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gunrunnerjohn, John Will

I want to thank you so much. I have had an area on my large layout that at times gives me a PITA. I have been messing with this part of the layout for over a year. Some days it works when it wants to and other days not at all. I have been down at the layout, installed your Buffer and that area has no problems at all...in fact the trains run better than ever after I installed your Buffer. I have NO problem with the costs of this little jewel, it is a miracle for my layout. Thanks so much for your and Dale's knowledge.

I am going to build a building for the layout and name it Dale & John's Buffer Company.

My experience with the booster:

Connected the booster as shown.

Powered up the system....  Legacy base dead...  Oh No!  Must be a bad power adapter...  Happen to have another...   Changed the power adapter... Same problem! Checked the adapters, no power..!

Ok so what is the problem...  Checked the earth ground adapter cable...SHORTED

SOOO...  Replaced a blown fuse in the Legacy Power Adapter, and repaired the shorted earth ground adapter cable. ( red center wire melted to the outside frame of the connector during soldering.)

OK... So lets try again!

Reconnected all and the Legacy base comes alive...  The status indicator on the booster shows green!   YEA!  Read the DC reference voltage on the input side... It is 1.6V and on the output side, 5.9V.

OK  Now lets runs some trains!   Trains that previously had experienced problems in certain areas appear to function normally..!!!   YEA it works.

Thanks John for a great addition to the hobby

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But as an aside, you might want to check the adapter cable before powering up to prevent a blown TMCC adapter.. (Luckily the Legacy adapter comes apart and you can change the fuse.)

Terry

 The initial problem was the shorted ground adapter cable which blew the fuses in the legacy power supply!

Last edited by BlBillboards
martind posted:

Installed my booster today.  Got red led light indicating bad signal.  Checked base in voltage 0 .166 mv and buffer out of .661 volts.  Interestingly, problem locomotives ran better.  Will call Lionel tomorrow, hope they will repair it.

Well, the red light appears to be working correctly, with those readings you do have a bad signal!

BlBillboards posted:
Ok so what is the problem...  Checked the earth ground adapter cable...SHORTED

Bummer about the earth ground tap, sorry about that.  All of the cables did actually test good before they went, but obviously that was marginal.  I'll blame that one on my assistant...  Wait, I didn't have an assistant!

Hi John,

Just to let you know I received my TMCC buffer yesterday, and installed this afternoon on my layout. Getting a green light all the time as indicated on the buffer . I have not done any actual signal voltage measurements yet. My layout is approx. 35 x 12 with 2 track loops around; had a few minor problems with the old setup without the buffer-- the new buffer signal seems to be perfect!!!

Thanks again for doing all the follow-up design to Dale's original design and getting the new boards made and shipped out. That was a very large undertaking!!!  I am going to be anxious to hear feedback from some of the large layouts on how the buffer is helping their TMCC signals. I suspect a few of the large layouts I see at the Milwaukee Train Fest every November will work much better with more reliable operation too.

Thanks so much!!!

Regards,

Carl J

I received my TMCC Buffer, however, haven’t installed it, but, I do have a HUGH SUCCESS Story, Farmerjohn, a Kentucky friend of mine, has a really large layout, 50 by 70, with an an adjoining room, who has had multiple signal issues, running TMCC/Legacy, Atlas O. Third Rail/Sunset Models, through many bridges, multiple levels, says All his engines Run Fine Now, Do to the TMCC Buffer. Dale Manquin came to visit me here in Tennessee in 2007, prior to York, and we went to see many layouts, one being Farmerjohn’s in Kentucky.  Dale was a very fine gentleman and stayed at my home for a week. We had a great visit.  I congratulate Gunrunner John for taking his concepts and making this wonderful product available to us Operators.  Thank you John....I will install my Buffer in the next few days. Happy Days are here again. (Pictures are of Farmerjohns latout)11337069-E57A-4C41-8EA2-5A1CCBDBF593F2FB39A9-907A-4278-A84E-D9125B6E33E6D104B0BC-4677-47E8-8B27-3F3D228490068F2CB82F-AD58-4866-B871-240EFC7CB651736D1D85-3FFD-4C8E-81E8-746183F8190EFE1CD173-29AD-45D2-AA49-03A5EC9F8C9367267229-4AE2-4851-843E-E89D35B7A90B67FDFBCF-DAAB-476E-8B15-871E014B0DE3EE458182-6346-4B8C-93AE-666CBD2B189D

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Hi Larry-

Thanks for posting all those pictures of FarmerJohn's huge layout!!! And the fact that the TMCC booster/ Buffer original design has been working so well on his 50' x 70' layout in Kentucky!! I can only imagine the length of time and number of people needed to get the layout to the point that was shown in your pictures!! Fantastic layout!!!

Carl J

Hi Carl, Farmerjohn has been working on this layout for probably 7 or 8 years, with a really great wood worker and Friend. He works many hours daily on this adventure and keeps everything clean as can be. They have devised many neat features on his wonderful layout. 10 stall roundhouse with individual opening doors. A MILLHOUSE 34 inch TT.  A signal system overhead signals, track level signals. A wonderful Oil Refinery, and new Mining System, above and below ground. One feature is 4 or 5 trains can be running and there’s is no way to figure out their route. Amazing thinking, and a fun to visit friend.  Always something new to view and enjoy.  He runs TMCC- Legacy Cab1L, Cab 2.....His wide radius curves, 0120 and more, no less than 080, allows for long freight and passenger trains to interwind with each other. Thank you for your comments and someday, come to see us. 83FD2383-A1F4-4EE9-9762-D337DBFEB35C806F2913-2CFB-498F-B06D-01B4E77EE5BA5ABC4266-C4E2-4C32-835E-F1129831F31E00555E6E-45BC-4C46-8724-45AF4064437C991BCAC6-6791-4603-A022-B76A47ECE8A50FC24413-C37C-4F94-93DD-678833A48ACF

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leapinlarry posted:

I received my TMCC Buffer, however, haven’t installed it, but, I do have a HUGH SUCCESS Story, Farmerjohn, a Kentucky friend of mine, has a really large layout, 50 by 70, with an an adjoining room, who has had multiple signal issues, running TMCC/Legacy, Atlas O. Third Rail/Sunset Models, through many bridges, multiple levels, says All his engines Run Fine Now, Do to the TMCC Buffer. Dale Manquin came to visit me here in Tennessee in 2007, prior to York, and we went to see many layouts, one being Farmerjohn’s in Kentucky.  Dale was a very fine gentleman and stayed at my home for a week. We had a great visit.  I congratulate Gunrunner John for taking his concepts and making this wonderful product available to us Operators.  Thank you John....I will install my Buffer in the next few days. Happy Days are here again. (Pictures are of Farmerjohns latout)FE1CD173-29AD-45D2-AA49-03A5EC9F8C93

Look at that scene! In the famous words of Mr Barone, "HOLY CRAP!!!" 

And as mentioned a big thanks to John for seeing it through to completion for all of us!

Larry,

thanks for posting the additional pictures and comments on FarmerJohn’s layout. The pictures continue to blow me away!!

Do you know where the TMCC signal was originally weak or intermittent and did the newly designed Buffer/ Amplifier installation  immediately resolve all the operational TMCC signal issues?? I hear from others that track going across bridges or going through secenery made with wire screen or track going over / under other tracks are “weak signal points “ that seem to get solved with the TMCC Buffer??

Carl J

Carl J,  the answer, from what I am hearing from Johnny, he gets a great signal in the entire room and the adjoining room now. Before the Buffer, only partial TMCC signal intermittent in the main room, but would allow some trains to run ok, others not ok, however, no legacy signal in the adjoining room. Its very discouraging to buy a top of the line Locomotive, or Diesel and it not run good do to signal. This is the best answer I can give you until I go to visit Johnny.  Now he can run everything that’s TMCC/Legacy with great control anywhere in his train room. This TMCC Buffer is the best thing, since sliced bread.....

John, hooked mine up 10 minutes ago and the indicator light is green. Hooahh.

Put the loco I had the most signal problems with, blinking lights, stopping, etc., my Lionel UP Veranda.

It runs perfect through all the previous problem areas.

Thank you John and Dale.

You have turned my problem locos into great performers.

One question, can I leave it powered up 24/7 or should I turn it off between operating sessions?

 

ironman1 posted:

Getting some encouraging feedback. I hope the kit we be available soon, with a candidate to assemble mine! Of course for a fee.

I'm actually gathering parts for the kits, and I have the PCB blanks already.  We'll have a solution for folks that missed the first production run.  I just have to figure how they'll be packaged.  Right now my thinking is that I'll prep the cases as I already have the tooling to do that, and individuals would probably take a lot more time to drill the holes in the proper places as well as make the slots, etc.

There will be an option.

Hi John,

Thanks again for this project.  I just hooked the buffer up and got a RED light.  I did run some engines that were always susceptible to interference like my K-line 2-6-6T and it had NO flicker at all with good response of commands.

The readings I got were: base signal - 1.085, output signal - 10.37.  Any thoughts on what I should do/check?

Thanks,

Greg

Gregcz1 posted:

Hi John,

Thanks again for this project.  I just hooked the buffer up and got a RED light.  I did run some engines that were always susceptible to interference like my K-line 2-6-6T and it had NO flicker at all with good response of commands.

The readings I got were: base signal - 1.085, output signal - 10.37.  Any thoughts on what I should do/check?

Thanks,

Greg

First off, is this a Legacy or TMCC base?  The TMCC base will usually get a red light and a few of them get the "no light".  A good Legacy base should give you a green light.

I agree with Chuck, something is very wrong with the readings, with a known good Legacy base I got 1.88 volts DC for the Base DC reading and 5.4 volts for the Boost DC reading.  Given the circuitry there, that's about what you should see.  10 volts on the Boost DC reading is knocking on the door to impossible!  What kind of meter are you using?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm confused.  The lights are telling you what the base track output is doing, not the buffered output.  If you're using the buffer, you shouldn't have the base track output connected to anything but the buffer input!

The instruction is an excellent pictorial of the hookup. That should clear things up for him.

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