Has anyone successfully mated a G3 Airwire with a Phoenix 2K2? I’m cheap thrifty.
Wire the 2K2 to the motor leads with a 100 ohm resistor on each leg and tie the battery into the plug that normally accomodates the 3.6 volt NiCad.
Phoenix did not make the same mistake with this board as Sierra and this board can be run directly from the supply batteries without the need of opto-coupling.
If your supply is up to 20 volts, you can tie it directly to the board. If you use two 12 volt batteries, you can tie it directly to one of the two cells.
BTW, if you are really cheap, and need coin, I’ll take it off your hands. The 2K2 board can easily be reprogrammed.
I successfully ran it off an 18.6 NICAD, before, without resistors. Jonathan Bliese recommended that. It worked well until I removed the card when the drivers on the mallet went out of quarter. Near as I can tell, that’s not related to the sound card. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
A little programming together with a fuse, switches and the G3’s DCC booster output coupled to the 2K2 track/mtr inputs, 2K2 battery plug input to your battery power source and all works well for me.
Info is available in G3 manual of the 2K2 install.
Michael
From page 14 of the G3 manual:
Pretty simple. Although I’m not sure why you need the power switch. I would think you could use one on/off switch for everything and not need a separate switch for the sound module.
I believe the switch denoted above provides the obvious power interruption if you don’t want sound active for whatever reason and or more importantly will isolate the sound decoder when programming the G3 if need be… Note two switches are pictured, yet only ONE DPDT switch is used.
Michael
Matt Doti said:
From page 14 of the G3 manual:
Pretty simple. Although I’m not sure why you need the power switch. I would think you could use one on/off switch for everything and not need a separate switch for the sound module.
That’s because the sound module will work when it receives power on pins 1 and 2, even if there is no battery power going to the sound board’s white battery plug. (Power applied to pins 1 and 2 is actually used to charge the NiCads connected to the white plug.)
It just won’t come on at a really low voltage or have the sound linger after the voltage is removed, so you miss the spool down, idle, and shut down sounds after the power is removed from the motor.
I only ever put a power switch directly off the battery before the receiver and sound unit.
T
Terry Burr said:
I only ever put a power switch directly off the battery before the receiver and sound unit.
T
Yep same here.
Matt Doti said:
Terry Burr said:
I only ever put a power switch directly off the battery before the receiver and sound unit.
T
Yep same here.
What if you wanted to program the G3 and or the 2K2? Would it not be problematic if with both decoders operating on the same frequency?
Michael
The G3 is programmed with an airwire transmitter, the 2K2 is programmed through the computer interface. I’ve done 40+ phoenix installs and haven’t had a reason yet to install an off\on switch exclusively for the phoenix. the only programming they have in common is the address and even that can be programmed through the computer interface.
T
Terry
The G3 can work in “Service Program mode” in this situ it will broadcast commands to all decoders on said frequency and they will all be reprogrammed. Hence the recommendation from AirWire to install a power disconnect to the 2K2 or any decoder for that matter to isolate same.
Your needs may not reflect the need to reprogram either decoder after initial individual programming, so your method works for you. Others accustomed to the capabilities/offerings of DCC may see things from a different perspective.
Michael
Now I’m curious as to what scenario would require turning off the Phoenix so you could program the G3.
Terry Burr said:
Now I’m curious as to what scenario would require turning off the Phoenix so you could program the G3.
Terry,
The 2K2 may be okay, but there is a definite conflict between the G3 and the Phoenix P8. The G3 and the P8 share CV numbers 49 through 53. Sending programming commands, OPS or SERVICE, to one decoder will program both. If you need to program these CVs, program them on the P8 first. Then turn off the power to the P8 and program the same CVs on the G3. On the G-3, this conflict generally occurs when programming the E-Lite variables.
Bob
First off, I don’t want to sound like i’m arguing, I’m very interested in this.
Bob, what does CV 49-53 program on the phoenix P8? I’m still not following how programming say CV49 (ELITE #2 effect) changes a setting on the phoenix P8? I’ve done this many times with no ill effects to a phoenix unit.
Also, unless i’m missing it the airwire manual says install a switch but the phoenix manual doesn’t show a switch for the 2k2 or the P8(5,9 or 11).
Terry
Terry,
Here is a summary of the uses of these CVs on the P8 and the G3:
CV49
P8: 0 = Speed from Triggers; ≠ 0, speed from DCC
G3: ELITE2 Special Effect
CV50
P8: The DCC Value where motion starts. (Default = 2)
G3: ELITE3 Special Effect
CV51
P8: The DCC Rate (Speed vs. Throttle) (Default = 100)
G3: ELITE4 special Effect + Timer
CV52
P8: Seconds to simulate DCC if DCC signal is lost. (Default = 0) (forever)
G3: ELITE4 Auto-off timer (0 = manual)
CV53
P8: Seconds in idle before shutdown. (Default = 0) (never shutdown)
G3: DLITE Flash Rate (x 250msec)
Also, the G3 documentation shows that CV35 through CV46 control what action is assigned to function keys F1 through F12 by the G3. The P8 documentation does not specifically shows which CVs contain the information for the P8. I generally set F9 through F12 to control various lighting effects from the G3. I also generally set F1 through F8 to control various sound effects from the P8. I program the P8 effects first using the computer interface and PC software. I then turn off power to the P8 and program the G3 with the wireless controller. If I do not turn off the P8, I can end up with a single function key causing both a lighting effect and a sound effect.
As to why the Phoenix documentation doesn’t show the need for the separate power switch, I believe it has to do with the date of the P8 handbook. It precedes the date of the G3 availability. The separate switch is definitely shown in the G3 documentation. And the G3 documentation specifically states to program the P8 first, renove power from it, and then program the G3. Prior to the G3, it may not have been much of an issue.
Bob
All good stuff to know. Thanks for the info.
T