Most of the installations I get to do for customers are full onboard only. Just occasionally I get a trail car type which I can document as I do it. This is one of those instances and permits me to show LS’ers how to use the BIK-TC5 installation kit. I’d make the BASIC-TC5 wording a link to the RCS website if I knew how to do it. The LGB D&RGW baggage car is ideal for converting to battery R/C. The floor is almost flat and the roof is easy to remove and replace. It even comes with holes drilled in the right place for the car - loco cable connection. I mounted the RCS RX-8 receiver up in the roof down one end. This allowed the antenna to be tack glued round the roof perimiter. The coiled cable is the receiver to controller connection.
The two 7.2 volt 2400 mah Sub C NiCd packs are glued to the floor with silicone sealant. As I did not want to remove the two little mouldings in the floor insert, I canted them up very slightly. the battery cables and Y harness are tied in place with a small zip cable tie.
The BIK-TC5 install kit pcb and the BASIC-5 controller pcb are also mounted with silicone sealant.
The BIK-TC5 is conveniently placed in the doorway. This permits the sliding door to be open and closed.
The AC compatible cable and plug supplied in the BIK-TC5 kit is fed through the floor and mounted on the end beam with CA and then a dab of silicone.
It is not very obvious when car and loco are coupled together. The BIK-TC5 will work with any brand of R/C. It provides convenient screw terminals, an ON-OFF switch, LED indicator, glass fuse, wiring and cable plus a charging jack. It has built in RF choke noise suppression. You can use any type of battery. If you wish to use low cost 7.2 volt twin stick battery packs with Tamiya type connectors it is easy to place them in series with the Y-CABLE.