Dear Joe, I did not mean to imply you are a cheapskate at all. Everyone has different priorities, and my comments were intended to get all those priorities out on the table.
My belief is that once you really understand what the priorities are, the answers come easily.
I fully respect your decisions, and now I see we have actually gotten to the crux of the problem, about guessing that a higher voltage might improve the performance of your sound systems.
Regards, Greg
Jeez, Greg, I guess I was so focused on “me” that I never noticed any implication of being cheap. In fact ya didn’t imply that. I was just trying to justify why I wasn’t going to get new stuff at this time. Namely, too many, money-sucking hobbies.
What I did do, after signing off last night, is dig up my old George Schreyer file and look up his in-depth chapter(s) on Aristo remote control, aka, Train Engineer. What I learned is that I need a later model 5490, the one that accepts the plug-in 5495 Accessory Broad with five triggerable outputs, which is what I have in the loco that still runs on track power. According to George, there is a way to add the accessory board to an older 5490, but ya gotta get into the guts of the system and that ain’t me. So, I’m a lookin’ for a newer 5490 and 5495, which are 27 MHz units and long off the market and available perhaps on Evil Bay.
Today I called Jim Calahan at Phoenix, who told me that my Phoenix 97 detects/measures speed based on chuff rate, which is axle rotation. More chuffs translates to higher speeds as sensed by the Phoenix. This is why I wondered if using an 18-volt battery–to make the loco go faster–would trigger the currently non-functioning automatic crossing whistle I mentioned earlier. Of course I could just up the chuff rate, say, to four versus two chuffs per revolution.
One other thing that comes into play using the automatic function is polarity, which Jim said I should take from the motor, now that we’re talkin’ battery power. In fact, I’m wondering if the reason I don’t get the crossing whistle after slowing from high speed, is because the loco, i.e. sound system, isn’t sure what direction it’s going. BTW, changing the chip for triggerable whistle, which eliminates the --0- sequence, costs $10. Chump change, but then I am a…nice guy. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
I thought the phoenix blew the crossing signal in reverse as well.
Joe, what was the voltage you were running for track power?
T
Terry, since it’s the 10 amp Train Engineer feeding into the transmitter (the one that blows a fuse every time you have a derailment), I’m guessing 18 volts. But if I’m up for it, I’ll measure it. Ditto, I’ll measure the voltage my 14 volt battery is delivering to the Aristo RX–like maybe there’s a loss. Yeah, I thought the crossing whistle should blow in reverse, but when you’re grasping at straws, take the easy explanation every time.
BTW, I received an e-mail back from Phoenix and was told that terminals 1 and 2–track/battery power “in”–are not polarity sensitive. But the aux battery input, the one that’s fed by that 6 volt backup battery that came with the Phoenix, them there terminals most def are polarity sensitive. Phoenix sez the 14 volt battery I’m using should be hooked to those terminals–4 and 5 I believe–and that the 6-volt battery should be discarded. The 1 and 2 terminals should be fed by the same line (using a jumper) as the motor, so that the sound system knows if it’s supposed to be in forward or reverse. BTW, I triple checked this with Phoenix so as not to melt my 97. Measure twice, cut once, right? (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-smile.gif)
I would vote for the fact that your battery is less voltage and therefor not triggering the crossing whistle. If the phoenix doesn’t have a startup whistle for forward and reverse i wouldn’t think it would matter for motor polarity. To find out just run the loco in reverse.
I did a track to battery install/conversion with a phoenix P11 where voltage the case. But, the P11 is able to be changed with the computer interface.
Terry
