Does anyone use Motor Speed Controls to run their trains?

[equinn]

I originally started using an Aristo Revolution R/C system, but got paranoid that my transmitter would break and I would not be able to use any of my trains until I could find a replacement. Now that Aristo is gone that may get more difficult with time.  I left it out in the sun and it warped. Later some pixels on the screen disappeared. So maybe I wasn't so paranoid after all! I also hated trying to decide whether to run first for the derailed train or for the transmitter, which was never near me for very long.

So I decided to buy some Motor Speed Controls (MSCs) and manually control the train via a sound/battery car trailing the engine. As I run my trains slowly, it was never a problem working the power knob on the front of the battery car.

My first batch of MSCs worked great. But two batches purchased after are giving me problems. I think it has to do with the later ones being PWM (Pulse Width Modulated). The newer ones make my motors wine slightly. I heard that PWM is not good for LGB sound systems. Every MSC I look at on the Internet seems to be PWM. I am especially having problems with my LGB Uintah mallet that only runs slow or slower, even too slow for me!  

Anyone have any experience here, or am I the only one on the planet that likes manual battery control? 

[cacole]

Crest Electronics and the Aristo Revolution system did not go out of business with the closure of Polks, because they were a separate company that is still in business.

I tried an MSC only once, but soon went back to using an AirWire 900 decoder.

[equinn]

Thanks for letting me know about Crest Electronics. That is really good news. All though I primarily use MSCs, I have RCS batteries that will not operate any of my 3 types of MSCs that I use. I have to hook those RCS batteries to my Revolution receivers and then connect that to the MSC. Weird! So I am still in the R/C world partially.

[TonyWalsham]

All on board ESC's (Electronic Speed Controllers) whether battery or track powered use PWM.
As far as I know there are no linear on board ESC's.
PWM ESC's that use 100 Hz will hum.  Others use a much higher frequency, usually around 16 KHz (beyond the range of human hearing) and appear to be silent even though they are still PWM. 

They do not play well with LGB sound modules that use voltage fluctuation to vary a chuff rate or a diesel ramp up or down.
They especially do not play well with most DCC decoder equipped locos.

You can use any Digital Proportional R/C without fear of obsolescence as there are literally dozens of ESC's that use those types of ESC's.  Spektrum DSM2 R/C is the most common and there are other makers using the same RF protocol as well. 
If you don't like the large size of the stick radio TX's there are pocket sized TX hand pieces available for DSM2 as well.

[equinn]

Thanks for the great info.

So the wining I hear is not causing any more damage to the motors than the ESC that I am using that do not make them wine, correct?

I could not use the ESCs that I use to control the engine speed with the voltage fluctuation based LGB sound units. I use 9v batteries and a lower voltage ESC for that. I set the engine speed with one and then set the chuff rate with the other to match as best I can. But will PWM ESCs damage the other, non- voltage fluctuation based LGB sound units, like those in the Mallets, Moguls and Forneys? I have been using them for years and don't thing I have seen any problems. I do have a Mogul who's sound only works at slow speed now, but others have that same problem with their older track-power units too.

Do you have any recommendations as to where I should look to purchase a pocket sized TX that will drive my Aristo/Crest receivers?

[TonyWalsham]

AristoCraft Crest R/C is proprietary and as far as I know there is nothing else commercially available that will work with them.