Remote Controll

[SpudUk]

Hello,

I freely admit that I am pretty much resident in the "Help Me!" section of this forum, so apologies for what at times might seem stupid questions.

I am soon hoping to embark on the magical mystery tour that is live steam, more then likely an Accucraft Ragleth as things stand at the moment. This has lead me onto fitting radio control, which I feel is a must as my immediate temporary set-up will be an end-to-end line and that doesn't lend itself wonderfully to manual control.

As far as I can tell, having RC fitted is expensive, and I can only assume that doing it yourself (i.e. at home) is considerably cheaper. However, how the dickens do you do this? Does anyone have the ultimately check-list of things you need and good value source?

I'm also looking at whistles, how easy is it to fit them, and what alterations to the RC would be required?

Thanks for your on-going help

Chris

[Peter Butler]

I'm watching this too as I recently bought my first steamer, Roundhouse Billy, and will be doing the same thing myself.
All advice gratefully received.

[SpudUk]

I realise I've spelt it Controll, which is not a good start. Seems to be a regular occurrence with me, over on NatPres I started a post about the Vole of Rheidol...it's been a long week!

[GTB]

As far as I can tell, having RC fitted is expensive, and I can only assume that doing it yourself (i.e. at home) is considerably cheaper. However, how the dickens do you do this? Does anyone have the ultimately check-list of things you need and good value source?

Have a look at Tony Walsham's site in Oz. He's been putting R/c in battery and steam locos. for years and sells all the necessary bits. There are also various how to pages, etc. on there, mainly for battery locos., but the basic circuitry is similar. http://www.rcs-rc.com

Tony uses Deltang bits in his Tx and Rx parts and I used his gear recently to r/c a Roundhouse based loco.

See topic http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about8541.html

Most of the mechanical installation design was gleaned from Roundhouse instructions for their r/c installation kits. They can be downloaded from the Roundhouse website.

An Accucraft loco will be similar, it's mostly to do with finding the space for the batteries and servos, plus keeping the electrickery as far away from the hot bits as you can.

Regards,
Graeme

[Soar Valley Light]

This is all really useful stuff guys. Although I've been in modelling for years all this RC stuff is brand new to me and a total mystery. Undaunted by that I've bought two secondhand manual loco's (because they were the right price - i.e. I could afford them!) with the intention of fitting RC. The information and pointers you've given should make that a possibility now.

16m really is a friendly and helpful world.

I started a post about the Vole of Rheidol...it's been a long week!

Was this the Vole made famous by Wind in the Willows or the one secretly living in the valley of the same name? (under the station building at Aberffrwd)!

[laalratty]

I'm not sure if it's the case now, but Accucraft locos certainly used to have holes for fitting a servo to the reverser, and also slots in the chassis for standard R/C on-off switches. Incidentally, it is probably easier to fit R/C to locos now, as the aerial position is less critical with 2.4Ghz, and the receiver is much smaller. You still do have to consider where to put everything, and the final fine tuning and making sure the rods actuate the right amount is probably going to take a bit of time (then again, I think it can be done remotely with 2.4Ghz)

[Gremlin]

I've only put RC in one of my locos, a Roundhouse Katie. Bought secondhand as a manual, then just bought the Rc fitting kit from RH and pretty much followed the instructions. I don't remember it being difficult. I have a Lady Anne to do the same and a part started Billy kit to do one day.
A Ragleth can be done single channel on the reverser and holes are already there for the servo, probably one of the easiest.
I'm sure someone will come along with a link to a bargain 2.4 ghz system, it can be so cheap these days.

[Chris Cairns]

The Ragleth should come with factory mounting holes for a standard servo (on the right side running plate forward of the lubricator), a hole in the reverser lever for a servo link, a hole in the chassis frames for a power switch, and a hinged lid between the chassis frames under the cab floor for the battery pack & receiver. However unlike Roundhouse, Accucraft do not sell a radio control fittings pack.

I would recommend using a 2.4GHz system as they have small aerials on the transmitter (no more jousting matches at Garden Railway meets), the receiver has small aerial(s) as well and they do not suffer from interference like the earlier systems. What you need to decide is what modulation you wish to use as that dictates which systems are available and compatible.

I use DSM2 (which is actually an airborne modulation by Spektrum) as the Orange RX receivers are very good quality for such cheap prices (less than £10 for a 6-channel RX).

I have already covered using this budget DSM2 system, including on an Edrig, and some of the limitations in my video description here - http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about8102.html

Chris Cairns.