04-01-2010, 07:39 PM
Thanks for the compliment. I suppose we can call it a power supply cabinet but it also contains the control elements of relays and timers which control how long the magnets are on, and it has some control switches on the door so I can control each district seperately, mainly for troubleshooting purposes. So how about we call it a powersupply/control panel? My use of the term "control panel" comes from the electrical/controls world where something like this was called a control panel even though it also contains power supplies.
As for the use of the time delay versus a simple pushbutton: When I first built my old layout, I was using the normal pushbutton arrangement, but it dawned on me that it would be very simple to add a single timer which could control the magnets. I previously spent 18 years in the field as an electrician/control guy, but the last 12 years I've been in an office environment. So, it is fun to get my hands back into some wiring and designing. And the old layout only had one district, but the new one will have 4 districts, hence the 4 timers. And really, I should have put a programmable logic controller in there instead of the relays, just for the fun of it.
It's good that the hobby has so much variation to it. For me, I am really enjoying designing and building this cabinet, wiring it, and making it look nice. Other folks may think it is a bit "out there" and "way too elaborate" as in they would never spend this much time working on the electrical aspects of their layout. But it is my opinion that they are missing out on a very interesting aspect of the hobby.
As for the use of the time delay versus a simple pushbutton: When I first built my old layout, I was using the normal pushbutton arrangement, but it dawned on me that it would be very simple to add a single timer which could control the magnets. I previously spent 18 years in the field as an electrician/control guy, but the last 12 years I've been in an office environment. So, it is fun to get my hands back into some wiring and designing. And the old layout only had one district, but the new one will have 4 districts, hence the 4 timers. And really, I should have put a programmable logic controller in there instead of the relays, just for the fun of it.
It's good that the hobby has so much variation to it. For me, I am really enjoying designing and building this cabinet, wiring it, and making it look nice. Other folks may think it is a bit "out there" and "way too elaborate" as in they would never spend this much time working on the electrical aspects of their layout. But it is my opinion that they are missing out on a very interesting aspect of the hobby.
Three Foot Rule In Effect At All Times