I've been thinking about all this battery R/C stuff. So, what's the absolute lowest cost, easiest for a total electronics idiot to install and use?
Before you begin I would suggest you sit down and write down the answers to the following questions.
Q1: How much current does my motor(s) pull?
Q2: What sort of batteries can I fit in my loco?
Q3: What sort of frequency band do I want to use?
Q4: Where am I going to get technical support -when things go wrong or I get stuck?
I have built my own R/C system from scratch -based on commercial 433Mhz Tx/Rx data modules and it is EU legal. The same system is illegal in the US...
Look for the names "Dimension Engineering", "Electronize", for basic plug free ESC's. These you simply connect to any R/C Rx block and then wire to your motor and battery. For more subtle control then the Australian RCS system has a good technical back up and pedigree -although it does have limited current handling compared to the two listed above.
regards
ralph
The Home of Articulated Ugliness
"Before you begin I would suggest you sit down and write down the answers to the following questions.
ralph"
That might as well be all I saw cause that's all I understood.
Ok -break it down still further...
Electric motors draw current, (Amperes), Batteries are defined in Ampere Hours, Ah, or Milli Ampere Hours, MAh. Thus if your motor draws 3 Amperes and you want to run for 1 hour you need a battery rating of 3Ah. Similarly If your motor runs on 20+ Volts then you need to assemble or source a battery system of 20+ Volts. My son and his cousins use Tamiya Race Packs for their RC controlled(?) cars. Each of these is rated at 7.2Volts and 2.5Ah. Thus you would need THREE race packs and your running time would be 50 minutes.
The equivalent steam question would be: "what is the bore, stroke and number of your pistons?" as this would define boiler steaming capacity and fire box design.
There are several types of battery ranging from the AA size Nickel Cadmiums NiCd and Nickel Metal Hydrides NiMH, through Sealed Lead Acid SLA, and Lithium Polymer LiPo. Each has their pluses and minuses.
NiCds charge slowly but have more charges per battery life (typically 1000)
NiMH charge faster but only charge 500 times
SLA are cheap heavy and rectangular -but have very low storage capacity for their weight. They last around 3 years -regardless of being charged or not.
LiPo require special chargers and have the highest storage capacity per weight.
The equivalent steam question would be "what fuel do I burn in my firebox?"
There are several frequency bands for R/C modellers, These vary from country to country and often for the type of model you are using. For instance in the UK 27Mhz is reserved for surface models while 45Mhz is strictly for aeroplanes. Similarly AM signals can be received further than FM signals but the control of FM signals is better up until the point that the receiver fails to find the signal. The higher your frequency -the shorter your range. Thus if you live in the country you could use a lower frequency and be sure that you would not interfere with other models in your area. However in high density you would use a higher frequency to ensure that there is no "cross control" and your model appears to go berzerk.
Here in the UK the six 27Mhz bands are defined by colours. All my models operate on Green (27.44Mhz) while my son crashes his cars on Black (27.64Mhz). The other surface bands are at 433Mhz (12 channels) and 886Mhz (16 channels)
Well you just had some! However most manufacturers offer either e-mail or telephone support via their distributors.
This is how you wire your loco:
http://www.cabbagepatchrailway.co.uk/kitchen3.html
Electronize are here:
http://www.electronize.co.uk/index.htm
Dimension Engineering are here:
http://www.dimensionengineering.com
Remote Control Systems are here:
http://www.rcs-rc.com/
Once you have answered the first four questions the last question is
Q5: Where do I fit it in my loco?
Good solid advice from Ralph, as usual.
I'm afraid I don't have the time or money to go into details about r/c so I think very simply. I suppose it all depends on what you want to control (steam engine, expensive loco, small critter or speeder).
Some systems give you the chance to have directional lights, sound, steam effects and prototypical increase/decrease in speed.
If you just want it to start - go - stop then you could do as many other have and buy a very cheap r/c car (or other vehicle) and rip out the radoi bits. Use the motor or use your own. Chancces are that a similar size motor will be powered by about the same number of batteries. Just count them.
The one thing to consider is the speed of your radio controlled thingy. Most r/c cars go fast, too fast for our rails. using your own motor / gearbox / chassis will (hopefully) allow you to roughly control the motion with a cheapo r/c.
I once made a battery steam outline loco and put a cheap r/c car radio control in it. The throtle gave me start/go/stop and the steering lever was connected to a 'chuff chuff peep peep' sound I ripped out of a loco-shapped money box. It gave my then 5yr old daughter great fun while I 'played trains' too.
Have a go, if it doesn't work have another go!
Bestest, Matthew Foster
A very critical consideration to keep you out of jail is, your RC system MUST comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. For example, you absolutely cannot use a frequency band that is for aircraft, police, fire, or any other type of emergency communications.
For our trains, that means we're pretty restricted to using ground control frequencies; i.e., radio controlled race cars, boats, etc. The FCC has allocated a narrow band of frequencies in the 900 Megahertz range for such use. That's why systems such as CVP's AirWire 900 is so-called -- it uses the 900 MHz frequency band. And output power is severely restricted at these frequencies to avoid interference with cell phones, garage door openers, and similar devices, which also use the 900 MHz range.
We have a local radio control model airplane club here that was ordered by the military and FCC to move 10 miles away from Fort Huachuca, the local Army base where Unattended Aerial Vehicle pilots are trained.
I use the AirWire 900 system for all of my battery powered G-scale locomotives and a Futaba 2-channel 75.470 MHz transmitter to control a Mimi live steam locomotive's speed and direction servos. The Futaba system is intended for radio controlled cars and boats.
Here is how I got started....I bought an EVO B3 and a Futaba TX....just looking at pricing; it hasn't changed much sine '06?!
Drill Battery and EVO Install
it's all really easy to install, esp if one begins with a trail car!
Tony has an excellent overview of the product for newcomers here
Current EVO Specials
here is a comparo from the EVO Website (includes radio cost, batteries extra) :
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