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Accessories for Miniature Locomotives

4QD sell a lot to miniature locomotive market (garden railways and model locos). This page details some of the bits that are particularly useful to this market. The hand control box may also be useful for electric boat controls.

Index - This page

• Reversing 'Bell Throttle' hand control box
• Relay Board for Twin Horns and lights.
• Relay Board for Twin Horns and lights with relay for reversing lights.
• Control Leads
• Wiring
• Suitable controllers
• 36v and 48v
• Ordering

This is a reversing version of our popular Bell Throttle control, with an integral battery condition indicator and horn and lighting switches to operate with our new 'Horn Relay board'. An ergonomic hand control packed full of features!

The special feature of this hand control is that the spring returned throttle assembly gives you a 'dead-man' control. The design is easy to use single handed (with either hand) and should not prove tiring to use, even in sustained operation. It's a small box with a lightly sprung lever and can be held in different ways and operated with finger or with thumb.

Features

• Bell Throttle: finger-tip operated spring return-to-zero throttle assembly, to give dead-man's control of loco.
• Box size 92 x 38 x 31 mm packed with features.
• Ergonomic layout - easy to hold and use without strain in sustained operation.
• 24v Battery Condition indicator. A 12v version is available fitted with a BCM-3 LED in place of the 24v BCM-5 LED
• Rocker switch to control forward or reverse.
• Toggle switch for lighting (or other use).
• Centre off 3 position (MOM-OFF-MOM) toggle switch for twin horns
• 1.5 meter 8 core cable with 8 pin DIN plug.
• Control leads available for
  • VTX, Pro or earlier NCC series.
  • 4QD series controllers.
  • Other hand control sets
  • For use with other controllers, please use the contact button.

The extra toggle switches are to operate with our Horn Relay board (see below).

We are also supplying a version of this hand control with a 15 way D type connector, wired to suit the Omega-S controller to Phoenix Locos (Phoenix www site.) The standard control will not work with the Omega series.

Order codes

• 24v - RBT-810
• 12v - RBT-802

Miniature locos often need to operate twin horns and lighting from the hand control box. This has usually meant using a 12 way cable and an expensive (or fiddly) connector. Often. it means running lighting or horn currents through to the hand control box - not a good idea as there is risk of fault currents blowing controllers etc, and horns are electrically noisy, so can cause interference.

This relay board solves all of these problems. It enables you to control twin horns and lighting with only two control wires, so that a cheap 8 core multicore and connector can be used. It uses properly suppressed relays, minimising chances of fault currents in the wrong place.

The standard relay board has 3 relays (a version is available with a fourth). It measures approximately 76mm x 60mm. Two relays operate twin horns via one control wire, operating from a centre-off switch. Earthing the control wire operates one relay/horn, connecting to battery positive operates the second relay/horn.

The relay board will greatly simplify the wiring of most miniature locos - and it also means that the customer is not soldering and crimping connections. A 4 way IDC takes the two spare wires from the 8 core control cable and screw terminals are provided for the horn and lighting wiring.

The board is manufactured such that is can be used for many applications other than miniature locos. See the instruction manual

The lighting relay is a single wire operation, but there is space for a fourth relay so that another twin relay system can be implemented. Or the four relays could be worked independently (requiring four control wires).

• One wire operates twin horns (High for horn 1, Low for Horn 2)
• One wire operates lights.
• Standard board 24v operation with 24v horns/lighting
  • A track may be cut so that lighting and horns may be operated from 12v on 24v systems.
• 12v version is available for 12v systems
• Wiring diagrams are available

Relay Board for Twin Horns and lights with relay for reversing lights.

As standard board, but with a fourth relay so the direction switch wire (black in standard wiring) can be used to switch reversing lights. Wiring is shown separately. Note: you will have to add the extra black wire yourself - although if there is demand we will do a modified control lead.

Order codes

Control Leads

To connect from the 8 pin DIN plug on the hand control box you will need a control lead. Two are available to suit different controllers. Standard leads are 0.5m long but 1.5m length is also available.

• CLM-806 for VTX or Pro or earlier NCC series.
• CLM-834 for 4QD series controllers

Wiring

Suitable controllers

• 4QD series Use CLM-834
• Pro-150 Use CLM-806. Not that the battery indicator in the RBT-810 will read about 0.7v lower than true battery voltage.
• Pro-120 Use CLM-806
• VTX Use CLM-806

36v and 48v

• Hand Control Box.
  The BCM fitted in this is for 12v or 24v (depending on version)
  • 36v and 48v: The standard 24v box may be used, as supplied, on 36v or 48v if the battery meter is disconnected.
  • 36v. For quantity orders a BCM-536 can be fitted in the hand control box for 36v operation.
• Relay board
  Relay coils are 24v or 12v only (depending on version).

  For voltages higher than 24, resistors can be fitted in the relay coil drivers. Detail are in the instruction manual.

Ordering

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