# Installation/Hook Up for Z-Stuff DZ-1050 Signals



## llskis

Thought I would share with the members my insight of the installation of Z-Stuff trackside signals. I always wanted these because of the self-contained infrared sensors.(No messy tracktrips or wires) When the chance came (Seller had 6 new ones to sell as a group with the right price) I decided to buy them. Here is what I found:

Initial hook-up is easy with the black wire to common and red to power.(Can be AC or DC) One must drill the hole for the wires directly beneath the signal as there is no room to route them through the bottom side. There is more to it though; this is where patience is a must. If you want to "daisy chain" the signals(Input from downside signal to uptrack signal) it can be done as each signal has a yellow wire for input and white wire for output. It will work if you got the correct layout distance and the correct length of train and distance between signals. 
Since I tend to run rather long trains on a small layout (8' X 4') I could never make the outer loop run with a "daisy chain" so the signals work by themselves independently. The inner loop signals are daisy chained and works well. Below is some pictures of the signal. Larry


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## Nuttin But Flyer

I always figured when the time came for my layout to be wired with block signals, these would be the way to go. But I now have some questions since seeing your post...first, why do they look so tall compared to the other items, are these S-Scale? Second, is the reason for train length and spacing them for daisy-chain effect because they are timed when the lights change color rather than when a sensor is activated? In other words if spaced too far, the light may change before the train arrives at the next signal....or if the train is too long, it may change before the train has finished passing the current signal?


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## elmer stange

Yes, they look taller than I had thought they would too. Here's a video of a Z stuff S scale Semaphore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulAh0rj0uVQ


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## llskis

Ok; two good questions; I'll answer the easy one first on the height of the signals. I bought them as a group and they where the 1050 not the 1050S's. My tracks are on the high side with S-Tracks and the All-Aboard panels. You can see the difference in the pictures. On the
Z-Stuff web page it gives the demensions. (I called also) the difference between O and S
is aprox. 1". They are perfect for the A-A panels since the track is very high (in comparison to the outer loop) I saw the youtube given and the Semaphore(S gauge) is 1" higher the the 3 light signals(S gauge) from their specs. so when they(O gauge)is set on the floor of the outer loop they are the same hight as the youtubes semaphores. I looked at a lot of "real life" pictures and the height of them varies a lot. It seems they are close to twice the height of the engines. You can see the height with the T/P switcher in the picture. (aprox. twice the hight)

Ok the second; hard to explain the "daisy" effect but I will try. First the light changing of the signals from Red to Yellow to Green is "fixed". It can not be changed. The downtrack signal 
has to have enough time to change to Yellow to work properly. It gets the OK when the train is through the uptrack signal. But if the train is long and the distance between the signal is not long enough the downtrack signal will not time through. When this happens the signal will change to red in the middle of the train then to green again. Hope this helps.Larry


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## llskis

Has anybody else worked with these signals?? Comments always welcome. Thanks Larry


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