Remote Control for an Accucraft Caradoc.

[laurence703]

Hey,
After taking my Caradoc to the CVLR and more recently, Butterley, I've found that the need for more control to stop the inevitable bumping into the back of other peoples stock or just the ability to stop it when things go wrong is starting to look like a very good idea...

So my question is What would be the best way to do it and how much would it cost for my Caradoc to receive this treatment?

[DLRdan]

It depends if you have the radio gear or not. Some people use the reverser for both direction and speed like Mamods while otheres use seperate servos for regulator and reverser. All of these factors will dictate the cost though the actuall fitting is relatively simple.

[laurence703]

At the moment I have nothing... But I'd ideally like both the regulator and the reverser to be separately controlled. I'm guessing this is the most expensive option?
Although I think it would most probably be just the regulator that would receive this treatment and then perhaps the reverser at a later date.

[laurence703]

I have contacted AbbeyBach and my Wallet isn't deep enough for that to happen yet so once christmas is out of the way I think I'll look into it again

[TonyW]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think a reasonable charge for supply (2.4GHz transmitter, receiver, servos, switch harness, batteries, fittings, links) and fitting of radio control to your loco would be?

[laurence703]

I have no idea... This is an area that I know very little about...

[TonyW]

OK, thanks.

[laurence703]

That's a good price I'd say going off a previous quote... £100 plus labour whatever that'd come to (Hopefully under £200 total).
But again... I don't know much about the RC market to be able to estimate costs as such... help?

[TonyW]

So let's assume that we are using some decent 2.4GHz equipment (a Planet T5 set for example), decent batteries and not some cheap tat...

Roughly, and these prices include postage from their respective suppliers...
Transmitter + receiver pack : £55
Metal gear servos : £15 each = £30
Switch harness : £8
Receiver batteries : £15
Transmitter batteries : £12

That comes to £120.

[tegfan railway]

Radiolink TX & RX £26.31
Tower Pro SG92R servos £2.05 each
300Mah NiMh battery £5.49

so less than £40 for the RC gear and I reckon all the pushrods etc would come to under a fiver.

[New Haven Neil]

With respect, those servos will NOT do the job!!

[TonyW]

so less than £40 for the RC gear and I reckon all the pushrods etc would come to under a fiver.

Conveniently forgetting the switch harness and the other set of batteries.

What you have to remember is that anybody installing r/c job as a trader on behalf of a customer wants to do a quality job once, and once only. The absolute worst thing that can happen is that the customer calls back in a few weeks and says, "You know those £2 servos you put in my loco? Well, they've stopped working". So, you have to get the loco back (paying for the postage of course), do the job again for free (paying for another set of servos) and then send it back (paying for another lot of postage). And at this point you wave goodbye to any profit.

You pay your money and take your choice, and if anybody asked me to install the cheap tat described above then I would respectfully decline the invitation to do so.

[dougrail]

Also, you need servos that can be finely controlled. I'm no RC expert but as someone with a Manual loco, the slightest tap up on the reg can make the difference between calm and calamity.

[tegfan railway]

With respect, those servos will NOT do the job!!

Out of curiosity why would those servos not do the job? I suppose for overkill you could always use MG90 @ about a fiver each.

[tegfan railway]

so less than £40 for the RC gear and I reckon all the pushrods etc would come to under a fiver.

Conveniently forgetting the switch harness and the other set of batteries.

What you have to remember is that anybody installing r/c job as a trader on behalf of a customer wants to do a quality job once, and once only. The absolute worst thing that can happen is that the customer calls back in a few weeks and says, "You know those £2 servos you put in my loco? Well, they've stopped working". So, you have to get the loco back (paying for the postage of course), do the job again for free (paying for another set of servos) and then send it back (paying for another lot of postage). And at this point you wave goodbye to any profit.

You pay your money and take your choice, and if anybody asked me to install the cheap tat described above then I would respectfully decline the invitation to do so.

Sorry forgot the switch at about £4 and I assume by the missing batteries you mean the TX which would come to be between £15 and £20. Don't knock the servos they are just as good as Hitechs.

Appologies for upsetting people just highlighting the cheaper DIY alternatives

[TonyW]

Also I bet the batteries Tony specced had much better life than the 300Mah one you suggest.

The usual practice these days is to use a pre-made battery pack that is "built in" to the loco (i.e. the individual batteries cannot be removed) and provide a plug/socket for on-board charging. A typical battery pack would be at least 4 x NiMH AA 1200mAh, and with a Futaba-type plug already attached. Needless to say, these cost more than £5.49.

[tegfan railway]

Also I bet the batteries Tony specced had much better life than the 300Mah one you suggest.

The usual practice these days is to use a pre-made battery pack that is "built in" to the loco (i.e. the individual batteries cannot be removed) and provide a plug/socket for on-board charging. A typical battery pack would be at least 4 x NiMH AA 1200mAh, and with a Futaba-type plug already attached. Needless to say, these cost more than £5.49.

Very true but bigger eg 2600 mAh are only around £5 in flat or sq configs with a Futaba or universal plug. A 300 allows for tighter installations and will easily run for 3 hours before needing charging. If you have a really tight installation you could always go down the lipo route and you probably could run it for days before charging.

[90733]

I think it's all got a bit heated! There many options for RC, whether you want to do it yourself, I can imagine all the holes are already on caradoc for reversor servo? Its not difficult to do, just very fiddly, and something someone (~especially myself!) gets frustrated at. (Then again electronic things aren't exactly my thing.)

[tegfan railway]

To cool things down here are the suppliers I use

Batteries
http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/small_packs.html

Radio gear
http://www.giantshark.co.uk/

or

http://robotbirds.com/catalog/

I have used the suppliers for many years and have lots of experience in RC, I fly racing gliders which regularly fly over 100mph with all the associated stresses on servos. RC is not difficult, you do not need prior electronic knowledge. The hardest thing is where to put everything. My advice would be to give it a go, it just adds another layer to the hobby. In the model aircraft arena you can pay someone to carry out the install, which is fine if you have the inclination and the money. But if you are going your own DIY route surely there is nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong with following some of the practices of the other RC disciplines, and you never know you may save some money!!

[New Haven Neil]

With respect, those servos will NOT do the job!!

Out of curiosity why would those servos not do the job? I suppose for overkill you could always use MG90 @ about a fiver each.

I think it's all been said above by others really, but you do need to consider the torque output of those little servos? - plus metal geared ones are much more reliable long term. Those regulators and reversers can get get quite stiff. That's relative, by the way! I would view an MG90 as the minimum really, especially for the reverser. I prefer Hitec HS 82 from experience of reliability, although bigger Turnigy's have been good for me. Of course the size versus torque is always a hassle, if only the smaller ones were more powerful!

I suppose there's a difference between how cheap you CAN do it, to how you might prefer to do it....? As an example, I tried Saturn 2.4Ghz R/C as a change from P5, £10 cheaper, they use twice as many cells in the Tx and they last less than half the time, and on a personal note I don't like the 'feel' of the sticks so I consider that not a good option for me. Your mileage may vary! I'm not advocating spending a king's ransom on equipment, but sometimes not buying the very cheapest is a better option?