Large Scale Central

Battery R/C Baguley Drewry update

Following on my ealier thread regarding installing battery R/C in a Baguley Drewry; http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=6389 I have made some changes to the loco. I will shortly be releasing a new range of RCS BASIC series R/C Motor Drivers. These will be plug in compatible with the Phoenix P5 sound system and the new P5T 6 x extra function expander pcb. I have had a multi plug/wire cable made that allows the various components to be simply plugged together.

This greatly simplifies battery R/C installation with Phoenix sound. In fact the only wiring needed for the sound are two wires to the speaker and two wires to the power supply for the P5. The BASIC-45 requires two wires for the battery power and two wires out to the motor. The RCS BASIC-45, P5 & P5T are all very small and easily fit under the hood of the diesel above the battery pack.

The cables floating loose are for the speaker (2 way), # PLUS-3 (3 x way), lights ( 4 x way) and the RX-8 receiver (3 x way Red/Black/Yellow). As shown above the BASIC-45 can trigger three sounds with the TX-24. The Phoenix P5 has excellent sound quality but I did baffle the speaker with a sheet of styrene I glued in place with silicon adhesive. This improved the bass quality quite a bit.

Also shown is the small plug in RCS #PLUS-3 pcb that triggers three more sounds. These are controlled by the TX-24 using three more functions provided by pressing and holding either the Star or Hexagon shift keys on the TX-24. Tim Boulton of Tootle Engineering made the head & tail lights for me in turned brass. They take 1/4" high intensity LED’s. Unfortunately I cannot get the warm white variety here in Australia so I will make do with the ones that have a bluish hue to them for now. Perhaps I can colour the ends to make them a bit warmer.

The new RCS Motor Drivers will be available shortly as soon as Phoenix issues the version 6904 sound files to go with them. They will be announced at the RCS website when ready. The #MOD-CABLE shown above will work with any of the existing RCS BASIC series and is available now. In the meantime, the Phoenix P5 + P5T combination is now recommended for the RCS ELITE series which can use the existing Phoenix 6900 and 6902 sound file versions. Wiring diagrams will be available as pdf files at the RCS website soon. As soon as they are available RCS will also have downloadable Phoenix “config” files already set up for the P5 & P5T for RCS at the RCS wesbite.

Hi Tony, I have been following your article with great interest and am installing a much simplified version in my BagDrew. I know very little about electronics. Could you please tell me what you use to recharge the 14.4 volt battery pack? I have not managed to find anything suitable. Regards, Howard.

TonyWalsham said:
Following on my ealier thread regarding installing battery R/C in a Baguley Drewry; http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=6389 I have made some changes to the loco. I will shortly be releasing a new range of RCS BASIC series R/C Motor Drivers. These will be plug in compatible with the Phoenix P5 sound system and the new P5T 6 x extra function expander pcb. I have had a multi plug/wire cable made that allows the various components to be simply plugged together.

This greatly simplifies battery R/C installation with Phoenix sound. In fact the only wiring needed for the sound are two wires to the speaker and two wires to the power supply for the P5. The BASIC-45 requires two wires for the battery power and two wires out to the motor. The RCS BASIC-45, P5 & P5T are all very small and easily fit under the hood of the diesel above the battery pack.

The cables floating loose are for the speaker (2 way), # PLUS-3 (3 x way), lights ( 4 x way) and the RX-8 receiver (3 x way Red/Black/Yellow). As shown above the BASIC-45 can trigger three sounds with the TX-24. The Phoenix P5 has excellent sound quality but I did baffle the speaker with a sheet of styrene I glued in place with silicon adhesive. This improved the bass quality quite a bit.

Also shown is the small plug in RCS #PLUS-3 pcb that triggers three more sounds. These are controlled by the TX-24 using three more functions provided by pressing and holding either the Star or Hexagon shift keys on the TX-24. Tim Boulton of Tootle Engineering made the head & tail lights for me in turned brass. They take 1/4" high intensity LED’s. Unfortunately I cannot get the warm white variety here in Australia so I will make do with the ones that have a bluish hue to them for now. Perhaps I can colour the ends to make them a bit warmer.

The new RCS Motor Drivers will be available shortly as soon as Phoenix issues the version 6904 sound files to go with them. They will be announced at the RCS website when ready. The #MOD-CABLE shown above will work with any of the existing RCS BASIC series and is available now. In the meantime, the Phoenix P5 + P5T combination is now recommended for the RCS ELITE series which can use the existing Phoenix 6900 and 6902 sound file versions. Wiring diagrams will be available as pdf files at the RCS website soon. As soon as they are available RCS will also have downloadable Phoenix “config” files already set up for the P5 & P5T for RCS at the RCS wesbite.

Radio Shack sells a plug in type 18V trickle charger that works just fine with 14.4V Another source would be an outlet for R/C cars and planes.

Howard:

I use the RCS BACH-2 charger powered by a Radio Shack AC Adapter (wall wart). The AC Adapter has an output of 13VAC to the BACH-2. All of this came with the appropriate connectors to match the RCS BIKs (Battery Installation Kits) that are installed in the locomotives.

The BACH-2 also has a couple of LEDs that show proper / improper operation.

Happy RRing,

Jerry Bowers

Howard Parsons said:
Hi Tony,

I have been following your article with great interest and am installing a much simplified version in my BagDrew. I know very little about electronics. Could you please tell me what you use to recharge the 14.4 volt battery pack? I have not managed to find anything suitable.

Regards, Howard.


Hello Howard.

Which charger is best depends on the battery chemistry.
In the case of the Baguley Drewry I am using the new Sanyo ENELOOP AA size batteries. These are a mixture of NiMh and Alkaline chemistries. They do not self discharge like plain NiMh cells do.
They do require a specific NiMh charger and the BACH-5 I make is designed only for NiCd not NiMh.
I personally use a MAHA charger that is commonly available in the USA.
There are other types available from battery specialists.
It depends on which country you are in.

Hi Tony,

I’m in England and using NiMH batteries.

Howard

TonyWalsham said:
Howard Parsons said:
Hi Tony,

I have been following your article with great interest and am installing a much simplified version in my BagDrew. I know very little about electronics. Could you please tell me what you use to recharge the 14.4 volt battery pack? I have not managed to find anything suitable.

Regards, Howard.


Hello Howard.

Which charger is best depends on the battery chemistry.
In the case of the Baguley Drewry I am using the new Sanyo ENELOOP AA size batteries. These are a mixture of NiMh and Alkaline chemistries. They do not self discharge like plain NiMh cells do.
They do require a specific NiMh charger and the BACH-5 I make is designed only for NiCd not NiMh.
I personally use a MAHA charger that is commonly available in the USA.
There are other types available from battery specialists.
It depends on which country you are in.

Howard.

Brandbright sell a suitable charger for NiMh batteries.

Hi Tony

Many thanks to you and others for your input. I have emailed Brandbright and will probably be making a purchase at Welshpool.

Regards, Howard

TonyWalsham said:
Howard.

Brandbright sell a suitable charger for NiMh batteries.

I also use the MAHA with great success…purchased from our friend Dave

Yo Tony - great to meet up last weekend!!!

I can vouch for the excellent sound quality of this set-up, having heard it with my own flaps last week-end at Llanfair.

Might have to go that way with my coupla Baggies…currently with L*B units in.

Best

tac