Turntable

Gizzy

Gizzy

A gentleman, a scholar, and a railway modeller....
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I recently received my Turntable from Bertram Heyn.

I originally discussed this with him last August, so it has been a long time coming!

It was due Christmas, but there were problems with the decoder and Bertram had to get a replacement, and therefore it was only delivered to me in the New Year.

My late father always wanted me to have a Turntable, but the LGB and Pola versions were too large, too expensive, and too fragile for outdoors use. So seeing Bertram's one in the raw really fired my enthusiasm to get one!

I went for one with a 380mm turntable, which is adequate for my largest locos, although a larger version is available. I also decided on DCC control, but again, analogue or even a 'mandraulic' version is also available.

I'm waiting for the 'machin-haus' which will protect the motor and decoder from the elements, but here is a first glimpse.

Many thanks to Bertram Heyn for his help....

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Very nice just the sort of thing for a French Light Railway. I went to the Bai de Somme around 3 years ago and they had a similar TT at all Stations where Trains are likely to Start / Terminate turning the Tank Locomotives at pretty well every opportunity. So an LGB Corpet will be right at home on this.
 
Nice. I was thinking of getting the smaller one, DCC operated, let us know how you get on.
 
idlemarvel said:
Nice. I was thinking of getting the smaller one, DCC operated, let us know how you get on.
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I will do so Dave. The instructions are in 'Dinglish' and I'm trying to get my head around them. Not easy when you are poorly, but no problem for a digital wizz like your good self....
 
Very very nice:-)
 
Very nice, Giz, will look forward to seeing how it all works when it is installed and running..... :)

Jon.
 
Interesting, I read the decoder manual, there does not seem to be any input to give a reference location, and no description of how the calibration procedure works.

Anyone know how the unit "finds" the zero point? I understand stepper motors and there is no physical stop indicated in the design. (clearly since you can have continuous rotation)

Greg
 
John S said:
Do I spy one of Marius Dege's universal decoders for stepper motor turntables including those from Bertram Heyn, excellent bit of kit, includes all the values for the number of exits, step patterns etc, all can be stored and be recalled by selecting various CV's.
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Hullo John,

I believe it is a Marius Dege decoder. The manual I have is for a MD mXion HDD.

Due to illness, I'm struggling to understand the translated instructions, but from what I have read so far, all the values are stored for Heyn turntables. Mechanically, there are 9 roads, spaced at 10 degrees. The turntable is moved by a stepper motor driving a toothed belt. Up to 6 output roads are permitted, but I will only be using 3 or 4.

If you have any experience with this decoder John, I would be very pleased if you can help advise me on its operation....
 
So, I assume that the motor knows exactly where it is and sorts out the alignment itself. The whole idea of a stepper motor I suppose? Clever.
 
Actually no, that is the exact opposite with a stepper motor, the motor never knows where it is. Most systems work by "dead reckoning" where initially the motor "runs into" a reference point, and they stall the motor there (usually sensed by current draw) and then that is the "zero" point and you "count" from there. Systems like this must periodically recalibrate in most cases.

Stepper motors used to have wide use, but mostly replaced by servo motors that have a position encoder (usually optical) in the drive train somewhere.

This is why I am asking the question, since there is no "rotational stop" in the turntable, and since they mention continuous turning, and a calibrate command.

So, I'm curious... I read all 34 pages of the manual, and they do not describe the calibration procedure, but they do list a command. Perhaps you manually drive it to "track 1" and then "zero" the system with the calibrate command... that would be the way I would do it if I had no other resources.

(we used stepper motors in digital plotters in 1978 at a company called HP (Hewlett Packard), I was in the R&D facility that developed our technology, and the "micro stepping" technique still apparently used today, apparently by this decoder too)

Greg
 
Morning all!

Thanks for the info John. I'm now back at work after my chest infection, so I'll try and have a look see later.

I brought a 400mm round slab this weekend as a solid base for the turntable, and I've got to position this before I start any other work....
 
Off-topic, Giz, I like your new avatar - though for a minute I thought that Whatlep was back.... ;)

Dare I ask if it has any particular significance........? :D

Jon.
 
Zerogee said:
Off-topic, Giz, I like your new avatar - though for a minute I thought that Whatlep was back.... ;)

Dare I ask if it has any particular significance........? :D

Jon.
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Only from last Weds when I said I was getting better and I'd soon be bouncing like Tigger?

The Avatar was in a reply from Chris Vernall....
 
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I received the 'Machinhaus' from Bertram Heyn this weekend, but I immediately noticed a problem with the floor plate.

The semi-circular cutout is in the wrong place. I checked with Bertram, and it appears that my turntable is the first digitally motored one that he has sold with the Machinhaus. The cut out is for a smaller anti-logue motor.

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However, I have access to a pillar drill and a 70mm circular cutter, so I marked up the floor plate for the position of the motor and started drilling.

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I cut out the rest of the material with a saw and I just need to tidy up the cuts before assembling the building....

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