tramcar trev
all manner of mechanical apparatus...
I have started to convert the fleet to radio control after the success with the Steam Tram. First tram to be set up is the bogie combination car, straight forward job as it was never converted to “keyfob” control. I have discovered a few minor problems;
1) The transmitter has to be “On” before the tram is powered up
2) If the pole jumps off the wire the receiver has to be reset i.e. the transmitter has to be turned off then on again before putting the pole on the wire, this resets the electronic speed control which seems to be the problem.
3) There goes my automatic section control, if the power is interrupted the trams don’t start up again where they were so I’ll have to use the coloured lights and drive the trams manually, so much more realistic……….
4) I will also have to repackage the Transmitter and have knobs rather than joysticks to control the speed, I have taken the centring springs out as if they were left in they are at half speed by default…..
Fortunately the Rx and ESC are both very small which is more than can be said for the 2 capacitors that are to help with the brief interruptions (that make the lights flicker) to power as the tram rattles its way around the track, without these running on track power with R/C would be impossible.
It has stopped raining for a few hours so I was able to give No5 a trial run and got some pics in the late afternoon sun. Looks a lot better with some passengers hey? I still have to drop the running board though, I have no idea why they made it impossible for G scale people to board... It will be cut off and lowered on 3mm Sq plastic rod... I can do this now that this car is no longer on loan from the San Fran Muni, a fibre pen eraser and some matte clear resolved "ownership" fairly quickly....
The wiring diagram, simple init? the dropping resistor (R1) was not needed as the lighting on this tram has its own 12V circuit already built in. The 20000uF capacitor is actually 2 x 10000uF caps. The centre off switch allows the tram to sit idle with the lights on (and no one home) until the direction is manually chosen and the pole set for the direction of travel. The diode prevents current flowing back into the overhead from the capacitors. The ESC has a battery eliminator built in so there is no need for a seperate Rx battery, this is fortunate as space is limited....
1) The transmitter has to be “On” before the tram is powered up
2) If the pole jumps off the wire the receiver has to be reset i.e. the transmitter has to be turned off then on again before putting the pole on the wire, this resets the electronic speed control which seems to be the problem.
3) There goes my automatic section control, if the power is interrupted the trams don’t start up again where they were so I’ll have to use the coloured lights and drive the trams manually, so much more realistic……….
4) I will also have to repackage the Transmitter and have knobs rather than joysticks to control the speed, I have taken the centring springs out as if they were left in they are at half speed by default…..
Fortunately the Rx and ESC are both very small which is more than can be said for the 2 capacitors that are to help with the brief interruptions (that make the lights flicker) to power as the tram rattles its way around the track, without these running on track power with R/C would be impossible.
It has stopped raining for a few hours so I was able to give No5 a trial run and got some pics in the late afternoon sun. Looks a lot better with some passengers hey? I still have to drop the running board though, I have no idea why they made it impossible for G scale people to board... It will be cut off and lowered on 3mm Sq plastic rod... I can do this now that this car is no longer on loan from the San Fran Muni, a fibre pen eraser and some matte clear resolved "ownership" fairly quickly....







Ok now to tackle the other cars.....