Large Scale Central

Aristo GP40 design issue

Reviews
#1

This loco’s switches for power (track or battery), motor, smoke and lights are positioned on top, under a removable plastic lid that’s held in place by four press clips.

If you lift the loco up by this lid, the clips will hold just long enough for you to raise the loco to a height sufficient to cause real damage when the clips let go. Note I said WHEN, not IF. The clips WILL let go - this is a heavy engine.

My GP40 is undamaged only because I am living proof that fear can make even an old man move REALLY fast!

#2

Dave,
Good catch! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:
But it’s prolly better that some USA’s where you have to lift the bugger up and the switches are underneath.
Guess you have to get used to lifting by the bottoms.

#3
John Bouck said:
Dave, Good catch! :) :) But it's prolly better that some USA's where you have to lift the bugger up and the switches are underneath. Guess you have to get used to lifting by the bottoms.
Agreed. Bottom switches suck! Ralph
#4

I don’t do battery power, remote control or sound, but I think the GP40 would probably be a good proposition for folks who do. This new Aristo loco appears to have been designed to make implementation of these features easy, hence the top-mounted switches.

After it has had a sufficient run-in period, I’ll pit this baby against a Dash-9 pulling dead weight up our 6.5 degree test slope. The Dash-9 is an awesome puller, but I have a feeling the GP40 will give it a run for its money.

#5

I recently did a battery R/C conversion to a GP-40.
Nice very smooth running loco.
I am inclined to agree with Dave about his observation of the clips holding the cover on over the switches. They do “feel” secure and then give way. Suddenly. Good idea, but not quite done correctly.

An observation I would like to make is, that by putting all the switches, speaker and other electronics up high, doing so has pretty well removed the ideal location for mounting a receiver. The antenna wires is best mounted as high up as possible and the magnetic field of the speaker and the high frequency RF generated by the smoke generator really plays havoc with the range.
I ended up mounting the receiver down very low and using the rail as the antenna. Range improved dramatically.

Give me a USAT diesel loco any day for ease of installation and great range.

#6

Aren’t all the new Aristo diesels ('cept maybe the E8) built this way? I think I’d take the clips out so the lid just lifts off.

I pick these up by tipping it to the side and sliding one hand under the fuel tank.

#7
Tom Ruby said:
Aren't all the new Aristo diesels ('cept maybe the E8) built this way? I think I'd take the clips out so the lid just lifts off. I pick these up by tipping it to the side and sliding one hand under the fuel tank.
I have five each Dash 9 and SD45, and there is no way that I would pick these babies up by holding onto the top of the motor hood. Even my substantially lighter GP9 and GP38-2 locos get picked up from underneath with a steadying paw on top.

tac

#8
TonyWalsham said:
I ended up mounting the receiver down very low and using the rail as the antenna.
By "rail", do you mean the handrail on the loco?
#9

No Ray.

I mean I used one of the running rails as the antenna.
I connected the RX antenna to one side of one truck and thence to one of the rails.
This gives excellent “reach” as long as the operator is standing fairly close to the track.

#10

Tony,

A few Q’s:

  1. What does a smoke generator have in it that would cause RF noise to interfere with the receiver? (My guess - a fan) Could it be filtered (with a small cap, eg.)?

  2. What are the RCS’s frequency and type of modulation?

  3. What are the wavelength / orientation of the tx and rx antennas/loading coils?

  4. How much effect on range is there from the direction the transmitter is pointed? Would an rx antenna wire bent into thirds, one third on each of the X,Y and Z axis reduce that effect?

  5. Are you sure the speaker interferes? Do you mean that an unpowered speaker’s (unchanging) magnetic field would reduce your range? Is the metal frame of the speaker “loading” your rx antenna?

  6. What effect does turning the volume down, or shutting off the sound have on the range? Is the sound module generating unfiltered RFI on its speaker outputs?

  7. What is the wavelength of the head mounted dipole antenna shown in your avitar? Are your metal framed glasses part of the tuning circuit?

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

#11
Quote:
I mean I used one of the running rails as the antenna. I connected the RX antenna to one side of one truck and thence to one of the rails. This gives excellent "reach" as long as the operator is standing fairly close to the track.
I haven't tried this yet, but I'll take this from you as an endorsement of the technique.
#12

Tom, both of the loco’s I brought to Ric’s last year have the antennae wired that way.

#13
Joe Satnik said:
Tony,

A few Q’s:

  1. What does a smoke generator have in it that would cause RF noise to interfere with the receiver? (My guess - a fan) Could it be filtered (with a small cap, eg.)?

  2. What are the RCS’s frequency and type of modulation?

  3. What are the wavelength / orientation of the tx and rx antennas/loading coils?

  4. How much effect on range is there from the direction the transmitter is pointed? Would an rx antenna wire bent into thirds, one third on each of the X,Y and Z axis reduce that effect?

  5. Are you sure the speaker interferes? Do you mean that an unpowered speaker’s (unchanging) magnetic field would reduce your range? Is the metal frame of the speaker “loading” your rx antenna?

  6. What effect does turning the volume down, or shutting off the sound have on the range? Is the sound module generating unfiltered RFI on its speaker outputs?

  7. What is the wavelength of the head mounted dipole antenna shown in your avitar? Are your metal framed glasses part of the tuning circuit?

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

  1. Like many other locos, the GP-40 has a high frequency pwm generator that creates RFI.

  2. 27 Mhz FM.

  3. No idea.

  4. Some.

  5. Yes.

  6. None.

  7. No idea. No.

#14

If folks read the instructions one might figure out you do not lift the loco by the center section with the dynamic brakes/non dynamic. As you found out wrong. Later RJD

#15

If you’re using the track as the antenna, doesn’t that kind of defeat one of the benefits of battery power? Namely, not having to clean the track?

#16

You don’t usually have to clean the track. Inductance makes it work. I only do it when the antenna reception is compromised by magnets & on board electronics causing RFI.

#17
R.J. DeBerg said:
If folks read the instructions one might figure out you do not lift the loco by the center section with the dynamic brakes/non dynamic. As you found out wrong. Later RJD
I got a lot more dynamic than I've been for years when I felt the mongrel letting go!