Testing QuadP Servo Decoder

Last week I received drill bits to make small holes in throwbars of turnouts I built.

So, I decided to do a real test of the turnout servo decoders I bought few months ago from Tam Valley Depot. I taped down one of the #6 turnout on a scrap piece of 3/8" plywood after I made a hole in it for the actuating rod. Then, I took a small piece of a solid wire, stripped of the isolating plastic and used it as the actuating rod. I know, I'd better use spring wire to do that but I haven't got any so I thought to try in this way.

I bent the wire as shown in the decoder instructions -you can also look at a very detailed article in the second issue of the Model Railroad Hobbyist Magazine from D. McRee- and attached the servo on the bottom side of the plywood using a piece of double-sided tape.

That's it. I hooked up the servo connector and the fascia panel to the QuadP servo decoder, connected the DCC bus and I was done. I plugged in my PowerCab and the servo powered up. Few adjustments to the rotation angle for both the straight and diverging position of the throwbar and all worked fine.

Actually it's a very very simple setup. I think the only critical step is to bend the actuating rod correctly and place the servo in the right orientation with respect to the turnout in order to have the servo rotating towards the right position when the straight/diverging route is selected.

I also tested the servo using the PowerCab to throw the turnout. It's very simple, just select the accessory decoder address -default is address #1 for the first servo- and press the number 1 or 2 to select the straight or diverging route, respectively.

Here a short video I took with my iPhone when testing the servo decoder.

See you soon...