Rorary Beacon on ESU V4.0 DCC decoders??

[nebrzephyr]

OK, both TCS and NCE decoders have a "rotary beacon" option, and both closely resemble the look on the rotary beacon. I've installed over 15 ESU V4.0 DCC decoders and can not get a realistic rotary beacon affect. What I get when I chose "rotary beacon" resembles more light a strobe flash. You don not see, what I would call, the decaying of the light as it cycles.

No difference between using bulbs or LED. Am I missing something?

Thanks. Bob

[Mark R.]

Just guessing here .... assuming you are using an LED, what resistor value are you using ? If the value is too high, it may be limiting the attack and decay aspect. Also assuming you have the brightness set to full ? Lower brightness values may also affect the effect.

Mark.

[ncrc5315]

I'm using a Loksound Micro-Select, in a Baldwin switcher, that I added a rotary beacon to. Personally, I think it looks very realistic, i'm using a LED, 1KΩ resistor, with the brightness set to full, (31).

[nebrzephyr]

Sept 12, 2018 13:24:56 GMT -8 Mark R. said:

Just guessing here .... assuming you are using an LED, what resistor value are you using ? If the value is too high, it may be limiting the attack and decay aspect. Also assuming you have the brightness set to full ? Lower brightness values may also affect the effect.

Mark.

Mark, thanks. That gives me some option to research. Unfortunately, a few of these installs have been use the ESU 51955 "drop in light board" which has the 2.2K resistors on board. However, if I find the right combination I can always bypass those.

Bob

EDIT: OK, with the specific 0402 LEDs I'm using (not sure if it makes a difference), ESU 51955 with on board 2.2K resistors. If I add an add'l 3.3K resistor (5.5K total) I get a nice rotary beacon affect. Brightness = 31

Edit#2: just reworked a ESU V4.0 DCC 21 pin with a 5.6K resistor. Nice rotary beacon affect. Brightness =31

Thanks for the help pointing me in the right direction.