WMRC Baseboard electronics and construction

[Noel]

On a visit to WMRC yesterday I was seriously impressed by the clubs new modular baseboard construction system, and the electronic PCBs they use to wire each base board independently.  These include DCC power distribution, short protection, Cobalt point motor power supplies, point switch wiring, etc. Most of the PCBs have been custom designed by their own in-house electronics genius @Junctionmad, printed in China and are now used by club layouts and members layouts.  Their baseboard design facilitates the mounting of these PCBs on fascia for ease of working with rather than crawling under boards.  Baseboards are also small and light enough to be placed on their sides for ease of use installing point motors and signalling.

One of the O gauge modular base boards

Baseboards under construction. Each board takes about 15-20 minutes to assemble using hot glue gun, and a further 15-20 minutes to glass cloth all the joints. 6mm ply, except for the end boards which take cabinet maker dowels to precisely align boards when joined. Boards are light but extremely rigid yet stable from warping due construction technique.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Noel

[Georgeconna]

You have to wonder if a SMT Part goes bang on one of these yokes It must be a nightmare to locate. I Saw the Layout in Camden while impressive with all the Leccy Gizmos, to a Novice the electronics set up look a bit over engineered!

It is meant to have some Green on it for the Dublin Show at the end of the Month so looking forward to seeing it again.

 

[Noel]

2 hours ago, Georgeconna said:

You have to wonder if a SMT Part goes bang on one of these yokes It must be a nightmare to locate. I Saw the Layout in Camden while impressive with all the Leccy Gizmos, to a Novice the electronics set up look a bit over engineered!

It is meant to have some Green on it for the Dublin Show at the end of the Month so looking forward to seeing it again.

 

I was told one of the reasons for the PCBs was fault isolation and instant diagnoses via green or orange LEDs on each  (eg track short, point short, loco short, broken wire, DCC voltage drop, overload, stalked motor, etc).