Avoiding lighting flicker from rail lighting pickups with DCC

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electricity_bill

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Hello
I run the Masooth DCC system and run a few coaches and cabooses with lighting fed from wheel/rail pickups. This arrangement relies on clean wheels and rails to avoid flashing and flicker and hence that is exactly what I get !!
I need a cheap away to ?ride? through the dirty bits and to stop the flashing lights. Is it as simple as connecting a capacitor across the pickups and if so what value do I need, or is a battery and charging circuit the answer?
Bill
 
Re:Avoiding lighting flicker from rail lighting pickups with DCC

Connecting a capacitor directly accross the pickups is not a good idea; assuming you at least used one suitable for alternating current it would be acting across your entire track circuit, too many of these would smooth out and degrade the DCC signal waveform.

I would think that using a bridge rectifier between the track and the lighting would then isolate things and you could put a smoothing cap and resistor on the DC side of the rectifier. Something like that.

I'm sure Neil R and others will chime in with the correct solution!

I'm sure there are commercial DCC constant lighting modules available.
[edit] here's an example module;
http://www.dccconcepts.com/index_files/DCCflickerfree.htm
[/edit]
 
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