Tony,
Will it need a phase inverter to work in the Northern Hemisphere ?
Mike
Mike Morgan said:Hehehehehe
Tony, Will it need a phase inverter to work in the Northern Hemisphere ? Mike
Not likely, but perhaps some operators will need to stand on their heads to make it** perform better.
**= the head, not the RC unit.
What I want is a hand-held device, somewhat bigger than a deck of cards (too small, too easily lost!) that I can carry around with me easily, and that will not require access to Fort Knox to buy the d**n thing. It must have a button or lever to start the loco and make it go faster, another for slow/stop, a third for bell and another for whistle/horn. Other functions are nice, but not necessary. A possible exception might be activating switches (turnouts). As I get longer in the tooth, my desire to bend over and throw the thing manually decreases exponentially.
How the black box talks to the locomotive is immaterial. It can do it by smoke-signal or semiphore, for all I care. I just want it done now!
A bone-head alarm to prevent running my locomotive off the open bridge might be nice, but if I crash it that way, I probably deserve it.
Simple to use is a must! The owner’s manual must be no thicker than 5 pages, with lots of pictures. I took my degree in History before I branched out into Medicine, so I have no patience for owner’s manuals that assume a MSEE to understand what they are talking about.
SteveF
Steve,
You’ve got mail.
Steve…
You ever see an RCS unit?
Curmudgeon said:
Steve.........You ever see an RCS unit?
I have, and I’m impressed. Can it activate switches?
Blow the whistle in real time, or just activate the programmed whistle. I’d like to be able to double-head with another loco (not MU) and need to be able to talk to the other loco.
SteveF
Hi Steve,
Starting with the next shipment of TX-24 transmitter handpieces, the system will have the ability to control three separate locos on the same frequency independently on the same track at the same time.
I do NOT recommend doing so as the inevitable operator caused crashes will always get blamed on the equipment.
However, Large Scalers demand it so who am I to argue. The facility is there even if not needed.
The TX-24 can control three groups of 8 functions. Either 1 x loco plus two extra locos or, 1 x loco plus 16 x turnouts or, 2 x locos plus 8 x turnouts. You choose.
I have the equipment ready for turnout control but have not completed the instructions.
Won’t be long.
The sound triggers on TX-24 can be programmed for momentary contact or latch ON-OFF.
Whether or not the sound is played real time is a functiuon of the sound system itself.
You can play the whistle, I even demonstrate “One Ping, Vasilij, One Ping Only” with the bell.
Lights are full-intensity, directional, whistle, bell, one spare (dynamic brakes or blowdown) and all the loco speed controls.
It’s all programmeable to do what you want.
Showed it yesterday to a long-time smaller-scale DCC user who has retired and is building a Garden Railway on 92 acres (!), and he promptly cancelled his order for a competing product.
Steven Featherkile said:Curmudgeon said:
Steve.........You ever see an RCS unit?
I have, and I’m impressed. Can it activate switches?Blow the whistle in real time, or just activate the programmed whistle. I’d like to be able to double-head with another loco (not MU) and need to be able to talk to the other loco.
SteveF
Speaking as the end user, not the expert …
You can activate the sound effects any way you like, that the sound system will accomodate … and between the momentary/latch choice on the RCS and the programming options on the Sierra, there are a lot of combinations possible. Since the RCS will do your directional headlights, that leaves you the two lighting outputs on the Sierra to do something else with (firebox, markers, MARS light, whatever) and allows you to select on/off for the headlights while operating.
As far as “talking to the other loco” … of a curiosity, what do you want to tell it? If you’re double heading, generally the lead engine is going to do your audible warning and lights, with the second engine just providing power (and obviously with the sound system running, it’ll do what it’s supposed to in that regard) … and with the two locomotives coupled as long as both locomotives change speed together (which they will) what you tell the lead engine to do, the trailing unit will do also.
Now… if you mean running two independant trains … with Tony’s new system, you COULD … but given the size of the handpiece, why not just carry one for each train? You can carry one in each pocket, or if you can stand the “Pocket Protector” jokes, get two of Tony’s snazzy kangaroo/dingo leather holsters and carry them on your belt… If you’re gonna put two engines on one train, it makes sense to run them both from one handpiece, and you can do that … but with two independant trains, at least with two controllers you don’t have to remember which one you’re “set” for … and you have two “STOP!” buttons right in front of you. And … when you get tired of tracking both, you can hand one of those two to the guy standing to your left and tell him “Hey, get this, would ya?” It’s all about having more operational choices available to you … and the cost of the second handpiece is really not a big deal.
Anyhow… not sure exactly what you meant, so I thought I’d ask you to elaborate a bit … since two locomotives coupled tend to function as one unit, I’m not sure exactly what you’d need to say to it, as the headlights will sort themselves out, the sound systems will function correctly, and the whistle/bell will generally be a thing for the lead unit only. Now … if you want to do the whole EBT “call and response whistle” thing I think it’d be a whole lot easier to have two seperate controllers than to try and switch from one to the other on the same one … even if the system will let you.
Have you tried one of these things? I mean, actually used a locomotive set up this way? If not, I highly recommend it (and hey, who can say no to a chance to run a train of any size even if you’re NOT auditioning a new control idea?)
Incidentally, I’m no shill. But I just got my first one of these, and it won’t be my last. Go run one, and see for yourself.
Matthew (OV)
Matthew ,
Interesting write-up . Obviously one satisfied customer . It’s good to see people trying new things , it can only do good for our hobby . I notice that you did not point out any disadvantages , which I think is good ,silly stories about suitability will come soon enough ,and quoting the price would be meaningless if it is instantly going to dispel interest . Regrettably , some see the price of a thing as a "first impression " and never look beyond the number of noughts --they subsequently miss out ,I feel . Tough titty on them ,then .
Mike
Matthew,
In the days of steam, if a train were double-headed, that meant that each locomotive had it’s own engineer and fireman, and they communicated with whistle signals. Quite interesting to hear, if ever you were so fortunate. Add in a pusher at mid-train or at the end, and it became quite a symphony of sound.
What you are describing is what happens in today’s world of the Mutiple Unit (MU) train, where the loco’s are hooked together electrically and one crew controls them all. Very different.
I am trying to recreate the first. Just wondering if the various black boxes can accomidate my wishes.
I appreciate you taking the time to try to help me sort this out.
SteveF
Mike: As you say, there are disadvantages to everything. My experience with my radio controlled locomotive has not been utopic by any means … but then I’ve had issues with my track powered ones as well. Reporting here I’m stressing the positive because that’s what makes the biggest impression on me. Note that I’m not getting rid of my track powered equipment, and will likely not convert most of the existing pieces … for me a mix of both will allow me to enjoy the “best of both worlds.” As to trying new things … I guess now I need a steam powered locomotive just for variety… and I’ll be getting RIGHT on that, well, as soon as the current cash supply is no longer needed for things like track! As to not mentioning price well, no, I guess I didn’t … but this is more about what you can make the locomotive do than what you can’t make it do, or how much it costs to make it do it. Again, I’m not trying to sell stuff… just relate my experience with respect to what the fellow wants to make his locomotive do. Like him, I’m not really concerned with the HOW as much as I am the WHAT … having had a crack at running the real thing, I know what I want my models to do, and that’s the measure of how successful the tiny railroad that’s slowly taking over my basement really is whether it lets me do the kind of railroading I want to do.
Steve: Yeah, had a lot of fun with that sort of thing at Cass … with the best seat in the house! I guess the big deal is you can do it either way with this system… but for the full “two crew” effect go with two transmitters, and you can even overlap your signals…assuming your thumbs are more coordinated than mine! The short answer to your question is YES … but to really get the impact of that one word, I can’t encourage you enough to try one.
Matthew (OV)
Oh … and the bone head alarm? Depends on the magnitude of the bonehead involved … I speak whereof I know, as I’m the one who ran my original RCS project through the open drawbridge onto my living room floor … with predictable results. Fortunately, the RCS had not been installed yet, and years later provided the equipment for the now famous #7145 … so it all worked out!
Kind of.
You will play hell trying to swap one handpiece between two locos to try to get rapid whistle responses.
What we do it two TX’s.
One in each hand.
And, since ours can be done easily with one hand (and ambidextrous), no problemo.
Curmudgeon said:
Kind of.You will play hell trying to swap one handpiece between two locos to try to get rapid whistle responses.
What we do it two TX’s.
One in each hand.And, since ours can be done easily with one hand (and ambidextrous), no problemo.
I would never try to do that with one X-mitter. Mama didn’t raise no fool. That way leads to insanity, but it would be fun watching someone else try…
Ahhh that sounds like a true friend! hehehe
I handed a TE TX to a complete neophyte one day…had three trains running off it. I could barely keep things straight myself even with the bunch of trackage they were on.
Steve’s right! It was great fun watching!
Andre’
Egads, Steve…
You just described an RCS unit........!!!!!!Fred Mills said:
Egads, Steve...You just described an RCS unit........!!!!!!</blockquote>Hmmmm… Has Tony got a patent or sumpin?
or sumpin’.
…grinning…
Hi Steven.
I have been designing and building on board battery powered and trackside R/C systems for model trains longer than anyone else currently in the business, so, “or sumpin” would be appropriate.
At the 1992 Nuremberg Toy Fair, Lewis Polk arranged for his European agents to demonstrate my, then new to model railways, R/C system.
After the Fair he offered to build my system for me in the East. I declined.
3 years later the TE first appeared.
It is not easy competing with China.
I survive by making R/C stuff that is reasonably priced and works properly.
I am well aware of the potential of DCC and along with George Schreyer came to the conclusion long ago that sending commands direct into the loco to control any standard DCC decoder could be the way to go in the future.
I don’t have the expertise to design an interface so I have to rely on third parties to put into practice my ideas.
Two friends who are highly qualified in digital encoding practices have recently agreed to look at the possibilities.
It can be done.
Next step is to decide what is the best way of doing it so that the simple to use approach I adopt for my RCS equipment is also used with a DCC interface.
KISS.