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Reply to "Simple accessory-voltage flasher?"

*whew*

Boy, look away for a moment, and everything goes crazy!

First, my heart-felt thanks to all who took the time to consider my dilemma, and especially those who took the time to contribute and/or comment. I'm constantly amazed at the depth of expertise that's available and freely offered to others in our mutual hobby, even to and by those who are "rollin' on different rails"! I continue to be amazed at all the (sometimes *very*!) different ways our mutual hobby can be enjoyed, but if there's *anything* I've learned over the nearly seventy years I've been (on and off) "playing with trains", it's that there's really no wrong way to do it, as long as you're being sincere and tolerant of others.

Second, I'd like to try to summarize my takeaways from among the many suggestions offered:

- One option would be to purchase a pre-built flasher module, with such additional power source and control wiring as needed to alternately flash two lights (such as a crossing warning light set). The chief advantages are fidelity, providing a (sometimes adjustable-rate) true alternate flashing signal to the lights that activates almost immediately, and the fact that they are (at least somewhat) available off the shelf on-line. The downside is the cost (reportedly between $15-25 each, plus shipping).

- Another option is to build your own flasher system, using modules, circuit boards and/or components and one of several possible circuit designs. Again, fidelity is at least potentially an advantage, and depending on the state of your scrap bin, it may be cheaper (to a *lot* cheaper!) than the pre-built version. OTOH, not everyone has the skills to put all this together, and if everything has to be purchased retail, any cost advantage over pre-built can quickly diminish or vanish.

- A final option is some sort of old-school electro-mechanical lash-up, ranging from repurposing scrap relays (or purchasing or even building new versions), to what I settled on as my personal solution, repurposing old Christmas light flashers. The downside may be the time and effort needed to "roll your own", and in many cases the loss of fidelity due to the lack of true alternate flashing can be an issue.

So, here's a video of final solution to my quest in action, attached. In the final installation, the flasher board will be mounted on one side of a mobile crane, and my correspondent's salvaged light bar will be mounted on the other . . . assuming he doesn't come up with a better idea! The test video just temporarily simulated the salvaged light bar with a Marx crossing warning light set (we're both into legacy Marx stuff, if you couldn't tell!).

Having started this whole thread, I now declare this 'snipe hunt' officially at an end! Unless, of course, it ain't . . .

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