locomotive compatibility

[Anonymous]

I will be starting to lay track in the fall.

I would like to have an r/c system installed
with track and battery power.

Will I find one system that will work with
Aristo, USA and MTH?

I have an GP-30 and a U25b and would
like to add a dash-8 from MTH depending
on compatibility.

[e-mail]

[TonyWalsham]

It would be nice to have a name I could address but here goes.

I do AC and USA Trains locos all the time with my RCS battery R/C motor drivers.

In the 20 years I have been doing this it has been my experience that having constant track voltage to power a loco complicates the installation a lot
Please believe me that you will soon get sick of the track cleaning you will still have to do, and just use battery power.

I have no experience with the MTH Dash-8 but I can tell you the Challenger is not compatible with on board R/C without a lot of work. I assume the DCS system inside the Dash-8 is essentially the same.
Rather than trying to make DCS equipped locos compatible with battery R/C it would be much simpler to rip out the DCS, sell it and install a Sierra or P2K2 sound instead.

[Anonymous]

Thank you,
Todd

[oleirish]

I'am new to this forum,so sorta looking around,I've come up with a question,Can a person install a two chanell radio control in an engine W/SPEED CONTROLER like RC cars and Boats.??these are garden engines you guys are talking about arn't you???
I was messing around a while back and took one of my RC 2 chan and cramed it in an old ho engine,course I could'nt get the top on but with an 1100ma battrey pack was able to run this engine on my HO lay out,the only chanell I was useing was the throttle(left stick) with a speed control . variable foward and reverse It worked.any info here would be nice,the local club here in southren oregon has LGB .live steam and HO
thanks for letting me drop by.

JIM

[Anonymous]

JIm,
Yes you can use a two channel model car R/C. But,,,,, I don't think you will be happy with it. I installed one in an LGB 2-4-0 starter loco. It was one of the AM units. It worked, sort of. It would run alright for alittle while, and then get a serious case of the jerks. I've been told that the FM units work considerably better, but haven't tried one. I got so aggravated that I converted it to DCC. So I gotta clean track once in awhile. I figure it's the same as the real railroads. They do MOW constantly. Cleaning track is just MOW. Gives me an excuse to run the MOW equipment. I run an Aristo track cleaning car almost constantly, and have yet to have a problem with dirty track.
The thing that turned me off to R/C is having to have a seperate transmitter for each loco.
Whatever you do, just have fun!!!

[BudSteinhoff]

I agree with capt turk, track cleaning is no problem.
My track cleaning rig / operation is running trains.
I do run the Aristo on-boards in several brand locos and only need one transmitter for 10 trains.
Also with track power it allows me the use of the MTH DCS system which can also run multiple trains with their transmitter and can be run at the same time as the on-boards.
Just another suggestion, there are many ways to have fun.
Bud[8D]

[TonyWalsham]

Hi Cap.

Low cost AM R/C do glitch quite badly if they are used for Digital Proportional control of LS Trains.
That is the nature of the beast.
They were not designed for use in LS Trains.
The battery and gas powered racing cars they normally control all have a vertical antenna that can see the TX signal clearly.
Jammed down inside a loco with motors batteries and speakers they can go crazy.
Another way had to be found.
A friend and I solved the problem back in 1988.
Modern day ESC's for LS Train use are designed to make AM R/C sets work without any glitching.
I guarantee that the EVO R/C ESC's I make will never glitch.
They do not forget the last speed setting when the TX is turned off.

[Anonymous]

the only difference that I saw with anttenna orientation was a little more range. It still glitched like crazy. I put the filter/ bypass caps on the motor. Shielded everything and it still glitched.
Battery power just didn't meet my needs. It is limited in running time. You have to fool with charging batterys. It doesn't stop if the loco derails, and having to have a battery car to carry the batteries on most locos. Battery power may be fine for some people, but I wasn't happy with it. It is cheaper, and alot less hassle for me to run DCC.
As I stated before. Track cleaning is not a problem for me. I run a track cleaning car almost all the time. The only place that dirty tracks have been a problem is the little used sidings. They are easy enough to clean with a scrubby pad. Only takes about 5 minutes, and everything is spiffy.
I'm not saying that DCC is better, or battery power worse. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages. In my situation, DCC was the most practical. I have an On30 layout inside that I use DCC on. DCC is the system that I am most familiar with. I only had to add a 10 amp booster, and run wires out to the yard. DCC is better for me. Each person will have different needs. Experiment with different systems before you decide on how you will go with "your" layout.

[TonyWalsham]

To each his own Cap.

For sure regular low cost AM Digital Proportional R/C systems "Glitch" when used with LS trains. It does that because of the way it works.
However, other potential battery R/C users need to know that today "Glitching" is no longer a problem with the right ESC.