|
Author: Steve Fuller.
When we visited the Llanfair show, on the shopping list was a better and more advanced radio control system for our Edrig (George) live steamer. As I was not too sure what was on the market, I sought advice from one or two people. After a discussion with Graham (JSJ) a 2.4GHz system was chosen, but which one, and how much was it going to cost. Prices varied, but in the end a Planet T5 was chosen.
George already had an AM system installed, so this took a lot of the hard work away from the job. After removing the side tanks from the loco, the old AM receiver was removed, and replaced with the new 2.4GHz receiver. This is quite a simple operation as the servos (that were already fitted) just plugged straight into the new receiver, nothing else needed to be moved, or so I thought. The receiver was switched on as was the controller for a test. Everything worked, far more smoother than the old AM system. Then came the first test run with the loco in full steam. George ran better than I could have expected, far more control than before, a good job done. The loco was cleaned up, then put away.
When George was next steamed up and placed on the track none of the controls would work, strange as everything worked before, batteries were checked in the handset and the receiver, but these were all fine. So, what was causing the problem? The loco was disassembled, all components were checked and I noticed that the light was not coming on in the receiver, why was this? I suspected a faulty receiver, so I made sent an email to the supplier AnDel Models, and a reply was received in a matter of minuets. The email said call me I'm here till 10pm, hows that for service. The call was made, and the symptoms were described. The fault is that if you turn the receiver on once the loco is up to pressure, for some reason the receiver will not turn on due to the heat, if the receiver is turned on before the boiler is lit, all will be fine. It was then decided to relocate the receiver away from the heat, the battery pack was also going to be relocated due to awkward place it was put in the initial install (by a 3rd party) which was beneath the loco. A better place was needed for both batteries and receiver, it was decided at this point that the best place would be in a wagon.
An unused wagon was selected for the job, seen here behind the loco with the receiver and battery pack laying in the wagon as they will be once installed
.JPG?attredirects=0) One of the first jobs was to tidy-up the wiring, this was cable tied back to keep it away from the servo and wrapped in tape to keep it tidy.
.JPG?attredirects=0) A hole was made in the bottom of the wagon to put the servo wires through, extension cables were used for this. Sorry about the picture quality.
.JPG?attredirects=0) To make sure that they will always be plugged in the right way round, one plug was painted red.
.JPG?attredirects=0) A hole was then cut to take the on/off switch, and the switch fitted.
.JPG?attredirects=0) .JPG?attredirects=0) Everything now lies in the bottom of the wagon.
.JPG?attredirects=0) Now to cover the wagon, not too sure about this setup, I'll work on that tomorrow.
.JPG?attredirects=0) All the servo's work when the receiver was covered, well, that's a good start, a proper test will take place tomorrow, weather permitting.
Just noticed that this is in the Fiddle Yard, I thought that I'd put it in the Loco section, can someone help me out please.
|
Locos >