SMC4 - Servo &
Motor Controller
Animate your layout
with semaphores, crossing gates and roundhouse doors.
Move turnouts at prototypical speed. All controlled via
DCC with the SMC4.
The SMC4 is a DCC compatible accessory decoder capable of
driving four servo motors and four stall motor type
switch machines. Each output can individually be assigned
any address from 1 to 2040. It has eight inputs for local
control of the outputs and 16 programmable routes.
The flexibility of the servos included in our SMC4 Servo
Package make them ideal for animation. The small size and
simplicity of installation make these servos especially
suited for tight places and double deck type layouts.
Even though they are small in size they are very durable
and robust. Typically they have plenty of power for
animation tasks.
MSRP - 49.95 USD
Manual in PDF format - 400K
Color
Picture
Board size: ~ 2.6" X 2.5"
SMC4 Servo Package MSRP - 129.95 USD, includes a SMC4,
four small servos, two 36" cable extensions & linkage
hardware
Servo Package document in PDF format - 750K (specific
and general servo information)
Color
Picture (shows package contents) Actual servos may
vary in size and color from those shown.
SMC4 Tech Talk Videos - See
ways to install servos for a variety of applications
including - Turnouts, Semaphores and Roundhouse doors.
Features:
• DCC compatible accessory decoder
• Controls 4 servos and 4 stall type motors
• Programmable position, range and speed of servos
• “Speed_to_Position”
• Inputs for local control of servos and motors
• Remote controlled routes for turnouts
Operation:
There are several modes of operation. The modes are
grouped into two basic configurations based on how the
servo is used.
The first basic configuration is moving servos to two
positions.
Mode 1 - The servo outputs and stall motor outputs can be
used for turnout control. There is a separate address for
each output so they can be controlled individually. There
are a total of eight switch addresses. In this mode a
servo could also be used for crossing gates. An option
allows for stall motor output 5 to flash LEDs in relation
to servo 1.
Mode 2 - The servo outputs and stall motor outputs can be
used for turnout control. The servo outputs and stall
motor outputs have the same address. There are a total of
four switch addresses. The stall motor outputs can be
used to drive LEDs to show the state of the servo outputs
or drive a relay for turnout frog power routing.
The second basic configuration is for moving servos
to three positions.
Mode 3 - The servo outputs can be used for semaphore
control and the stall motor outputs can be used for
turnout control. There are a total of 16 switch
addresses. 12 addresses for the servo outputs and four
addresses for stall motor outputs.
In this mode three addresses are used to control each
servo, address A(throw) will command the servo to one
end, address A+1(throw) will command it to the center and
address A+2(throw) will command it to the other end. An
optional behavior for each servo is available to use only
a single address A(throw) to sequence or rotate through
all three positions. Each time that address command is
issued the servo moves to the next position (red >
yellow > green > red ..etc).
Mode 4 - The servo outputs are used for semaphore control
and the stall motor outputs can be used for turnout
control. Four switch addresses control the stall motor
outputs. The servo outputs are ONLY controlled by inputs
(two inputs per servo output). This provides for direct
control of 4 semaphores by block detectors for 2 blocks
of bi-directional travel or 4 block for single direction
travel. More block detectors and SMC4s can be ganged
together in this way to easily expand the system.
“Speed_to_Position” is an optional behavior
that allows the throttle to variably control the position
of the servo. Just as the throttle can be used to change
an engine’s speed, so can it be used to control the
position of a servo. The throttle speed step must be set
to 128.
Two types of route control are supported. The remote
controlled routes are controlled from the throttle just
like a single switch is, except that multiple switches
may be activated. The local routes are activated by using
the inputs. Routes are configured by programming the
respective CVs as to which outputs are selected in the
route and the output state. Remote controlled routes are
in two groups of eight. Each group has a group address to
allow the throttle to access it.
