Hi there,

I have some very basic questions about control of electric turnout motors.

Control of the motor (Markiln 74490 or Viesmann 4550) can be either analog or digital.

If analog the motor is hooked up by wires to a control box (like Marklin 7271 or Viesmann 5547) which is in turn hooked up to a transformer.

If digital the motor is hooked up to a decoder (Marklin 74460 or Viesmann 5231). The decoder hooks up to the track and provides power to motor and also receives signal from a 6040 keyboard or IB. Now here is where I an unclear. Is that all I need? What does a k83 do (and what is the Viesmann equivalent)? k83 is referred to as a decoder, but I already have one under the C track (74490) or don't I? Does k83 replace the individual decoders (Marklin 74490)? Does that mean the control box (6040 keyboard or IB) is hooked up to the k83 and then I have to have wires out to all the turnout motors? And does a k83 require power directly from a transformer?

Sorry for all the basic questions, but as I look to the future I want to control turnouts mechanically and not the manual way I do today, which means I rarely switch the turnouts..not much fun. If I get a Telex loco then I want to do a lot more operations.

Thanks for any help.

John

Hi John,

74490 is the motor (without decoder)
74460 is the individual decoder.

For remote operation you will need the 74490 motor in any case, plus one of the 3 options for controlling the motor:

1. analog (control box)
2. individual decoders for each turnout (74460)
3. one k83 or equivalent decoder per 4 turnouts.

you don't need both 74460 and k83

Yes. They will be consecutive (i.e. 1,2,3,4 or 5,6,7,8)

Yes, the kK83 needs power from "red" and "brown" (the track power). However it only needs power momentarily when it throws the the relay of turnout, signal or whatever you have connected to it.

Personally, I use the Viessmann 5211's since I can supply separate power to the unit for switching and not use my expensive digital power.

If you are considering using the 60830 (this supercedes the 6083) this would a cheaper alternative.

However, and pointed out previously, can be cumbersome - with all the wiring.

Trade off mate. Decsion time?

We have C-track with 26 turnouts.
All with rail-decoder + turnout-activator (all Maerklin).

It wasn't cheap, that's true.
But it is a simple and neat solution to automate your C-track turnouts.

We keep the Turnouts accessable yes, but we always need to remove some scenery and repair it afterwards.
For us it is not a big problem.

But true, it is something to think about bevore you begin.
Also we (me and my father) started new again in 2004 (C-track) after 16 years (M-track).

I have had some 74460 go bad. Not sure what happened, I plugged them in and nothing. Also hard to wire them for automatic block control.[:p]

I am sticking with the K83(mostly V. 5211) option. Nice large boxes and wires to see and troubleshoot.

As usual we have options.

I will have a carpet layout for some time to come (3 kids and the eldest is 5) I am not really into the wires all over the place. In addition the layout goes up and down depending on when guests use my train room (my wife calls it the guest bedroom, not sure what that's all about ). So it looks like judicious use of separate decoders may be the way to go. Now all I have to do is decide on a digital system...IB, or Marklin (old or new)..such choices. I will wait until the Central is released and see IB's response.

There was a general comment about Marklin quality. I have my own experience but I will start another thread for that.

Thanks again, always enlightening to see the range of choices available and made.

John

The 74460 isn't completely useless even if you change to another track system (i e K-track). As long as you can hide the decoder under the roadbed or other things (houses, landscape details) it is possible to hook it up to K-track turnouts as well. Of course the connections will have to be modified...

Since the k83 prices have fallen by 50% or more lately it is now an attractive option to use this even for temporary layouts. As long as there are 3-4 turnout within reach for a decoder it is easy to connect them to a 6083 or 60830.

Another recent change is the introduction of Mobile Station. It is not possible to use it with 74460 decoders (as long as they are connected to track power). If you already have a 6021 + keyboard they can be used to feed k83 decoders - but this is probably just a temporary solution for most of us.

Usually you can. I have a few crossover pairs of switches hooked to the same decoder output. I have found that this works best with the Viessmann decoders that have a separate power input. On the k83 I have this setup on I installed a capacitor to give extra "punch" to the switching, since it wouldn't switch both turnouts reliably.

I've got a couple of more questions about the turnout mechanisms:
1-What's the cheapest way of powering something like 20-30 (or more) turnout mechanisms? (Probably with the 18VA transformer that comes in starter sets)
2-Can I also power lights and other stuff (not the track) with the same power supply?
3-Is there any way to muffle the sound from the mechanism?
4-Is it possible to make soft transitions? (I read somewhere else in the forum about a mechanism by tortoise? and it seemed nice and cheap although somewhat big, but I want to use 74490s or something of the likes, as long as it fits under C-track) If not electrically, with some springs?
Thanks in advance!

The 74460 price cost dear for one turnout but you can buy 60830 k83 (for four turnouts) was value for money.