Good day. I just finished up posting a review of the new HO Train Engineer Revolution that Crest Electronics has developed.
While this unit is designed for HO engines it can handle small G-scale engines as well.
I will be revising and adding to the review as I continue to test the new system.
http://www.trainelectronics.com/HO_Train_Engineer/article.htm
dave
Great report as usual.
Just enough info without being too long.
very informative.
When did crrest start requiring a magnet instead of a button push to program?
Bill Ewing
Bill - the little gizmo on the board that is marked in yellow is a Hall effect sensor - it is the solid state equivalent of a reed switch.
Since you may want to link a receiver in an HO locomotive without removing the body the magnetic option is a good one - switches are OK for larger scales.
dave
Any idea when this will hit the streets? price?
Warren
FYI, the 75 mhz unit by aristo.crest had a magnet inside the transmitter in the HO version for reprogramming the HOTE receiver…
This was the only difference between HO and large scale in the 75mhz transmitter versions. The HOTE worked well in my LGB railtruck.
So, it was about 10 years ago that Crest started using a magnet for reprogramming long before the Revolution. And the revolution can have a reed switch instead of the push button glued inside a plastic engine.
The problem with replacing the linking button with a reed switch, is remembering where you put it a year or so after it was installed.
The one in my S-4 worked perfectly when I did remember where I put it, but the one in my GP-40 kept throwing the locomotive into linking mode as it ran.
A great tool for activating the reed switch is a dollar store telescoping magnet, as it saves bending down. It’s also great for retrieving screws that roll off the work bench.