michael080
Western Thunderer
I am living in the middle of the main automotive region in Germany and it is interesting to see how they panic. The problem of all the Audis, Mercedes and Volkswagens is that they always are in the stronger position, so they are used to get what they want. With semiconductors, they are tiny customers, the Apples and Samsungs get what they need.
It makes me feel good to walk over to our warehouse and see a two year stock of single source semiconductors. As in your example, that is only a relatively small number and the value is not even very high, but running out of them means no more sales.
Michael
simond
Western Thunderer
But not playing with r/c trains.
The aerial fell off the RX. I took the shrinkwrap that I’d just put on, off again to fix it. Then tested it. At that point, the bloody solder touched the back of the receiver, the smoke got out and I threw 32 quid in the bin.
moral, clear the workbench and put the shrinkwrap back on before powering up...
The aerial fell off the RX. I took the shrinkwrap that I’d just put on, off again to fix it. Then tested it. At that point, the bloody solder touched the back of the receiver, the smoke got out and I threw 32 quid in the bin.
moral, clear the workbench and put the shrinkwrap back on before powering up...
paulc
Western Thunderer
Hi guys , i will throw Fosworks into the pot if you want RC DCC sound and battery powered . My first will be my class 37 which seems to be my test loco for anything new , it was the first to get DCC sound and was a baptism of fire with a choice of any colour wire you like as long as it was black or red , good old Heljan .
Cheers Paul
Cheers Paul
simond
Western Thunderer
Thanks Paul
here’s the link
OMNI Radio | Fosworks
and a few more
DT receivers-Home
Servo Shop
Micron Radio Control : DSM2 Model Railway Controllers
Dead Rail Installs – Sales and Installation of Remote Controlled Battery Operated Control Systems for Model Trains
And some tech links
Dealing with Loss of RF Signal in Dead-Rail for Onboard DCC Decoders
Atb
Simon
here’s the link
OMNI Radio | Fosworks
and a few more
DT receivers-Home
Servo Shop
Micron Radio Control : DSM2 Model Railway Controllers
Dead Rail Installs – Sales and Installation of Remote Controlled Battery Operated Control Systems for Model Trains
And some tech links
Dealing with Loss of RF Signal in Dead-Rail for Onboard DCC Decoders
Atb
Simon
Last edited:
cbrailways
Western Thunderer
....and PROTOCAB Acc+Ess Protocab
simond
Western Thunderer
Ok, so after my little mishap a couple of weeks back, I have the 58xx working. I’m really quite pleased with it.
herewith, descending, climbing and restarting on a 1:100 bank, courtesy of John.
and in response to an earlier question, a little slow running at Porth Dinllaen
The 3s (11.1V nominal) battery I originally purchased would not fit in the loco. I thought that perhaps two 2S (7.4V) in series would be better, but in fact it is running on a single one, in the smokebox / boiler, along with a slug of lead, which has helped the traction more than a bit.
The 7.4V battery is clearly sufficient. Surprisingly so. The top speed is not more than adequate, and whilst it’s only 300mAh, it ran up and down Whitton bank pretty much continuously with 3 brass and one Plasticard 6-wheel coaches for well over an hour today before it started misbehaving. I put this down to the battery being discharged, but it wasn’t. One of the wires to the motor had broken. When I checked to state of charge, it was barely half discharged, so I’m confident that it would be fine for a decent running session.
If you look carefully on the slow running vid, you may see the on-off switch, it’s just ahead of the rear sandbox, it needs a fingernail to turn it on, but it’s easy to turn off, which feels safer.
I think I’ll mark this experiment down as a success.
Hopefully, running sessions can resume sometime soon, it’ll get some use as a station pilot, we’ll see how that goes.
any questions, I’ll try to answer.
Simon
herewith, descending, climbing and restarting on a 1:100 bank, courtesy of John.
and in response to an earlier question, a little slow running at Porth Dinllaen
The 3s (11.1V nominal) battery I originally purchased would not fit in the loco. I thought that perhaps two 2S (7.4V) in series would be better, but in fact it is running on a single one, in the smokebox / boiler, along with a slug of lead, which has helped the traction more than a bit.
The 7.4V battery is clearly sufficient. Surprisingly so. The top speed is not more than adequate, and whilst it’s only 300mAh, it ran up and down Whitton bank pretty much continuously with 3 brass and one Plasticard 6-wheel coaches for well over an hour today before it started misbehaving. I put this down to the battery being discharged, but it wasn’t. One of the wires to the motor had broken. When I checked to state of charge, it was barely half discharged, so I’m confident that it would be fine for a decent running session.
If you look carefully on the slow running vid, you may see the on-off switch, it’s just ahead of the rear sandbox, it needs a fingernail to turn it on, but it’s easy to turn off, which feels safer.
I think I’ll mark this experiment down as a success.
Hopefully, running sessions can resume sometime soon, it’ll get some use as a station pilot, we’ll see how that goes.
any questions, I’ll try to answer.
Simon
simond
Western Thunderer
Simon,
I did think of that, but too late, and I’ve put it all together now, so prefer not to dismantle again, as something seems to get damaged every time - the steam heat pipe and one rear lamp iron already need remedial action.
What I can do is add some photos of the bits & pieces I used.
The battery is a 300mAh 2s LiPo. I bought them here GNB 300mAh 2S 80C LiHV Battery (XT30)
mine have a smaller 2-pin power connector, not the chunky yellow one in this picture.
the loco has a removable smokebox door and battery slides into the smokebox with the connectors at the front. I will remove the battery for charging. Hopefully the smokebox door will stand up to the handling. I’ll get a brass dart & handles, and epoxy them in, which will be a bit stronger that the original plastic ones which the instructions insist should not be used for removing the door - a fingernail under the hinge is the approved method.
the switch is a sub-miniature toggle, mounted on a piece of brass to lift it up a bit, thus reducing the length of the toggle showing. The footplate of the Dapol loco is a Mazak of some description, and about 5mm thick under the tanks. Apart from drilling a clearance hole for the toggle and a 10BA tapping hole to the screw, there was no other modification to the loco chassis or body. I cut the pickup wires short, and taped them in place, it’ll be fiddly, but I can revert to DC/DCC should I wish. If I did, I would not use the pull-out drawer that Dapol provide for the decoder, as that space is definitely better used for some extra weight up front, and a bigger speaker would go in the firebox area.
the receiver is a Deltang Rx60/22, they are about 30mm long, 15mm wide and 5mm thick when shrink-wrapped, and wired as shown in this pic from the Deltang website. Trouble is, they are no longer available. Andy at Micron is sourcing a replacement. There are some suppliers with stock, but it has become a wild goose chase, which is a PITA since the solution works. The receiver has 5 switched outputs as well as the ESC, so could drive a sound unit or lights, but I have not bothered at this point.
The Dapol motor, etc, was not modified, except to replace the broken wiring I put a plug & socket between receiver & motor, simply because I had them, it could be wired direct. It occurs to me that there might be a good argument for a DPDT switch in the motor leads to be able to reverse it to suit the layout, so the loco goes in the direction the knob is turned in, rather than clockwise-forwards.
The switch is in the positive wire from the battery plug to the receiver.
There is no arrangement for in-situ charging, as it would require a balancing charger, or a battery management system - the latter can be done reasonably easily, but I’m not sure whether I’d bother.
forgot to mention, even limited to 7.4V, and with the added weight in the smokebox, it will still wheelspin if overloaded or driven into the buffers, so no likelihood of burning out the motor.
Atb
Simon
I did think of that, but too late, and I’ve put it all together now, so prefer not to dismantle again, as something seems to get damaged every time - the steam heat pipe and one rear lamp iron already need remedial action.
What I can do is add some photos of the bits & pieces I used.
The battery is a 300mAh 2s LiPo. I bought them here GNB 300mAh 2S 80C LiHV Battery (XT30)
mine have a smaller 2-pin power connector, not the chunky yellow one in this picture.
the loco has a removable smokebox door and battery slides into the smokebox with the connectors at the front. I will remove the battery for charging. Hopefully the smokebox door will stand up to the handling. I’ll get a brass dart & handles, and epoxy them in, which will be a bit stronger that the original plastic ones which the instructions insist should not be used for removing the door - a fingernail under the hinge is the approved method.
the switch is a sub-miniature toggle, mounted on a piece of brass to lift it up a bit, thus reducing the length of the toggle showing. The footplate of the Dapol loco is a Mazak of some description, and about 5mm thick under the tanks. Apart from drilling a clearance hole for the toggle and a 10BA tapping hole to the screw, there was no other modification to the loco chassis or body. I cut the pickup wires short, and taped them in place, it’ll be fiddly, but I can revert to DC/DCC should I wish. If I did, I would not use the pull-out drawer that Dapol provide for the decoder, as that space is definitely better used for some extra weight up front, and a bigger speaker would go in the firebox area.
the receiver is a Deltang Rx60/22, they are about 30mm long, 15mm wide and 5mm thick when shrink-wrapped, and wired as shown in this pic from the Deltang website. Trouble is, they are no longer available. Andy at Micron is sourcing a replacement. There are some suppliers with stock, but it has become a wild goose chase, which is a PITA since the solution works. The receiver has 5 switched outputs as well as the ESC, so could drive a sound unit or lights, but I have not bothered at this point.
The Dapol motor, etc, was not modified, except to replace the broken wiring I put a plug & socket between receiver & motor, simply because I had them, it could be wired direct. It occurs to me that there might be a good argument for a DPDT switch in the motor leads to be able to reverse it to suit the layout, so the loco goes in the direction the knob is turned in, rather than clockwise-forwards.
The switch is in the positive wire from the battery plug to the receiver.
There is no arrangement for in-situ charging, as it would require a balancing charger, or a battery management system - the latter can be done reasonably easily, but I’m not sure whether I’d bother.
forgot to mention, even limited to 7.4V, and with the added weight in the smokebox, it will still wheelspin if overloaded or driven into the buffers, so no likelihood of burning out the motor.
Atb
Simon
Attachments
simond
Western Thunderer
Further thoughts, regarding charging. I guess the “perfect” solution would be one in which a receiver/decoder could be plugged into a DCC-ready loco, and a battery connected to the keep-alive, in place of the capacitor.
The “chip” could be programmed with existing sound files, and offer similar functionality to the better decoders available, including synchronised sound, lights, and outputs for steam effects, uncouplers, etc,
It would run on DCC under track control or radio control depending on whether the track was powered or not, and would charge its battery safely if track power (DCC or DC or AC) were present. It would need to report its state of charge back to the controller.
I guess it needs Zimo or ESU to get involved, and that means they have to see a profitable marketplace.
pipe dreams...
Simon
The “chip” could be programmed with existing sound files, and offer similar functionality to the better decoders available, including synchronised sound, lights, and outputs for steam effects, uncouplers, etc,
It would run on DCC under track control or radio control depending on whether the track was powered or not, and would charge its battery safely if track power (DCC or DC or AC) were present. It would need to report its state of charge back to the controller.
I guess it needs Zimo or ESU to get involved, and that means they have to see a profitable marketplace.
pipe dreams...
Simon
simond
Western Thunderer
I still have my Tam Valley Tx & Rx and the various batteries, voltage reg/converters, etc, though I sold the Duchess.
I never got it to work reliably, which was a shame. It ended up being expensive and “nearly but not quite”.
if you’ve got it working reliably with a big loco, I’d be interested to know what you did differently.
atb
Simon
I never got it to work reliably, which was a shame. It ended up being expensive and “nearly but not quite”.
if you’ve got it working reliably with a big loco, I’d be interested to know what you did differently.
atb
Simon
SimonT
Western Thunderer
Simon,
my method was detailed on the Battery Power DCC thread. Here's a link.
DCC - Battery Powered DCC
The 42XX was very satisfactory other than shortish battery life from the AAAs. I got frustrated with trying to fit what seemed like a thousand wires into the 64XX. I also couldn't find a suitable battery. The GNB 300 might well do the job. I'm just designing myself a new chassis to go under a NLTRT 57XX (cast axleboxes are worn to the point thaat running is not possible) and might fit battery & R/C to it. Not much room with that solid boiler/firebox!
Simon
my method was detailed on the Battery Power DCC thread. Here's a link.
DCC - Battery Powered DCC
The 42XX was very satisfactory other than shortish battery life from the AAAs. I got frustrated with trying to fit what seemed like a thousand wires into the 64XX. I also couldn't find a suitable battery. The GNB 300 might well do the job. I'm just designing myself a new chassis to go under a NLTRT 57XX (cast axleboxes are worn to the point thaat running is not possible) and might fit battery & R/C to it. Not much room with that solid boiler/firebox!
Simon
simond
Western Thunderer
Thanks Simon, will have a look.
my pal, John, was the creator of Scale Signal Supply, and designed a lovely scale lever frame, which you can still buy, build and fit with full interlocking. His layout is so fitted, of course. The points are operated by cranks and 1/16” brazing wire rodding, and the signals are operated by threads with washers under the baseboards as return weights.
on this basis, the only wiring needed on the layout is for the signal lamps...
Atb
Simon
my pal, John, was the creator of Scale Signal Supply, and designed a lovely scale lever frame, which you can still buy, build and fit with full interlocking. His layout is so fitted, of course. The points are operated by cranks and 1/16” brazing wire rodding, and the signals are operated by threads with washers under the baseboards as return weights.
on this basis, the only wiring needed on the layout is for the signal lamps...
Atb
Simon
simond
Western Thunderer
Further photos
On-off switch in on position. Need to blacken it, I did paint it but acrylic not adhering to chrome
Battery in smokebox
battery extracted from smokebox. You can see the lead weight
Micron 12 channel controller
300mAh 2s lithium poly battery with balance connector
ditto, edge
on
Deltang Rx 60-22
hth
Simon
On-off switch in on position. Need to blacken it, I did paint it but acrylic not adhering to chrome
Battery in smokebox
battery extracted from smokebox. You can see the lead weight
Micron 12 channel controller
300mAh 2s lithium poly battery with balance connector
ditto, edge
on
Deltang Rx 60-22
hth
Simon