alkem kits with only the single heads:



Oh, and lest we forget what came before the Alkem kits, i.e., the old NJI wheat-bulb signals:

[eric220]

Nope, there are control wires for all three lower head aspects. My photo just shows everything aligned for the mains. (Still working on the medium clear and medium approach coding.)

[peteski]

Side note: wiring was very simple. There's one control wire per aspect, and one common return per head. It's much simpler than building steering diode trees as was required with the Alkem signals.

Second side note: I confirmed that the RRCirkits signal driver has enough power to drive both the signal and a single 5mm LED, as could be used for a cab signal style repeater. Should such a need arise.

The signals designed by Jim in the other thread also use single lead per aspect plus a common for all 3.

As far as adding a repeater LED, you could also add one in series with the signal. But you would have to change the resistor attached to the signal to one with lower value.  With that wiring method, there would not be any additional current drawn from the signal driver.

Either way, each aspect probably doesn't consume more than 15mA (probably even less). Even if you wire an additional repeater LED in parallel, that you can add another 15mA or so for the total of 30mA. I don't know what current the RRCirkits driver can supply, but I would be surprised if it was less than 50mA.

[eric220]

@peteski I tested the repeater LED in series, and it worked fine. There was a slight drop in brightness (as expected) but the signal was still easily legible with the included resistor.

[peteski]

@peteski I tested the repeater LED in series, and it worked fine. There was a slight drop in brightness (as expected) but the signal was still easily legible with the included resistor.

That was expected because with extra 2V drop in the series circuit (the repeater LED) while using the same value resistor, the total current consumption actually dropped.

The only advantage of connecting the repeater LED and its own resistor in parallel to the driver's output is that the current (brightness) of the repeater and signal can be individually adjusted. However the current draw will be the sum of both circuits.  But if the repeater and signal LEDs are all connected in series, then the current going through all the LEDs will always be the same (with that single resistor limiting it).

[eric220]

So... Further testing has been a serious let down.  These things are just... sloppy.  From the paint to the alignment of the LED boards, very little care taken in assembly.  If these things went for about $12, I wouldn't care so much, but $50+? Really?

Here are some examples (note, these aren't intended to be prototype aspects; they're just lamp tests):







The aspects are still legible (thanks to the brilliance of the prototype system that means the failure of any one lamp will not affect the aspect), but this is just plain sloppy craftsmanship. I'm really on the fence if these are going to work long term, even just as heads.  I'm not too keen at the moment on dropping another $100 on loose heads just to test them on a collector's item TrainCat or Alkem bridge and find out that they still suck...

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow. Those are bad.

Like you said, they're extremely sloppy.

You'd be better off with the old model power ones (although I don't think they did PLs).

[John]

check these out

http://www.shapeways.com/product/S944XPXAH/prr-signal-head?optionId=56651827