Bob - Take a look at Martin Saint’s interface / software for the TCSWOW. It has a few servo outputs. UI is a cell phone / tablet which isn’t for me, but might work for you. I have a beta test system here that I may never use for other than testing. I could send it to you with Martin’s OK if you want to check it out.
Thanks Jon. Martin was kind enough to say he’s going to send me one of his interfaces. Should be here sometime in the next few days.
Another small update. Have it all buttoned up for now, except some weathering and repainting of some bits, and drilling through the grill.
Very cool. Too bad Revolution didn’t exploit DCC instead of dissing it…(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
I’m amazed at the functionality these little decoders pack into themselves. Many different prime movers, more than a dozen different horns to choose from, and a bunch of random sounds. Not to mention fully customizable speed curves. In a package smaller than my thumb, for around $100
Bob McCown said:
I’m amazed at the functionality these little decoders pack into themselves. Many different prime movers, more than a dozen different horns to choose from, and a bunch of random sounds. Not to mention fully customizable speed curves. In a package smaller than my thumb, for around $100
Me too. I recently bumped in to Clem (Mr Warrior Run Loco Works) and he’s using an MRC HO system of r/c TX and DCC-type RX for about $89. Seems to handle 1.5 amps or so. It uses the NMRA socket, and you can buy the female for $5 or so to plug it in.
Finishing up the last few bits today. I drilled and filed out the center four areas of the front grill, and cut some fine brass mesh to serve as a backing for it. I painted the grill matte black, added some drybrushing, and I put the brass mesh, and the major grab irons, into blackening solution. Here’s the grill pieces waiting assembly.
Modified grill and grab irons reinstalled. Next is a light touch of weathering, but its just about ready for service.
I was running this loco today, testing out the track powered section around Williamsport, and I noticed that, since it only picks up from the sliders, it was dying on a couple switches with plastic frogs. Has anyone put in wheel pickups in this little locomotive, or maybe know of a supercap that will fit in this thing?
EDIT: On further examination, it looks like there are wheel pickups. So I guess I need to see why they arent working.
Very informing on your install in the D&RGW #50 with the Loco Genie. I have this loco and plan to do pretty much the same. I did read somewhere that the sliders being up front and the traction wheel being in the rear causes a dead spot when on the switches, there fix was to replace the traction tire wheel set with a standard front wheel set, but seems like there were other things that had to be done, something with the axles and the gears, maybe he purchase a front set of wheels and axle and the gears were backwards and had to remove the wheel and change the drive gear around, sorry I just can’t remember what he did, it just wasn’t important at the time, but now I wish I would have Bookmarked where I read it. I also remember reading that the sliders could be shortened, that is ground down on the outside edge as they are too long and hit the other rail and short out.
trainman
To make davenports pick up power better, I just swapped the axles end to end, now the traction tire is close to the pick up shoe. You do need to flip the side rods after doing this.
There are silver ‘bars’ in the bottom of this loco to make the carbon brush holders carry wheel power to the sliders and placement is critical. I have converted all 5 of mine to DCC via Zimo decoders and have no power pick up issues, but I do have the rear power ports available for extra power pickup from a trailing car if needed, but does interfere with my remote uncoupling capability.
Dan Pierce said:
To make davenports pick up power better, I just swapped the axles end to end, now the traction tire is close to the pick up shoe. You do need to flip the side rods after doing this.
There are silver ‘bars’ in the bottom of this loco to make the carbon brush holders carry wheel power to the sliders and placement is critical. I have converted all 5 of mine to DCC via Zimo decoders and have no power pick up issues, but I do have the rear power ports available for extra power pickup from a trailing car if needed, but does interfere with my remote uncoupling capability.
After reading your conversion on the Davenport’s that sounds like what I read, glad you posted this to remind me of what to do. Will the gears be in the correct possession after switching the axles and matchup with the worm gear on the motor. The reason for changing the side rods is why, is it so the side rods will fit on the axles correctly. Thanks for the post.
trainman
Thanks, Ill give the axle swap thing a try tonight. A cursory look underneath this morning before work shows that there are plungers on the backs of all four wheels, so SOMETHING isnt connected inside. Need to find out what I did with my multimeter…
I use these manuals all the time for info, https://www.onlytrains.com/manuals/20630-1.pdf Let us know about the axle swap and what else needs to be done including the side rod swap, thanks.
trainman
As Dan said, getting the silver contact bars correctly positioned is a pita. Bend a little here and a little there until you have contact between brush holders and sliders.
Wow, you ain’t kidding, that was a pain. I think I had it apart six or seven times.
According to my meter, I have contact between the sliders and wheels on each side. So that should make things a bit better. Won’t get to test it until the weekend.
Aligning the wheels after swapping the front and rear axles does require checking the quartering. And one must place the power strips in the right place. These really only fit one way as this is a 3 wire motor block. You should not have to bend these, they will fit properly!! Sometimes I find them upside down. the middle of the strip faces the bottom plate, does not go up into the motor block.
Dan Pierce said:
Aligning the wheels after swapping the front and rear axles does require checking the quartering. And one must place the power strips in the right place. These really only fit one way as this is a 3 wire motor block. You should not have to bend these, they will fit properly!! Sometimes I find them upside down. the middle of the strip faces the bottom plate, does not go up into the motor block.
So my questions are, when you swap the front and rear axles, are they just moved front to rear and rear to front, or do you also have to rotate them 180 degrees when you do the swap. Plus will the gears line up properly when the swap is made, that is the worm gears on the motor to the gears on the axles, I’m not sure if there is a rotation pattern in the worm gear, or the axle gears. So someone said the side rods needed to be switched from side to side, or did they just mean they needed to be quartered and would need to be realigned. I know this is a lot of questions, I just want to understand what needs to be done before I tear into this project, thanks for your help on this.
trainman
The side rods have simulated oil/grease caps that should face up. I switch the wheel sets end to end to keep the axle gears in the proper place. This does make the side rods upside down.
On another note, I use a 2 inch square frqame speaker which fits real nice in the front of the engine and I did hollow out the grill and placed Xmas ribbon behind the grill to hide the speaker. I used black on the D&RGW green unit, but red on the LGB 3 axle unit. One of my units has a brass mesh.
Dan Pierce said:
The side rods have simulated oil/grease caps that should face up. I switch the wheel sets end to end to keep the axle gears in the proper place. This does make the side rods upside down.
On another note, I use a 2 inch square frqame speaker which fits real nice in the front of the engine and I did hollow out the grill and placed Xmas ribbon behind the grill to hide the speaker. I used black on the D&RGW green unit, but red on the LGB 3 axle unit. One of my units has a brass mesh.
Thanks Dan, sorry for the delay, we went camping for a few days.
trainman