I saw a very detailed description and instructions on Facebook of how a fella converted his loco to battery power and the Amazon remote control system. But I can’t find where I saw this. Does anyone know where I can find it?
Thanks, Timmy
I think I saw that same post. It was on Facebook, G scale.net and the guy was Jimmy Timeman
Here is the post.
“I didn’t build this to sell something… I built it to give something back.”
A couple months ago, I started working on a simple idea:
What if model train control didn’t have to cost a small fortune?
What if you could just… build your own?
So I put together Poor Man’s Throttle.
Not a company.
Not a product launch.
Just one guy trying to make something useful for the hobby.
Since then, it’s been picked up by people in:
USA
UK
Germany
Brazil
Belgium
Which honestly still surprises me.
This isn’t for everyone.
This is for the people who:
-
like to build
-
like to tinker
-
like to understand how things actually work
The DIY side of the hobby.
What it is:
A wireless throttle you control from your phone
Built with <$15 in parts
Works with DC layouts or dead-rail and Battery
Uses PWM control (so no more jerky starts or weak low-speed performance)
But really…
It’s a starting point.
Something you can build on, modify, and make your own.
I spent the time figuring it out — the firmware, the app, the wiring, the problems — so someone else wouldn’t have to start from zero.
If you saw this before and didn’t get a chance to dig into it…
Here it is again.
If you’ve never seen it at all…
You might want to take a look.
https://jamocle.github.io/PoorMansThrottle-DIY/Installer
I just wanted to put something out there for the people who love this hobby…
but don’t love the price tag.
Take a look!
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I saw that too, but it’s not the Amazon unit.
Timmy - take a look at this thread,
https://largescalecentral.com/t/a-remote-control-rig-for-19-99/85769
and then look at the ‘Cheap RC’ thread on Mylargescale.com.
That looks a lot less complicated than the one Todd posted, and the relays give you light and on/off sound control with an added sound board.
I just finished wiring up the Poor Man’s Throttle. It works great and is very easy to setup! It took me about 15 minutes to wire it up and test. I’m waiting for the battery to arrive today or tomorrow to convert one of my LGB Porters to this sweet item. Check out the video.
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Congrats! It’s great to see you progressing from relying on others (TOC etc) for your technical needs to an accomplished Do It Yourselfer.
For folks that run roundy-round these phone based systems are great. I beta (or was it alpha) tested something similar several years ago for Martin Saint. It worked well, but without tactile feedback I found the phone hard to use as a remote in switching ops.
You prolly know this, Tim, but don’t forget to remove the brushes ,sliders and and any other things that pick up track power on the loco.
Of course! I’ve converted 5 of my LGB Moguls to Blunami / Battery already.