Model Railway Forum

I hope I am in the right section. If not then move me.

Because of restrictions I cannot use points motors under the baseboard and relying on surface mounted. I am trying to make a logical mimic board to show position of points and, I think, that because of the way the point motors operate I "cannot" have an LED as a position indicator. I have wired the point motors via a CDU and all working OK.
As you can tell I am fairly new to all this and may have got it all wrong, but I'm sure that there are wise people out there that will put me right.
John

It is possible to mount a microswitch alongside the point tiebar to trigger LEDs on a mimic board.

If you are using DCC control you can wire points position LEDs to the points rails, the DCC providing power to the LED. The position of the point determines if the LED is lit or not. There are diagrams on Brian Lambert's site.

https://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/DCC-Page-2.html

Look for "Point Indications using DCC." near the bottom of the page.

Hi
You can also add a Gaugemaster GM500 unit into the three wires going to the motor. This unit has a mechanically latched relay which allows two separate circuits to be switched by the point motors position. So its possible to have say LED panel indications and a signal operate all by the points position.
This is the GM product (often sold cheaper from GM stockist though!) https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magen ... gm500.html

Of course, as suggest a micro switch operated by the points moving stretcher bar and fitted opposite side of the point to the motor is far cheaper, and this is a typical micro switch example.. https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?mai ... ts_id=2929 Not the most attractive item though!

Thank you very much for your replies they have given me something to think about. I like the idea of the micro-switch as it does not require me to dismantle the points/track to insert IRJ.

John

What about a point position indicator? The sense the momentary pulse when the points operate and use that to light an LED.

http://www.blocksignalling.co.uk/index. ... or-ppi4-dc

darkscot wrote: ↑Tue Mar 09, 2021 7:33 pm What about a point position indicator? The sense the momentary pulse when the points operate and use that to light an LED.

http://www.blocksignalling.co.uk/index. ... or-ppi4-dc

They are often suggested but, as you said, they record the ‘pulse’ rather than the actual movement of the point. Can give a ‘false positive’.

What surface mounted point motors are you using?