Announcing NEW hand controller by Stonebridge

Limited time introductory pricing!
Made by Medvend Electronics our "e-Z throttle" controller is a state of the art convenient hand held Z scale controller. With only a 9V battery needed, the "e-Z throttle" will give you smooth locomotive acceleration and braking with high torque at extremely slow speed! Built in is an overload protector with a red LED light indicator. Also includes one full year warranty.
9v battery required - not included

 

Could this also be used for N scale?

 

It will if you are able to power your N scale trains with only 9 volts. These controllers are very nice in that they require no wall wart thus the only connection is to the track. There are a little more expensive versions available upon request for HO down to Z.

 

So I am curious. Just how does it power the loco anyways. Is there something that attaches to the rail directly? I would like to know more about hos this controller works.

 

Hi,
This looks looks a lot like the Ztrack snail controller. Am I right?
If its like the snail, there are a couple of wires coming out of the controller to connect to the track.

Mark

 

Same unit I believe...the wires attach to the track like a wall plug conventional controller does. The Stonebridge version has the added benifit of being packed with clean, fresh Oregon Air at no extra charge. )

Joe

 

And that's not hot air either. Joe does not speak with forked tongue, just mouth full of good home cooking by his gal Kathy.

Karin and I were the privileged guests of Joe and Kathy last night for a wonderful meal and good talk. No hot air at all, just talk of good things to come.

I think Joe should run for president as his motto is "a MTL starter set in every garage" I can dig it.

 

Loren... that's a bit insulting to Joe. Joe is a honest and nice guy... no hidden agendas, except maybe just trains.

 

What is the difference between all the handheld controllers? Zthek, ZTrack, Stonebridge? Advantages, disadvantages? Safety of engines?

 

As an "outsider", I can say, there is no difference, except the print on the box and the style of knobs.

 

I can't speak with authority, I have only the Ztrack Snail and the Stonebridge image isn't big enough for me to evaluate the electronics, but I suspect they are all basically the same (there aren't many ways to do the circuit design).
The units are a portable, inexpensive way to power a loco on a small layout as compared to a Marklin "transformer". The battery will easily last for 8-10 hours of operation provided you aren't trying to set the scale land speed record and if you use a rechargable battery (which has to be removed from the unit to be recharged), battery costs can be low.
The Snail also outputs a lower (< 3V) voltage than a Marklin unit, which allows you to run your loco at lower speeds. Also since the output is current limited, there is less of a chance of damaging an engine in case of an overload.
The Snail unit also comes in a version that allows an external DC input, which allows powering the unit from a wall wart or even a car battery.
The units won't power any accessories.
I like the unit I purchased and the price the unit is being offer at is less than it would cost me to buy the components and do it myself.

Hope this helps.
Mark

 

They are all Made by Medvend Electronics, the original manufacture. I bought mine directly from them. They also have a DCC version available.

 

Karin, do you confirm that the 9V battery is required to power the remote control system, and not the track/locos?

Dom

 

Dom... not sure what "remote control system" you are asking about. These units take a 9-volt battery to operate. Attach the two wires from the controller to your track... you're off and running. Quite simple... even I can do it! (If it's not aircraft related, I have a hard time trying to make the simplest things work).

 

The 9v battery is what provides the power to the track and there is a bit of electronic wizardry inside to regulate how much power goes to the track and to provide the kick for smooth starts from 0 volts to max output which is less than 9vdc so you engine won't run away on you. As the condition of the charge in the battery lowers as you operate the max volts will diminish some what. I use a copper top (Duracell) and so I get pretty close to 9vdc max out for over 6 hours at a show. I can start the train and let it run and and have had A pair of GP35'S run continuously for over 6 Hours each day at HALF SPEED (about scale 40 mph with about 16 cars on a loop of track for two consecutive days of a show. Can't ask for more than that.

There is also a DCC variant also using 9vdc battery which is a no knowledge needed controller for up to three locomotives, for someone starting out it is dead easy to use, move the elector switch to position 1 and put your first engine on the track and turn the unit on turn the unit on and it programs the engine for switch position 1, put second engine on track after selecting position 2 and the same thing for engine number 3. operate one engine bring it to a stop and switch to another position and run that engine and in the end you can have all three operating but you have to remember which engines is on what position so you can avoid collisions etc. Of course when you get a full system you will have to program the address of each engine again as they do not tell you what address they program the engine in position 1 to and etc for position 2 so going on another system you need to know the address to operate the engine.

I have both types. DC and DCC and I have 2 of the varieties for the DC unit.

 

Garth, does the DCC controller have a place to put the 9V battery, or do you have to use the jack on the side?

Ben

 

Hi Dom! :airplane:
Firstly I want to reemphasize that this is the same 9V hand held slow speed controller as zthek and ztrack as this is what was asked earlier. We got ours from the same manufacturer from Hungary (Medvend) and we all know the genius brains those Hungarians have!:shade:

If I understand your question correctly the answer is they do indeed power the tracks which also powers the locos.
However, these are not remote controls. Wireless DCC models are available at a much greater price. The beauty of this particular model of controller is the affordability and flexibility. With 27 inches of lead wires connected you can do many things with a fair amount of freedom of movement. Loren and I had several for every show for our BYOZ layouts and the controller was easily tucked under or away fro the layout. The best thing he did was to put a plug on the end of the cord on the controller, similar to a headphone jack, and put the female plug into the side of the layout so it could be separated from the layout for ease when traveling. At no time did he ever have the wire show to the tracks from the layout surface. in fact Loren put a coiled "phone" style extension on one of his for easier walking around. But these controllers are so reliable that there is no need to walk around a layout with it your hand.

As to not powering accessories, you can but just not from the same controller that powers the trains. We will indeed use these controllers to power animation on the layout we hope to get done for NTS and hard wire them in a series under a control panel if multiple units are required. Others have actually added the wall wart by soldering it inside the unit.

The whole point here is that you folks have an opportunity to grab these units for a good price up until after NTS is over, unless they sell out before then. If you PM me I will email the illustrated manual to all that want to see it (only 1 page).

 

I t has a jack on the side but I just connected up 9 vdc battery clip to a Radio shack jack and plugged it in and use a rubber a wide rubber band from grocery store broccoli bundle to hold the battery in place behind the unit. input can be between 6 and 16 vdc center pin is negative and the colour coded size of plug at radio shack is blue. just soldered it up and use heat shrink to cover pin and leads from socket.The case used is too small to hold battery