I have posted on several boards but have not got the answer I need, I hope someone can help.
I have a bridgewwerks 18 volt 30 amp power mag for power to my track. I have 5 mth locos that operate with the tiu and mth remote. I have a lgb Genesis loco with sound and a receiver installed at the factory.When I place the lgb on the tracks there is no way to control it because of constant voltage,from the 18/30. I have it now on it;s own track with a small transformer but would like to operate it with a remote from lgb. So now here are my two questions. 1) can I operate it on the same tracks as the mth with a lgb controller for it and mth controller for the mth trains or do I need a seperate track for it? 2) what do I need to buy from lgb to make this happen?
I hope you understand my question.
Thanks ffor your time
Ken
Is the TIU operating with track power or batteries (like in the current and past issue of GR)? I doubt the MTH and LGB/Massoth systems can both work on the same track. Perhaps you could convert your MTH setup to batteries (as seen in GR) and run the LGB system through track power.
You can't do it. I saw your posting on the other sites.
Your MTH wants constant voltage.
Your DCC stuff wants DCC (sort of square wave AC)
The only thing you can do for the future is get the new Protosound III boards (not out yet) that are DCC compatible, put them in your 5 MTH locos and then run DCC.
There may be a possibility there will be a new MTH control system that will run DCC stuff.
But these are the answers. Sorry none are the ones you want.
Regards, Greg
Visit my site: http://www.elmassian.com - lots of tips on locos, rolling stock and more.
Click here for Greg's web site
Thank you all for your input. I will make my question very simple. Forget everything I told you and here is the senario now. I have this lgb with factory sound etc. and I have a bridgewerks 18/30 power supply hooked to the track,what I'm looking for is control of the engine and sounds.What lgb parts do I need to purchase to make this happen?
If you only want LGB products (which I do not recommend), then you need to purchase LGB MTS controllers, and MTS Central Station, and LGB power supply.
Basically you have to go DCC if you want remote control of the sounds.
I would recommend a normal DCC system that does not have the restrictions in functionality that an all LGB solution would have. You can buy Massoth cabs that will work with the LGB central station, but I would not recommend that unless you have really old LGB decoders that only work with "serial functions".
You can use the bridgewerks power supply, but you must be careful of the voltage, and Bridgewerks does NOT recommend it's use for DCC. (The voltage under very light loads can exceed the NMRA maximum of 27 volts)...
Most of my locomotives run on MTH/DCS control. I do have 3 locomotives setup with the Aristo-Craft Revolution including an LGB Genesis.
The Revolution uses constant voltage on the track as does MTH/DCS. MTH sends the control signal through the track while the Revolution radios it . Both systems become compatible and independent.
With the LGB Genesis, I isolated the pickiup and motor feeds, re-routed them to a spare Aristo-Craft control board. The Revolution Control Board is Plug& Play into the Aristo control board and can control the sounds on a Phoenix Sound board without any further interface.
Don U. TCA 73-5735
His question was to use existing LGB MTS systems and MTH DCS systems on the same track.
If you rip out the electronics of one of them, and change it from getting the control signal from the air, of course you can make it work.
This is not what was asked, nor is it inexpensive.
I can think of many solutions which would have more control and flexibility than using the Aristo Revolution, especially if you are comparing to real DCC and MTH DCS, which have much more control and features than the Revolution.
But I have not made any suggestions since the original poster has asked several times and on several forums on how to make these 2 systems coexist.
Actually though Greg.....I do believe.....Although he is not actually saying or asking this.....That his main concern is.....How can I accomplish the operation of both of my present "TRAIN" types on my existing and already purchased power systems with the least amount of modifications or expense?
I may be wrong but that does seem to be his concern since he has already invested in a Bridgewerks power system and DCS and all.....not a cheap investment by any means......
So now..... I think he actually wants to know what if any......might be the cheapest way to go to try and get HIS "TRAINS" to operate together on his present choice/investment of power system....That already being strait DC track power.
Don....Has provided a reasonable answer towards accomplishing this feat "relatively" and "maybe" the most inexpensive way.....Since the revolution system can now "at times" be purchased a bit cheaper..... At certain establishments. I guess in view of it's recognised limitations NOW that it has been out for awhile.
Byron
Gentleman you are all right I just want to run all the trains on the same tracks and control their features be it with revolution,mth dcs,lgb I don't really care I just don't want to start from scratch and redo all the engines my only one that I need control for is the Genesis.I don't know a lot about the electronical part about switching pickups etc but with some guidance I'm sure I could do it. Thank you all for your input..Looking forward to you advice.
I wanted to add I don't have the mts system but was wondering what I would need. I can go anyway just so I can get the Genesis to be controlled with some controller that is compatable with what I have.
You can't do it without modifying the locos in some way, there is no common solution.
Greg
Greg from what I understood from the earlier post I could buy the TRAIN ENGINEER with a board and then run the Genesis with the TE and the others with the tiu.
Am I understanding it right?
Do you feel there is a better way ? I know I have to buy one system or the other as the Genesis will not run on the tiu without major modifications. The question being which system to go with in addition to the mth tiu dcs system.
I think you are on the right path.
So the MTH will run on constant DC on the rails.
Then, the easiest thing is a RC system that transmits directly to your Genesis loco over the air, but picks up power from the rails.
You could do this with a TE system, but your functionality would be limited.
I'd use Airwire, using the NCE cab and either an Airwire decoder plus a Phoenix or a QSI.
I would make that decision on how you liked the sounds available on the QSI vs. the Phoenix.
Either way will give you the same level of functionality and control as the MTH.
The QSI has an advantage in that it is a single decoder, so your customization would be simpler, and it has the "BEMF" sound feature, i.e. the sounds reflect the actual load on the loco, another level of realism.
Greg do I need another sound card? The Genesis has a card now that goes through a start up sequence with bells and a horn blowing after a certain speed then it goes through a shutdown cycle with bells when the power is turned off. Are there more sounds and things on these other cards?Also what would I have to buy ? 1) nce controller 2)what else.
If the sound card is an "analog" sound card, which means it works on DC only, you will probably have to replace it because the RC system will put out "Pulsed" power to the motor and thus the sound card, and it will think it's running full speed. You could try it on pulsed power, and see what it does, or research it to find out.
In addition, it's likely it will not have the ability to be remote controlled well.
On the other hand, if the sound card is MTS, then it could probably be interfaced to an Airwire G2 decoder, which controls the motor AND passes the DCC signals to the sound card. I believe you said this was an MTS unit.
Then you can use the NCE throttle or the Airwire throttle. I have heard some rumors lately that there are certain things you cannot set with the NCE throttle and the new CVP G2 decoders, so that needs some more research.
Hi Ken,
Byron here, I replied earlier....If you might be considering the Aristo Revolution system as Don has used, you might try contacting Jim on the Evil-bay, he lists under name The G Wiz I believe. His pricing is quite competative, he is in South Georgia i do believe.
Hope you can come up with a usable and satisfying solution for your operation, you take care, and happy TRAIN'EN.
Since it appears he has DCC in his Genesis already, changing to the Revo would mean throwing away his sound card in his loco, and buying another.
Not a good choice and why I have not suggested it.
Greg Elmassian I have heard some rumors lately that there are certain things you cannot set with the NCE throttle and the new CVP G2 decoders, so that needs some more research.
I have heard some rumors lately that there are certain things you cannot set with the NCE throttle and the new CVP G2 decoders, so that needs some more research.
Alas, they are not rumors. The NCE throttle does a very good job of controlling the Airwire G2 board (arguably with more functionality than Airwire's two handheld controllers) but it cannot fully program them, including such basic things as loco address. There's been a fair amount of discussion on the Airwire Yahoo group about that every now and then, with the consensus being you really need either of Airwire's two handheld controllers to properly program the Airwire receivers. I tried programming with the NCE, and the G2 was unresponsive. I had to acquire an Airwire controller to program them.
There's nothing wrong with Airwire's controllers, they're just not quite as "user friendly" as NCE's handheld unit. I've got their basic transmitter (RF-1300) which makes a great transmitter to hand kids. It's biggest limitation is that it can only control 8 sound/light functions. Depending on the functionality of the MTS system, that may be sufficient.
Later,
K
That's a sad state of affairs, since the previous Airwire decoder was no problem. It cannot be that the CVP did not know they changed the way the loco addressing is done.
By the way, the new CVP systems will go to 12 functions if you use an NCE throttle.
Maybe someone will fix the new incompatibility.
In any case, you can get the "old style" CVP decoder, connect it to the Genesis sound system and should be good to go with either type of throttle.
That's what I would do. Eventually CVP or NCE will fix this small problem with the G2.
I do not believe the LGB Genisis was sold with mts and sound in the base model.
So, do we know for sure if there is a dcc controller or is it just the LGB voltage converter board used on DC systems.
And what is the sound, separate sound board or really a DCC controller with sound?
A picture of the electronics would help here if no one knows what is in that LGB engine.
Or is it the LGB 6500x little sound box which does have limited DCC capability?
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