TheGhostofNigelGresley Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Afternoon, I've been thinking ahead (always dangerous) and I'm very attracted to the possibilities offered by remote control rather than traditional track carried power. To me it seems to offer considerable advantages, no wiring, no track or wheel cleaning, individual unit control etc and it also brings the garden into play reasonably easily. I'm planning on building my locomotives myself, so hopefully the required modifications shouldn't be too hard as I go along, but I'm sure there must be a lot of opinions on the subject, so I'll ask for them ? Anyone done it ? Any opinions ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayell Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 It should be easy in 0 gauge as you would have plenty of room for batteries, I am about to send my P4 GWR Pannier Tank kit away to Australia for building, fitting of a 3v gearhead motor and R/C receiver. The batteries will be fitted in to any available space so I won't know till it comes back what sort of running time it will have. Have a look at Deltang and The Model Works to see what is available and what can be done. http://www.deltang.co.uk/ http://themodelworksaustralia-com.webs.com/trainworkx-rc-control There is also the Acc+Ess Protocab system but don't know how long it will be before they actually have something to sell, this system will be very sophisticated by the sound of it and far too complex for my one loco country branch. http://protocab.com/ have a go, almost anything is better in my opinion that running power through the rails, unless you are modeling Southern 3 rail track jayell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallen Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 There is a thread here on radio control, under "special interests": http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/forum/228-radio-control/ The answer is yes, it is common in garden railways of course but in the smaller scales we have done this in n gauge, 009, and also (not mentioned in the thread I think) in 1/35 scale by an Australian modeller who also now supplies radio control kits: http://themodelworksaustralia-com.webs.com/ But not as far as I know in 7mm although I don't think it should be too much of a problem. Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Take a look at the Stanton S Cab System. I've used it myself. One great thing is that there are several options, including one where you don't need a battery, but can have an ordinary 12volts DC, or 16volts AC or another DCC system powering the track, and it will draw power from any of those, without interfering with existing systems. Of course, most people go for a battery option. You can have a short section of track powered with DC or AC and use this as the "filling point" similar in manner to where you'd fuel and water the locomotive. Also, very handy if you visit a lot of friends who have different systems for operating their layouts. For a private layout, you can just have 16volts AC on the main lines and leave all the points dead and it will run fine. I'm wiring up my own layout to take either DC or DCC power, but having the Stanton S Cab System would be particularly handy as I intend to take most of my locomotives on visits to other people's layouts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Very informative replies, thanks. I have the traditional 12v DC two rail sytem on all my locomotives but, as I do not have a railway of my own, I rely on running powers on other's railways. This has worked out well enough so far but I have long thought that an 'indepenent' system was the ideal solution and I shall move over to it one day, no doubt. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostofNigelGresley Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Thanks Chaps. I found this as well http://www.antenna-models.com/borcgo.pdf Looks like the way forward to me..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Ray Green's layout of Bodmin General is another take on remote control. He uses infra red and a description of the layout is At http://www.gwr.org.uk/layoutsbodmin1.html The Railway Modeller featured the layout on its Christmas CD a few years ago, but the three films can be seen on Youtube. Ignore the ghastly background music. Here is a link to the Red Arrow system. I may test it myself as I find DCC frustrating and it is a comparable price. There doesn't appear to be sound, but that does not worry me as most steam sounds are dissatisfying. The biggest problem I foresee is fitting a standard battery in the Ixion locos. http://www.redarrowcontrol.co.uk/ Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostofNigelGresley Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Thanks Chris - some interesting stuff there. Provided the necessary equipment can be tucked into a loco ( more importantly, can be understood and stuffed in by the likes of me ) I'm definitely of the mind that this is the way forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallen Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Chris, The Deltang electronics is much more advanced than the conventional AM or FM radio control systems. It operates at 2.4 GHz which is the same band as Wi-Fi. It needs no crystals, but many many systems can operate on the same band without interference. It's also very small, easy to install, and smooth to operate. And it's surprisingly inexpensive. (No connection other than as a very satisfied customer!) Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayell Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Chris, The Deltang electronics is much more advanced than the conventional AM or FM radio control systems. It operates at 2.4 GHz which is the same band as Wi-Fi. It needs no crystals, but many many systems can operate on the same band without interference. It's also very small, easy to install, and smooth to operate. And it's surprisingly inexpensive. (No connection other than as a very satisfied customer!) Frank Deltang have designed two controllers for model railway use, one for a single loco which is the one I'll be getting. It is marketed as a complete unit or as a d-i-y kit which looks pretty simple to put together. Deltang have simple to understand instructions on how to do it on their website so you can look at this and see if you feel capable of building it yourself. It costs £21 as a kit or £46 pre-built The second controller can control up to 12 locos, although only one at a time, so has a loco selection switch.This costs a bit more at £25 for the kit or £58 built. The receiver units which go in each loco are 'bound' to a transmitter unit the first time it is connected, a bit like DCC I believe. Receivers are mostly about £30 and are pretty small, the one going in my loco is I am told 10 x 12 x 1.5mm and will be used with a 3 volt gearhead motor that is smaller than the Mashisma 1220/1224 can motors the kit was originally designed for. I don't know the source of these gearhead motors but I know "the Model Works" used one with 180:1 gearing in one of the models they have built and illustrated on their site in 1:35 scale. This is much lower gearing than anything I have seen for 12v motors. jayell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fallen Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 I have used the DelTang receivers with a 3.7v sigle cell LiPo to drive nominally 12v motors quite successfully. They are not fast, but run at realistic speeds OK. Normal DC controls lose some volts between the controller and the motor due to rail to wheel and wheel to pickup resistance, and how often do you run the loco at full power anyway? The Deltang kit controller is easy to make up if you have any electronics experience, the circuit board is ready completed you just need to connect it to the controls and fit it in the box. They also have a controller for 3 locos I think, this allows control of three locos at the same time. It costs less than two single loco controllers if I remember right. Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paulig44 Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Afternoon, I've been thinking ahead (always dangerous) and I'm very attracted to the possibilities offered by remote control rather than traditional track carried power. To me it seems to offer considerable advantages, no wiring, no track or wheel cleaning, individual unit control etc and it also brings the garden into play reasonably easily. I'm planning on building my locomotives myself, so hopefully the required modifications shouldn't be too hard as I go along, but I'm sure there must be a lot of opinions on the subject, so I'll ask for them ? Anyone done it ? Any opinions ? I use the Red Arrow radio version....not the infra red version....and my experience has been brilliant service, great system, works for me and I wouldn't go back to wires ever. Usual disclaimers. I have, with difficulty, put it into 4mm but in 7mm...piece of cake! Has a couple of minor foibles one needs to get used to, but nothing that, in my opinion, makes it any harder than the scrambled egg of DCC which, despite all the hype, still seems to need almost as many wires as straight dc does! And the include the furphy of running more engines than or two or thee on the same track...forgetting that the Rule Book may have a lot to say about that! And the fact that we come equipped with only one pair of eyes! Whatever works for you, of course, Red Arrow works for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGhostofNigelGresley Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 Am much enthused by the prospect. All I have to do now is build a locomotive.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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