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    Reducing Voltage Drop over distance

    Hi all, I'm really just after an understanding check here. For my project (Model Railway in the garden), to prevent me having to run 240v all around the garden, i'm planning on putting the 240v/220v to 12v transformers in a shed, keeping the dangerous stuff out of the weather. I want to...
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    What to do with old lead free solder?

    Hi all, Looking for a little advice. quite some time ago, I bought some a large reel of lead free solder, and at the time, it worked for what I needed it for. It's now rather old, and being lead free, its no good for any soldering work at all... I'm basically throwing it out. Question is...
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    Use Capacitive Sensing to detect a train?

    Hi All, Is it possible to use capacitive sensing to detect the presence of a conductive object on a model railway? How would such a setup be affected by changes in voltage, current and polarity? For a bit of background, what I am trying to come up with is a system for detecting the presence...
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    Switching loads using Raspberry Pi

    Hi All, I'm starting to get into projects where I need to switch loads on an off, using a Raspberry Pi. The Pi can only handle a few mA at 3v3, so as projects get larger, I need to isolate the switching from the power. The general way of doing this, as I understand it, is to use NPN...
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    Polarity Dependant lighting - Model project

    Hi All, I'm trying to design a circuit to enhance the operation of a model locomotive, so that the headlights activate on the correct direction, and switch to red both ends, if the train is not in motion. I'm not able to use a 'DCC' method of this, as I use analogue control. Attached is what...
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    Any Fritzing users? Can you help explain whats going on?

    Hi all, I've been attempting to use Fritzing to design a circuit I want to put onto a PCB in the future. I've set up the breadboard view to replicate my real-world breadboard, and i'm happy with it. Going into the PCB view. I've located the items roughly where I want them on the board, and...
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    'headphone' mixer

    Hey all, I'm a newbie when it comes to audio electronics, and was wondering how I'd go about building a circuit for use as a headphone mixer. What I want to do is take the 3.5mm jack output from a number of various sources (generally PC audio out) and mix them into a single socket for...
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    Circuit for converting Fixed feed into single 'pulse'.

    Morning all! I'm trying to take a fixed feed from a PtM button, and convert it into a single 'pulse' to work a single strike bell, (i.e a Morse bell). I'm building a project to restore a Ribbon Storage Train Describer to working use, which has a mechanical switch that locks into place, and...
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