Radio Control

[Frank]

Hi Mike,

The Deltang website can be a bit confusing as there are so many variants, and it depends on what you want to do and which transmitters you want to use.

The receivers for loco control are in the "surface" section part the way down the webpage.  That's surface as opposed to airborne.  The surface ones have speed controllers that can drive the motors in reverse, not often needed for aircraft models!

There are basically two series, a low power Rx4 series and a higher power Rx6 series.  The Rx4 is fine for things like the Kato tram chassis, the higher power ones might be needed for motors that need higher voltages or take higher currents.

There are different variants which have different combinations of motor control, auxiliary controls eg for lights, servo controls, etc.   The Rx41 seems to be the best for locos.

Then there are different variants which for example have one knob centre off speed and direction control or separate speed and direction controls.   Also there is a system for switching between locos from a single controller called "Selecta".  This needs a specific variant.

Finally the suffix"W" means it has the wires already attached which is very useful.

I have used the Rx41d - 2 v5 W with the TX 21 and it works very well, as it will with the Tx20, but it will not work with the Selecta system.  It gives speed and direction control separated on the transmitter as the knob for speed and the switch for direction.   The  Rx41d - 1 v5 W gives centre off speed and direction control on the knob on the transmitter.

Brian uses the same receiver with the TX 23 which gives control of up to three locos at the same time but has to have the receivers programmed by the supplier to specific channels on the transmitter.

If you want to use the Selecta system you need the Rx41d - 22 v5 W and the TX22.   This allows you to switch between up to 12 locos but only control one at a time.

Hope this helps.

Frank

[gtmspyder]

Update on useful information.

I use a single cell, 3.7V 300mAh battery, which because of it's physical size, I have mounted inside a Lilliput narrow gauge coach, which is semi-permanently attached to a Chris Ward Kattie Tram loco, mounted atop a Kato chassis.

in length

As an experiment, I fully charged the battery, and set the train going around a temporary track of nine feet on our dining table.

This video is very poor as the auto focus on my still camera was hunting in the poor light, but click on the picture to see the result.



This ran none stop for slightly over eight hours until the power was shut down to the loco by the receiver, indicating a need for re-charging.

So, we have one lap of the track at nine feet, it takes one minute to traverse three laps.

Eight hours gives us four hundred and eighty minutes of traveling time.

Four hundred and eighty minutes of traveling time gives us 480x3 =1440 laps covered.

Fourteen hundred and forty laps, of nine feet, gives us a total distance travelled in the eight hours of, four thousand, three hundred and twenty feet, or one thousand four hundred and forty yards.

A mile is one thousand seven hundred and sixty yards, so my little train travelled 1440/1760=slightly in excess of 0.8 of a mile in eight hours.

Hope this info gives some encouragement to anyone contemplating going radio control in the future.

You will get a full days exhibition time out of one similar set up of loco and train.

Kind regards,

BrianT.

[petersmith1942]

Maybe this needs a new thread but can Frank or anyone comment on the possibilities for radio control of the new Minitrains 0-4-0. It seems very efficient and smooth running and has a tender.
Mine runs fine and I have deferred plans for tender pick ups. Sooner or later though 4 wheel locos always give me trouble. I n view of the battery life now being achieved I wonder where battery radio control is going. As just an observer of this thread it seems to me that this loco ought to be a contender for the next stage of battery power. If this is inapropriate here just say so
Peter Smith

[Mike Broom]

Although I have been warned that this thread maybe stale I will update and see what happens.
Brian, I see you have put battery and I think receiver into a coach. I was tempted to do the same with small engines but then how do you shunt as this is what having RC in trains is partially all about.
Maybe I need to find something slightly larger than Baguley Drewry to build as a shunter. Good to read that with 300mah you achieved 8 hours. I am using 260mah 1s Li-po.
Question. How do you charge your 1s Li-po. Difficult finding anything here in Aus. There are USB charger but Hobbyking will not ship to Aus. Mike.

[Frank]

Peter,

Sorry, missed this when you posted it.

I have tested the Minitrains 0-4-0 chassis and it runs well on a single lipo cell (3.7v nominal) and draws a fairly low current so should be a good candidate for radio control although I have not tried it as such myself.

As it is a tender loco the tender is the obvious place for the batterry although I can't recall how big the tender is.

Frank

[Frank]

Mike,

If you want a shunter that is simple to convert then try the Narrow Planet RNAD loco.  It runs on the Kato chassis which works very well with a single lipo battery supply and there is space in the hood for the battery and radio if you cut a hole in the bulkhead so the battery extends into the cab.   The switch and charging plug in mine ended up in the cab which is OK as the roof of the cab lifts off as designed.

There is a write-up in one of last years' 009 News and also in another forum.

Frank