Are there any easy ways to increase the signal strength of the Lionel Legacy System? Is there some way to measure it?
If you want to improve the signal between the base and the Cab 2 handheld just replace the short antenna on the base with a 9db high gain antenna. I got mine from monoprice.com for $4. They are also sold on ebay.
If you are asking about the signal applied to the track for pickup by the engine antenna that signal should be fine unless you have a complex multilevel layout. In that case ground planes are required to assure the engine only sees the signal from the section of track it is using. There were also some older legacy bases that were defective and did not output the correct track signal level. This was relatively rare, the fix would be to send it to Lionel for repair.
To measure the signal you would need a signal strength meter that operates in the 2.4GHz frequency band.
Tom
Good advice, Tom.
I would like to boost the track-to-locomotive signal. I have one locomotive that sometimes looses its signal at a certain point on the layout. I did clean the track and it did help a lot. I was thinking if I could increase the signal strength, I would eliminate what was left of the problem. Do you know where I could get a signal strength meter? How much they cost and if it would be small enought to set on a flat car? Thanks in advance
2.4GHz is the frequency used by the Cab 2 to communicate with the 990 base. The carrier frequency applied to the track by the 990 base is 455KHz, I believe. The track is used as a radiating antenna, that signal is picked up by a receiving antenna in the engine shell, or the wire handrail antenna on steam engines. I have no experience where the track signal was weak so I cannot provide any advice on that. When an engine failed to respond for me it was always a weak signal from the Cab 2 at the base. The engine can also pick up more than one signal on a complex track layout where tracks are adjacent or cross over one another. If the signal path length is different the signals will be out of phase and cause reception problems in the engine. This has to be solved with ground planes.
Many people have recommended Mouser or eBay as sources of meters and other parts. The problem with buying one is finding the tech specs for the design signal strength to use as a reference. Lionel has posted over 30 videos on YouTube for the Legacy system setup, use and troubleshooting. They may also be of help.
Tom, I suspect that the path length differences are unimportant, since the wavelength at 455 kilohertz is over 2000 feet. But the destructive interference that you describe can still happen geometrically between signals arriving from multiple paths.
Bob Nelson
Agree on the wavelength relative to model RR track. I have read many postings on this subject and I still do not know for sure what all the issues are. The time difference in the zero crossing point is discussed frequently as a possible concern, but at 455KHz it should be immaterial in a home layout. I have seen live demo's of the benefit of adding a ground plane in certain track configurations so I am including them in my permanent layout now under construction.
Laurastom,
Just so I understand what a "grounding plane" is, that is a wire tied to either a cold water pipe or the house equipment grounding conductor, like the third terminal of a 120 volt outlet, and run underneath the layout. The wire should generally follow under the track. Is that right? Does the size of the wire matter? Does the distance away from the track matter? Mine would not be more than a foot or so under the layout.
In my permanent layout we are using a metal tape under the track roadbed, it happens to be about the width of the rails. It's purpose is to provide shielding so each engine sees the signal only from the track on which it is operating. The builder doing The installation for me has extensive experience installing this on many complex layouts and warrants his work. If the purpose is to fix just a few interference points on an existing layout there are likely some simple fixes such as some aluminum foil in the trouble spots. I do not have, fortunately, any first hand experience in this area. Hopefully someone who does will reply.
Tom,
Did you ground the metal tape to the house grounding system? Or is that not necessary? Does the metal tape help to reflect the track-to-locomotive signal up to the locomotive? What kind of metal tape did you use? I have some metal tape used to seal up central air conditioning ductwork. I suspect that would work.
Thanks again for your help.
People have reported success with using a a copper wire as a ground plane. Some people use 18 ga stranded wire. Legacy seems to be forgiving in the actual installation. It should be connected to the ground pin on a 3 wire outlet.
The metal tape you have should also work. Cheap is good. I emailed the builder of my layout to find out specifically what tape he is using. He stated that when building from scratch the tape is quicker and easier than wire.
The layout builder is using 2 1/2" aluminum tape from Nashua and 3M. The layout is S gauge.
Some additional information. The Lionel YouTube videos do not address ground planes and signal interference. I recommend you go to the product instructional video section of the Lionel website and watch the video by Mike Reagan called TMCC and LEGACY signal basics dated 12/11. While it has some minor inaccurate statements, they are irrelevant to the message. This video should answer all your questions.
Thank you for the good information Tom. I watched the video and I know what I'm going to do now.
George
I hope you are able to enjoy flawless operation, it is much more enjoyable that way!
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