Has any brave soul out there put battery power and r/c in a K-27, either by using a trailing battery car, or the large tender?
A friend of mine who has the necessary HUGE track to run it on is going over to total live steam and no track power, but he really likes to see our K-27 and a string of cars on his open days…we only go because of his cakes, BTW.
NB that I already have a Sierra ‘mournful moosie’ sound system in it - listen…
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
OK, how many of ya listened? 'Fess up.
Terry A de C Foley said:
NB that I already have a Sierra 'mournful moosie' sound system in it - listen.....OK, how many of ya listened? 'Fess up.
I don’t have one, but there is a member of our club that has got one that’s RC. I can’t recall if he used RCS or Airwire. I believe everything fit into the tender.
If you don’t mind the trailing car, go that route. Brass models suck…up radio signals like a sponge. I’ve done a Pennsy K4 with RCS and worked on it for weeks to get good range. Bob Hess has a couple of K27’s with Airwire in the tender that are ok.
Marc Bergmueller said:Thanks for the suggestions, guys, I'll think about it. I am familiar with Mr Walsham's fine products, available over here from Brandbright in Holt, Norfolk, and used by the IPP&W railway in Nepean with great effect.
If you don't mind the trailing car, go that route. Brass models suck...up radio signals like a sponge. I've done a Pennsy K4 with RCS and worked on it for weeks to get good range. Bob Hess has a couple of K27's with Airwire in the tender that are ok.
Best to all
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
Ric Golding said:Terry A de C Foley said:
NB that I already have a Sierra 'mournful moosie' sound system in it - listen.....OK, how many of ya listened? 'Fess up.
I heard it, sounds good. Belll is a little too loud.
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
Terry,
You might like to peruse this:
http://www.mylargescale.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=35516
Getting good range can be a problem with brass locos but the installations I do seem to work OK.
The antenna must be vented externally so that it can “see” the incoming signals.
The best method with a tender loco is to fabricate a dummy coal rake from thin brass rod and lay it across the top of the coal load.
There links to a number of battery R/C installation articles listed at the RCS website under “Large Scale” “How To”.
I’ve seen installations where they have taken the antenna and let it stick up about an inch through the coal load. It’s almost invisible but seems to greatly improve range.
Tony - many thanks for that help. As you know, I also pester on the mls site, but for some reason there are quite a few elements of the site that do not work for me - ‘search’ is one of them.
Over here in UK a lot of us are starting to use the digital 2.4GHz r/c - I have it in my live-steam Marklin Bavarian S/18, and VERY good it is too. The antenna, as you note, can be practically invisible, in fact, I tucked mine back inside the tender and it still worked from over 100m away.
Still, long range is not necessary as far as I am concerned - my backyard is only 28 feet by 29…[sigh]
Thanks again for all the help.
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
Warren Mumpower said:Airwire in the K. Antenna sticks up a little thru the coal load. It works real well. He also has a Bachmann equipped with RCS, but likes the Airwire better. Everything in the tenders.
I don't have one, but there is a member of our club that has got one that's RC. I can't recall if he used RCS or Airwire. I believe everything fit into the tender.
Tac:I have done more than 2 dozen Accu k27 over the years, with both RCS and Airwire radio setups. There is no need for a trail car, all parts and plenty of battery power can easily be fit on board the tender. The key with Accucraft is that they supply a coal load set in to a brass tray. When in place this effectively seals the tender and covers all the radio gear with brass. It is easy to build a new coal load on top of a square piece of .080 styrene,just use the original load for a pattern. This will get you tremendous range since the top of the tender becomes radio invisible.
jonathan bliese said:Dang.......just wish we lived a bit nearer.....[blibbil] Thanks for the tints and hips.
Tac:I have done more than 2 dozen Accu k27 over the years, with both RCS and Airwire radio setups. There is no need for a trail car, all parts and plenty of battery power can easily be fit on board the tender. The key with Accucraft is that they supply a coal load set in to a brass tray. When in place this effectively seals the tender and covers all the radio gear with brass. It is easy to build a new coal load on top of a square piece of .080 styrene,just use the original load for a pattern. This will get you tremendous range since the top of the tender becomes radio invisible.
tac