Does anyone here have any experience with Radio Control of their layouts? I have been reading up a little on Locolinc and it looks to be a rather simple system. The major downfall I noticed was the price of receivers. I had an extensive background in Radio Control Cars and know the benefits that can be gained through Radio control.
I'm not sure by "experience" what exactly you mean. My layout is not radio controlled but I run at a buddy outdoor "garden" layout. A forest layout would be a more accurate description of what it is. I liked radio control but on his layout, they were battery dependent as was his engines. In both, when the batteries were running down, operations were hindered somewhat. To me anything battery dependent can suffer in operations.
According to their add, the locolinc system runs off of track power,battery power or a mix of both. It seems to me that the benefits of Radio Control are its a much simpler system. All you need is the transmitter, receiver, and power source. The add claims no need for boosters,or blocks (power districts) or reverse loop or wye special wiring. The receiver (which goes in the loco as a decoder does) maintains polarity and automatically reverses polarity when needed. To me the most important aspect of radio control is not sending the signals to the locos through the rails but rather through the radio signal or air. This would seem to eliminate all the problems associated with dirty track/poor track to loco connection. I have Easy Dcc and it is a great system but I believe the future may just be in Radio Control. The major drawbacks I see right now are the cost of the receivers ($82 ) Vs.less than $20 a pop for current decoders for Dcc systems. Try this link www.locolinc.com for more info. Thanks and any comments are welcomed!
I'm in N scale and the idea of using a trailing car for installation of the receiver etc, is not a good for me. I susptect over time the size of the receiver will come down. I think for most N scaler's this system would have limited appeal as RC is presently configured. In HO, that is another story. It would be interesting to hear from some one who has used both DCC and radio control to get their reaction. [ 12 July 2001: Message edited by: rsn48 ]</p>
I switched to Radio Control / battery power last year because I got tired of trying to maintain good track power, a lot of guys use track power with very little trouble, I was not as lucky. 1st of all I started out with 250 aluminum - very hard to clean/solder, I also had a 6 amp power pack (MRC 6200)just not enough power for the mainline, got frustrated, contacted Don Sweet of RCS and he "sold" me on RCS, I've got 2 locos, Aristocraft's FA & RS-3, everything fits in the eng so there is no trailing car. I now don't have to worry about dirty track, loose rail joiners, or complicated wiring for wye's or a reverse loop or sidings or passing tracks. Total costs balanced out the cost of a bigger power back with walkaround control, railclamps, etc. Having only a couple of engs ( will be adding 1 to 2 more) costs affordable, huge fleet of locos probably not, it works for me. I'm usually outside for only a couple of hours at a time so batteries last long enough, continous running for an open house would be a problem, choice is yours, Good Luck, Fred
Fred, Does RCS have a web site? How big are the receivers? How much do the receivers cost? I am considering the move from DCC but the receivers I see are all over $80 for HO which is a bit much toshell out for my 40+ Locos.
Aristocraft is touting a new HO scale radio-control system using their Train Engineer platform. No sign on their web site as to date of availability or cost. I hope to ask them about it tomorrow at the NMRA show.
Just read thru their site and it sounds amazing! Now that they have full sound capabilities there seems to be nothing lacking in the system. Like to find some prices on this stuff. Curt
Dale, Sorry I was confused- thought you were talking about largescale, not HO. I too am in HO, been in it since 1961 but use the old track power with rotories & common rail wiring for blocks, I too could not afford to convert my 40+ locos over to DCC. I don't believe the RCS system is for HO.
No problem Fred. I wonder if the prices from locolinc for HO receivers will ever come down? I guess its a supply and demand issue. Radio control sure would take care of the dirty track/poor connection issues. [ 15 July 2001: Message edited by: Dale ]</p>
