LeedsNorth
New Member
Hello All,
I've been browsing around the web for an answer to this query, and wondered if anyone here could point me in the right direction? I have become involved in a project to mechanically and electrically restore an old railway signal box, to show the public what it would have been like in the 1950s. I've sorted 98% of the electrical issues, but am stuck on this one!
There is an item called a block bell, which was used to pass messages, particular codes meaning different things. for example: something as simple as ding-ding, or ding-ding-ding - pause - ding-ding - pause - ding-ding-ding! I think the bell needs to receive power for about 0.25 second or less to get the right note. I need to create a circuit or to create a PCB that can allow us at the touch of a button, to create a specific bell code - ideally several buttons, one for each code that needs to be recreated. There's no speaker required as we have the original bell machines from the signal box, so in essence its a case of just turning the power on/off at the right time/spacing to power the bell code.
I will point out I'm no electronics whizz by any means, but can get around the basics. I was thinking a 5-5-5 timer would achieve a common gaps between the bells, but I'm lost with how to get it to give different numbers of bells and pause. Would anybody be willing to offer me any advice on how it can be done, or at least point me in the right direction? All help is gratefully appreciated.
Regards
Andy
I've been browsing around the web for an answer to this query, and wondered if anyone here could point me in the right direction? I have become involved in a project to mechanically and electrically restore an old railway signal box, to show the public what it would have been like in the 1950s. I've sorted 98% of the electrical issues, but am stuck on this one!
There is an item called a block bell, which was used to pass messages, particular codes meaning different things. for example: something as simple as ding-ding, or ding-ding-ding - pause - ding-ding - pause - ding-ding-ding! I think the bell needs to receive power for about 0.25 second or less to get the right note. I need to create a circuit or to create a PCB that can allow us at the touch of a button, to create a specific bell code - ideally several buttons, one for each code that needs to be recreated. There's no speaker required as we have the original bell machines from the signal box, so in essence its a case of just turning the power on/off at the right time/spacing to power the bell code.
I will point out I'm no electronics whizz by any means, but can get around the basics. I was thinking a 5-5-5 timer would achieve a common gaps between the bells, but I'm lost with how to get it to give different numbers of bells and pause. Would anybody be willing to offer me any advice on how it can be done, or at least point me in the right direction? All help is gratefully appreciated.
Regards
Andy