Auto Reverse Units

I've been doing some research on auto reversing units for the Tram line I added to my layout, it will run on DC. Here are some links to the companies that sell them:

Miniatronics which sells 2 versions, one which has only point to point and the other RU1-2 which will stop up to 5 points but is about 100.00 USD

http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=RU1-1&Category_Code=&Product_Count=0

Here is another unit:

http://www.trainelectronics.com/autoreverse/autoreverse.htm

But it doesn't list the price.

Does anybody have any recommendations or have they used one of these units?

Just FYI, but don't forget about the Tomix TCS automated throttle, which is in roughly the same price category.

Also, have a look at the BitSwitch stuff, might be (emphasis on might) more economical, and the modules are really flexible. They work with DC or DCC.

http://www.dccbitswitch.com/Reversing.htm

Don - Thanks. I can't seem to find the Tomix automated throttle on the internet and I don't see it at Hobby Search. Do you know where it is sold or do you have a link to it?

Here it is:

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10040736

More info:

http://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/5563.htm

http://www.jp-stores.com/welt/shop/we60120/goods.cgi?act=goods_view&shop_id=we60120&goods_id=783&cn=1&p=&cname=

You will also need some track sensors; the number you need depends on what you want to do, but as I understand it, you will need two per station? One to indicate to slow down, and one to indicate to stop. Trying to find more information on how this works.

These sensors are already embedded in the track. Comes two sections per set!

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10066031

These plug into the feeder slots, so you can put them anywhere you like; I hear they are less reliable than the first type, though. Comes one feeder per set.

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10028732

Incidentally, we had this very same discussion right about a year ago :P

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php?topic=89.0

Contrary to the video in that thread, you can make the starting and stopping much smoother.

Oooops missed this in my search on the forum. ::)

Oooops missed this in my search on the forum. ::)

I only found it because a Google search for '"Tomix" 5563' returned a hit to that thread on the first page!

My auto reversing unit came in today. After looking at all the costs, I decided to go with the Miniatonics RU1-1 unit. This unit will work between two points they do make another unit the RU1-2 that will make up to 5 stops but it is twice the price. What I was surprised about is that I don't have to insulate the rails, it works by light sensors.

Here is a photo of the unit.

Bernard,

hey where did you get your unit? the Miniatronics site onlyt lists the RU1-1, buried in other essentials! ru 1-2 is not listed at all on the site or searchable. wondering if they discontinued it?

i remember seeing the ru1-2 and thought it would be great for my tram ttrak to have it pause at stops and i do like the fact it uses light sensing diodes instead of having to insulate areas of rail. also simple one pair of wires for each stop to deal with.

cheers,

jeff

Jeff - Sorry I posted the numbers backwards, it's the RU2-1 unit and here is the link:

http://www.miniatronics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=RU2-1&Category_Code=&Product_Count=0

I called Miniatronics adn the RU1-1 unit from them sells for $45.00 USD plus shipping $9.00 USD and since I live in NY and they are based in NY I would have to pay the NY sales tax on top of it. I found my unit online from Hobby warehouse for $38.19 USD plus shipping $5.00 for a total of $43.00 USD.

Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006O96MI/ref=asc_df_B0006O96MI730199?smid=A2HUFQYBB8LM3&tag=yahoo-toys01e-20&linkCode=asn

It's a neat little unit and one thing I wished it could do is pause for 5  - 10 sec. before reversing. The RU2-1 is twice the price but you might find it for less online.

You don't have to cut any rails, the only thing you will have to do for flex track is remove one tie, for Unitrack drill two small holes for the sensor and insulate the wire leads.

Here are photos of the sensor raised from the track.

The last photo is the RU1-1 unit installed. On the left of the unit are the 4 posts. 2 are for the power pack and 2 are for the feeder wires from the track.

On the right side are 5 posts. The bottom 2 are for the 12volt power pack they provide, the top three are for the light sensors. The middle post is for the common feed for 1 wire from both the sensors. There are 2 knobs that you can adjust the sensors depending on the lighting in the room.

It's a neat little unit and one thing I wished it could do is pause for 5  - 10 sec. before reversing. The RU2-1 is twice the price but you might find it for less online.

So the train doesn't wait at the station at all? That's pretty awful…

Bernard,

thanks very much for the link. i did find it later near the bottom of their new items page in the text, so its on the way in, not out! i sent them some questions on the unit, ill share what i find out.

i would love to use this for my ttrak street car modules. im hoping you can just do 5 pauses w/o the reversing. im also guessing the photo diodes will be pretty cheap to get more so i could just wire modules with sensors and then just plug in the combo of stops that might be wanted any specific module setup.

jrm is also going sectional! the old free form layout is sort of getting old to set up and just taking us too long to do at shows (and transport) with limited members support (we are only like 10 or so guys). the new layout will have similar operational, features, and size of the old layout, but break apart into more transportable modules with track, wiring and scenery attached. with time we can expand some with new modules. the track plan is custom and we dont have any module standards other than the size of the bases and that track has to end at the ends of the each base. therefore its a sectional layout, not modular like ntrak or ttrak.

anyhow one plan with this is to have ttrak street car modules that can stretch down one long side of the layout that is mainly a city scene. this would increase our city side scene and also add street car lines easily. the RU2-1 would be perfect to have a few pauses as the trams go down the 10' or so of ttrak modules. trams run slow enough that deceleration/acceleration is not so important, but would be great!

cheers,

jeff

Jeff - sounds like a smart plan doing sectional units. I saw something recently in Model RR mag. where a module had fold up legs and then they put on attachable wheels like a hand cart for easy transport.

Since the JRM group does shows, if you can afford it, go with the RU2-1 unit. I think people will get a kick out of the Tram stopping and starting at 5 stations.

The woman at Miniatronics is very helpful, here is the phone # 1-800-942-9439. Their hours are 10:30am - 6pm, Mon-Fri.

Yeah its been a big debate here over the last year. the on the fly set up is very japanese as well as the more perceived scenery approach, but it was getting more and more of a pain to set up and really limiting what shows we could do. we will be giving up our more free form, spaghetti bowl plan, but hopefully we can keep most of the operational and scenery features from the old layout

new goal is two guys in two hours to do a setup or 3-4 guys in an hour, we shall see. hopefully we can set up on tables most of the time, but in cases we can we can go back to the old plastic saw horses we used for the old layout. we hope to have 2 or 3 cases about 1m long x 0.5m wide x  .075m high that the modules will slip into for easy transport and storage. right now the layout takes up most of a mini van to transport and is in about 25 boxes and bundles, lots to move, store and keep track of!

yes the RU2-1 would be the only way to go i think for this kind of set up. im hoping they will sell additional photo diodes or give out the part specs to get more. i could see this as being a really cool way to automate a ttrak streetcar set up. sent them an email with questions, hope to hear back from them!

cheers,

jeff

Jeff - last night I was running the Tram line and there is something important I found out. Since the Miniatronics unit works by light sensors, a main factor is the lighting of the room. I didn't have one of the lights in my basement on and it effected the reverse unit, the tram didn't stop. No problem though, all I had to do was adjust the knobs on the unit to conform to the lighting. So, when your club sets up at shows, you're going to have to take in account the lights of the room your layout is going to be in.

Bernard,

thanks, yeah we have run into this in the past with photo sensors in the speedometer we have on the layout! also had to fiddle with this some on one of our members layouts that uses a reversing system with photo diodes (might be the same ru1-1 unit, i cant remember it was a year or so ago).

the other think which made me interested in the ru2-1 unit is that it says it will work in all ambient light conditions and is self adjusting!

in any case i still like the idea of the photo sensors for use on the ttrak as just having to plug them in and feed the track power through is nice and simple. would just pop the circuit board in a box so it would be easily adjustable if possible.

in the very first incarnation of the jrm layout plan years back we had a couple of tram lines planned using a circuit that has isolated track sections for the end stops. meant we had to measure track out to the right place to isolate for the stop. like just being able to place the photo sensor where you want it to stop and not have to monkey with the track at all.

have not heard back from miniatronics on my questions yet. am getting interested if its positive for using it in a looping situation also to getting the ru2-1 for the ttrak to play with! have to start putting some pennies aside for it!

cheers,

jeff