Anyone have experiance with these throttle's from Ken's Hobby Electronics? Positives / negatives? MODEL 852B SELF CONTAINED 1.5 AMP PWM HANDHELD WALKAROUND THROTTLE He also has controllers for Kato turnouts. Has anyone tried them? 751D and 751K ELECTRONIC TURNOUT SWITCHES I know, I know - bite the bullet and do DCC. Too many DC locomotives to go all in. Cheers - Fred.
I have Ken's 852B throttle. Very nice slow speed control. My power source is a wall-wart transformer.
We "ran" a Dash 9 on one of Ken's throttles at slowest speed, and we couldn't easily see it moving. We took off the shell and drew a line with a Sharpie on the flywheel. The line was indeed slowly rotating, once about every 20 seconds. Then we went off to get an ice cream and came back in about 10 minutes. The engine had moved about an inch. No heat on the frame around the motor! 5 Stars.
Have to echo the others, the throttle from Ken Stapleton has been in use for a few years, I have had no problems with it.
This is exactly what I've wanted for years. Now to figure out how to get into the house without my accountant/roomate knowing...she already has bought my Christmas present.
Well the only problem I see is that it is a tethered throttle. Fine for a smal layout but not so good for Ntrak or a large walk-a-round layout. The Aristo Craft radio throttles remain as the premier walk-a-round throttle. I see a lot of non DCC Ntrak setups using them. Still, on a large layout it would be quite the thing for switching or yard work where one could isolate the area from the main power supply.
So, does my new MRC Tech throttle have this PWM techonolgy in it? Or will I have to purchase this handheld throttle in order to make my trains run slow?
I would think that one could easily wire this in with a conventional 4 prong plug attached to the layout. This would allow one to unplug the controller and walk it further down the layout to another plug. The only issue or question would be, would the train stop once the controller is unplugged? My guess would be yes as the controller contains all the electronics for the throttle in your hand.
Any problem with tether would depend upon your layout design. Otherwise, if you have more than one throttle, seems as though you could easily go from one to the next.
Originally Posted by Inkaneer Well the only problem I see is that it is a tethered throttle. Fine for a smal layout but not so good for Ntrak or a large walk-a-round layout. The Aristo Craft radio throttles remain as the premier walk-a-round throttle. I see a lot of non DCC Ntrak setups using them. Still, on a large layout it would be quite the thing for switching or yard work where one could isolate the area from the main power supply. Correct, the throttle has connections to the track as well as the power supply. Unplug the throttle from either and no power goes to the track. So it is not a walk around throttle.
I would think one could easily buy a longer tether cord to replace the original one...or an 'extension' piece...with connectors...to fit for a home layout if the original 8 foot one isnt going to be long enough. By the looks of it...even a caveman like me can do it ;-)
Consider a coiled tether cord. For instance this example is 3' coiled and stretches to 12'. http://www.amazon.com/Valley-Coiled-Telephone-Handset-Uncoiled/dp/B002MVU7IA
I use the Aristocraft untethered throttles. I certainly would like to have a throttle of this quality if it was untethered.
I have some tethered DC MRC throttles that are nice, and I love them, also, NTRAK has the plans to build some hand held throttles, I have one I built, and love it. I'm a DC guy, have no intenstions of ever converting to the "DCC" world promoted by model rr magazines who push it for the sake of sales in advertising. I have never used the throttles you've mentioned. There is also a throttle made in Canada that has memory so when you move the throttle the train continues as you had it prior to moving the throttle for about $80.00. A friend has this system, DC, and loves it.
Originally Posted by railnut49 There is also a throttle made in Canada that has memory so when you move the throttle the train continues as you had it prior to moving the throttle for about $80.00. A friend has this system, DC, and loves it. I didn't see it on his website. If he has one or can conjure up one it would be great. Should not be difficult to do provided one has the technical expertise as apparently he does.
Ken Stapleton's 821throttle has memory, the train continues when the tether is unplugged. It's the 2nd item on his web site. Slow speed for switching is superb, I highly recommend it. Ernie C