Octopus III Remote Aligner

Available for the Octopus III:

The Octopus turnout control system. Left to right - R/C servo and Servo Bracket, Octopus III, Fascia Controller, Remote Aligner connected to Octopus III with 7 foot cable.

Octopus III Eight Servo Driver with Remote Aligner Tool

Used with the Octopus III (above) for alignment of servos (cannot be used with the Octopus II).  Just one of these needed for all of your Octopus IIIs.  Comes with a 7' cable which allows you to stand next to your turnout while aligning the servo - no more acrobatics and hanging upside down below the layout!  The cable is a 6-pin straight data cable (not a phone type cable).  Board is 2.7" x 1.7" in size.The Octopus III can drive up to 8 servos to move turnouts or other devices on your layout controlled by a toggle switch, a momentary pushbutton, the output of a signal system or a DCC decoder.  There are 8 positions for plugging in R/C type servos and 8 inputs for switches or 5V logic. 

The Remote Aligner allows you to stand by the turnout being aligned so you can precisely align the servo endpoints with ease.  No more hanging under the layout trying to push buttons.  The servo endpoints are found automatically by searching for hard endpoints or you can manually align them with the Remote Aligner.  This allows each servo to be adjusted to its optimum range and endpoints and each servo can be independently adjusted.  With the Remote Aligner you can set the amount of force used in the automatic alignment to match your rail size and the servos you are using.    The board also has jumpers for setting the range from +/-20 degrees around center to +/70 degrees and for centering the servo to simplify installation for applications where there are no hard endpoints or where you are using the same turnouts in all locations. 

The Octopus III has an on-board high-frequency switching 1.8A power supply that is more efficient than the old linear power supply.  This means less heat and a lower power draw.  Power input is any power supply from 5.0-24 volts DC.

You can use the same fascia controllers as the Quad.  This gives you a simple way to hook up the inputs to the board using servo-style cords and extensions.  You can use "Y" cords to use more than one fascia controller to control one servo. You can also use a "Y" to connect two servos to one output (works great for passing sidings!).

This board has no DCC input.  If you want DCC control of your servos then see the Quad Servo Decoder or you can add an Octocoder (see below).