/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1411033
>are you powering this from ac or dc
It's powered from AC, the transformer for the train set being used has an AC output for this kind of thing

>I see you've got a short across the power supply when top switch is up and bottom switch is up
yeah that's fine, it's not designed for both to be pressed at the same time, the idea is only to need to press one of the buttons to select a specific direction.

>if you are using ac, diodes aren't going to do logic for you
Well the diodes basically rectify the AC to DC and prevent short circuits. It works as I have it now, but because the solenoids are wired in series, the second one isn't receiving enough power to throw properly (but they both throw as expected when wired in parallel)

I had designed this for DC using relays previously (pic related) but as the controller provides AC, it's more convenient if I design it for that instead. Also apparently rectifying AC to half-wave DC means the solenoids are less likely to be damaged if the button is held down too long.

This is my latest attempt, do the bits circled in blue matter, or do the traces and the filled areas all go under the same mask when the board is being manufactured?

>>1406717
Seeing as the cheapest I've found for a 90x60mm board so far is ~£50, I'm starting to reconsider that option; I'm starting to wish I had picked up that "make your own PCBs the ghetto way" kit at Maplin in the closing-down-forever sale. That said if anyone can recommend any reputable 3rd world manufacturers I'm all ears.