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I have radio controlled six different steamers, ranging from a redo of a Pearse "Nevada" to installations from the ground up in my scratchbuilt steamers and those built for clients. I live in "R/C hell" which is defined as directly beneath a glidepath to O'Hare International Airport where airplanes of all types spew out navigation and communication signals. I will try from time to time to share things I have experienced, both what to do and what not to do, as time permits. A couple of things to mention. The primary enemy of all R/C steamers is radio interference. (Aster 'purists' with hands-in-the-cab attitudes run a close second). My first steamer, a Pearse 'Nevada' came from the factory as a radio controlled locomotive. The 'Steam in the Garden' review of this locomotive (I owned the very locomotive they reviewed) took some issue about radio 'glitching' or unintended movement of servos due to stray radio signals. This was an AM unit, probably an entry level Futaba. Finding the same problems as the reviewer of the locomotive did, I changed from AM to a more expensive but more interference tolerant FM unit made by JR. Note to the R/C newbe: You CANNOT use R/C equipment intended for airplane use on ground models such as cars, boats or locomotives. The FCC prohibits this, model airplane clubs with sophisticated equipment track down offenders, and the fines are stiff. Always specify to your R/C supplier that you want ground frequency operation. The FM unit solved some of the problem, but a lot of the interference is metal-to-metal contact from the locomotive's moving parts. All of the R/C equipment was located in the tender. When I rebuilt the locomotive as I have several times, I replaced the tender with a scratchbuilt one, ironically with more metal parts, such as wheels, that rub. Most of the interference went away, but those blasted airplanes still were a contributor. I know this for a fact because during the air transport blackout of 9/11 I delibretly went out to see if running would be easier. This was a terrible way to find out, but I determined that airplane navigation and communications were a very significant contributor. Another way to eliminate the adverse effects of interference is to use what is referred to as a servo 'smoother'. These devices are available from Sulphur Springs Steam Models and are inserted between your receiver and the servo you wi***o smooth out. They slow the response to signals, in a way also creating a 'momentum' effect. What you need to smooth and the degree to which you need to smooth depends on the type of valve gear you have. A Ruby is a piston valve type locomotive which reverses by means of valves interchanging inlet and exhaust ports. A glitch in the servo controlling this will usually result in a momentary speed change, but little else. Since steam engines are slow to respond to controls anyway, the locomotive mechanism itself helps soften the blow. Ths same is true for oscillating cylinder locomotives. Being reversed by valves, a glitch will for the most part cause a speed change. It is interesting to note that most piston valve locomotives, your Ruby included, can be run on a single channel. The reversing valve, usually a duplicate of the piston valves found in the cylinders, can act as a form of throtle as well as a reverser. Set your throttle to the maximum setting you wish and use the single servo to operate the reversing valve. Note that there are opposing schools of thought on this, too much to get into in this posting. If you have mechanism that has "D" valve cylinders, this is quite a different story. Here the valve gear mechanics actually do the reversing by changing the configuration of a mechanical linkage. The two positions are approximately 180 degrees out of phase from each other. Intermediate positions on model valve gear, those between full forward and full reverse are generally not useable on most models. 'Notching up" the Johnson bar on most model steamers usually results in erratic operation. This is what happens on either Walschearts and Stephensons valve gear locomotives. I have both types, and the Stephensons is by far the most touchy. With good sized glitches, both types of valve gear can be momentarially thrown completely out of time, resulting in very erratic operation. With Walscaerts and Stephenson valve gear, two servos are always required, one for throttle and one for valve gear. In general, a servo smoother is only needed on the reversing servo. I will say that this slow acting reversing servo gets to me while doing switching operations, but it is worth it on mainline running with interference drastically cut down. With a simple servo setup the easiest way to cut down on interference while running mainline is simply to turn the transmitter off when not giving a command. This is how some of the more advanced units made especially for live steam do it, and you can do it too with an inexpensive R/C car or boat transmitter. As a safety feature, the servos hold the position of the last command given if no transmitter carrier wave is present. The locomotive will maintain the speed and direction you last set until another command comes along. If anyone has any experience with PCM, please contribute. I have not tried this yet due to cost, but I understand it is even more interference tolerant. PCM units may be tough to obtain on ground frequencies, as most of the PCM units I have seen are for helicopters. I notice you mention myLargescale.com. The posting software thinks this is a link, but unfortunately it is an incomplete one. You must put the "www." in first, then the rest of the link. Do not end the link name with a period, this throws the whole thing off. What will work is www.mylargescale.com
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