[Anglocanadian]

I have been looking into options to create a realistic day/night/day lighting transition for my Le Mans themed track.
There didn't seem to be any affordable options in the model railroad world and then my searches brought me to this controller for aquariums .
TC420

This is the planned configuration using led tape light strips
#1 output:  track lighting and blue nighttime light

#2 output: bright morning light
#3 output: orange evening light
#4 and 5 output daytime
This is purely a plan at the moment and i just wanted to share my findings and see if anybody had any better ideas or reasons this is not a feasible option. 

[BAracer]

I have used something similar in restaurants. Four different lighting 'themes' changed manually.

So same principle brought up to date.

[Scuderia_Turini]

Hello AngloCanadian,
Judging by the YouTube videos this seems to suit fish tanks very well. The spec says a maximum of 48 watts per channel and that doesn't sound like enough to generate "daylight" in a room. Seems like you need to have three or four different colour strips to to get through day, sunset, night and sunrise phases so having more than 48 watts of daytime light will probably need at least two controllers running the same schedule.
Do you have any experience of using LED strips? The spread of light is quite limited.
What sort of timeline are you thinking of? An hour race would mean a fairly quick transition cycle.

Leo

Edit: - Just noticed that the TC421 version seems to have a limitation on the time steps, at least that is how I interpret the comment:
For TC421
the setting time can be every half clock in one day.
like: you can set 6:00     brightness-0%
6:30brightness-50%
7:00brightness-100%

[Anglocanadian]

Hi Leo

I'm buying a strip for my kitchen cabinets so I can asses the light spread then, I was planning to use 2 strips for daylight .
The 420 offers increments of one minute compared with the 421 is 30 min increments but does attach to WIFI.
And It would be nice to have the option to run the cycle down to an 1 hour span.

Richard

[woodcote]

Sounds like a great plan and I'm following your progress

An option I vaguely considered was a couple of the 'sunrise' alarm clocks - one in the west for sunset (they do that too) and one in the east for sunrise. Some even you give you a 'dawn chorus' of bird song! Of course, a separate switching off/on/dimming of main lighting would be necessary if you wanted strong 'daylight' in the room.

There are also dimmer timers for mains sockets - if you wanted to run a brighter mains light alongside the LEDs.

[Anglocanadian]

I think the beauty of the Chinese box is that it runs the whole cycle once started, i,m sure the model railroad world can offer more effects to add in.
The starting point for this idea was the purchase of one of these: Airship
I will update the post as things progress, the first will be if the led strip is bright enough.

[Scuderia_Turini]

Hello Richard,
Are you going to keep us up to date on this project?

Leo

[Anglocanadian]

Yes Leo I intend to but its going to be probably a month before i get the controller from china.
Meanwhile I tried out the wife's new kitchen lights
 18W x 16Ft light strip , I'm planning to have 2 of these for daytime.
The TC420 allows for up to 48W per channel on 12V so it could be increased to a more powerful strip.
I think it looks quite promising.

[Scuderia_Turini]

Wow that strip is giving great light.  Racing at "night" has always been one of the dreams of imaginative slot-racers of all ages but the dream ends when the room lights are simply switched off and on. This could be the start of something big.
I was thinking back to my disco days and we had a control unit that would fade in and out the various light bulbs but just in a random pattern as far as I recall.  The TC420 unit seems ideal for this job,  and my Festive Season light display!
Speaking of such, I found that a neat mounting arrangement for the (blue) LED strip was to stick it into a length of plastic electrical trunking that allowed easy installation and removal on one leg of my car-port.

Leo

   

[Anglocanadian]

I realized after fitting the strip in the kitchen that they do need a diffuser to cut down the glare.
Ive ordered an aluminum corner channel which has a snap in diffuser strip .
I will have to look for a cheap Chinese version for the track.

Richard