I am in the process right now. So far the directiona very good and precise. I am really taking my time so that I make it right. I have completed the loco upgrade and tested it. Awesome! I am now attempting to locate a connection point to the handrails for the antenna rather than running a tether. I let you all know how this goes. I am taking photos as I go.
Trying to update my avatar since 2020
MartyE and Kodi the Husky Dog! ( 3/31/90-9/28/04 ) www.MartyE.com My O Gauge Web Page and Home of Kodiak Junction!
Just an update. The PE does not lend itself well for rigging the handrails for the antenna...at least not mine and I assume they are all the same. Where they enter the shell near the front of the engine they actuall contact the boiler. There is no insulating device there. I made severals attempt at using other antenna ideas and none worked well. I could only get marginal results at best.
At this point I will add the tether when Jon can get it out to me. He had so much faith that I could sove the handrail issue that he left it out of my kit. I appreciate his faith. That being said though after testing the PE with the Mini Cruise Unit all I can say is WOW! The board is a gem even if I need a tether. The slow speed is great and the fact that there was only the board to install (no tach sensor or other feedback device) was great.
It's a tight fit but following the instructions carefully it went together nicely. Jon has produced a real winner here. I'm going to post some pics after I get the tether and show the complete installation and give a full review but my initial impressions are very positive.
Thanks Jon!
just an idea, but can't you stick the antenna on the underside of the shell? or is the metal shell blocking the signals? (just a few pieces of double stick tape?)
You could also opt to completely remove the handrails and put shrink tube around it, drill the holes a bit bigger where it enteres the shell and spread the lugs on the boiler a bit. I don't know if there excists something like clear shrink tube, but you could probably paint it afterwards..
Or change both wire handrails into a silver isolated electric wire with a solid core. It's a bit weaker than steel handrails, but you can keep the whole stuff in the locomotive without tether.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
MartyE wrote:I didn't ask but Jin seems to have a lot of cool stuff on his site. I think if the sound could be tweeked to the PE I might shoot for it but for now I am just doing the basic upgrade.
Chuck
I thought about that but the handrails are pretty tight into the shell. I suspect that the clear coating could wear of even if teh rail is moved a bit. The hole is just a tad bigger than the rail. Also while trying to bend the rail a bit from the inside to attach the antenna it was very hard and would not bend. I think getting it out of the boiler to perform a coating could do more harm than good.
lionroar88 wrote: MartyE wrote:I didn't ask but Jin seems to have a lot of cool stuff on his site. I think if the sound could be tweeked to the PE I might shoot for it but for now I am just doing the basic upgrade. Marty,I just saw this movie for the first time after Christmas... wife bought the DVD for me.While I was watching the film I couldn't help but wish Lionel would make a PE Specific Sound System and include the TMCC and Odyssey systems! Would also have been cool if the Hot Chocolate Car would play some of the music from the film as well. I'm sure this was not done due to licensing reasons, but wouldn't that have been one nice set!?! I would have been willing to pay an additional $150 for the set to get the PE Sounds, TMCC, and Odyssey add-ons, and would be willing to fork out the standard $249 for a Station Sounds Hot Chocolate car that played the music and the Station Sounds.Hmmm... maybe an email to Lionel would be inorder!
Licensing reasons.. mmmmh, as far as I know Lionel obviously had a big finger in the porridge when making that movie. On the end even a train with "lionel lines" comes right in front of the camera.. May be they simply didn't thought about it, or it became too expensive. But I also heard that they needed to change the logo's on the sides of the train because of licensing reasons.. stupid!
Marty,
Sounds like a great project. I look forward to seeing the pics. Does the Polar Express loco have a pull rope to the bell? Maybe a small black wire could be put in to simulate a rope and act as an antenna?
Have fun with it.
Tim
chuck wrote:Is there any room under the running board to hide a small (aka 24 gauge) black coated braided wire, one on each side?
Chuck I'll look into that tonight. Looking at it quickly that maybe an idea.
The tender has a plastic shell and the upgrade actually recomends this instalation there.
chuck wrote:Metal shell tenders are prety easy to isolate, plastic screws and black tape around the frame will float the shell. These make great antennas after they are isolated.
The upgarde is done. Hope to post some pics later. I want to send them to Jon first since he helped in trying to solve the antenna issue. I have been waiting on a tether but actually found some connectors in my workshop of the same type so I went ahead and used them. The only thing at this point I need to do is add a regulator to the tender to keep the whistle from over reving.
If you are even thinking about doing this upgrade go for it. IMO it was very simple, well though out and worth it. No difficult tach strips or readers. If I have one disappointment it's that I couldn't solve the tether issue but I'm going to keep trying things. ANother very satisfied custimer. Looking forward to doing some more engines especially is an AC motor version comes out.
Now the Polar Express will have some life after Christmas visiting all the young children in Kodiak Junction.
Don
Here are a few pics of the install. Please note that I did try an antenna install on the engine without success.
Here is the finished engine before the shell was put back on. Please note the tether connector is only a 3 position. Jon sends a 4 position. He was confident that I would solve the handrail antenna issue so he left the tether connector out of my kit. I had one in my stack of stuff. The 4th position on the tether is a spare or coilcoupler which the manual says is hard to install on the PE.
Side view.
Tender part of the install. The antenna, a common, and the whistle trigger go here.
Last one. This is the engine with the board installed before any wiring was done. As you can see this is the only board. No tach strips and no sensor boards.
Once again this is a great addition to the PE and went in very easy. **It took me 3 days only because of trying to work around an antenna solution.** Without that it would have taken me approx. 2 hours. The directions are very clear and the board works great. The PE creeps up the hills and has all the functions of TMCC. Thanks Jon...Great Product!
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Here is alink to a really crappy video but you can see the results...
http://www.martye.com/videos/PEERR.wmv
Regards, Roy
Looks great Marty. Thanks for pioneering this project. I will be tackling some similar issues in the near future and it is great to have this insight.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month