Aristo remote train engineer

[Tony]

Having aquried one of these beasts (mine included 3 track controlers with 3 transformers 2 remote handsets and a 5 point switching unit) i have stuggled with getting it all to work all at the same time.
Only once was i able to get all three recivers coded and working at the same time and their performance was less than reliable then when i turned it back on it the morning all the codes were gone having to spend valuble testing time resetting it all
Its only a visit from Mike (beavercreek) at the weekend and his valient efforts to sort the problem and something he said got me thinking so on sunday morning bright and early ripped it all out and started again bingo its now a fantastic. system

Apart from the fact i got no instructions with it i used all the wires that came with it and installed it all in one box nice safe and dry thinking if it work for its previous owner it must work for me. Mike wondered if having the transformers so close to the remote controlers might be inferfering with the seperate signals so what i did was keep all the transformers in the box and moved the three recivers into seprate trackside buildings next to the parts of track they each control. straight away all coded up with not a problem and i had a trouble free afternoon and evening running 4 trains at the same time
Thanks Mike you da man

Tony

 

[dutchelm]

One of the most common problems with train engineers not working is the proximity of the transformer. A decent space is needed between the receiver & the transformer.

Another problem with multiple controllers is that different batches seem to have different frequencies. Frequency 1 on one unit is frequency 2 on another. Its a question of trial & error until you find one that works on all units.

 

[beavercreek]

Hi Tony
Only just seen this thread
Glad to be of service and great news that you are running on your great 'in development' layout.

Even though I suspected the proximity of your power supply transformers, I must admit that I have my power supply pretty close to the receiver units. But it is the Aristo elite 13amp transformer and seems to be pretty well shielded so it does not affect my units (YET!!!)

 

[Tony]

Mile and all
It has all worked perfectly and even trials with the points solonoid seem promising though not wired in to track yet,
my transformers seem to cope well enough and will each run two small trains when they both find themselfs on the same section of track at a reasonable scale speed but i have noticed the top speed of a loco is a lot less than the lgb 5amp will propell them at but thats good.
i am slightly worried about the recivers being "housed" in buildings dotted around the layout as i think there maybe a payoff between waterprofing and airflow to keep them cool and dry
last thing i have fitted working switched isolating sections to the whole layout now and it works better than i had hoped being able to have up to three full trains on each oval and "shufferling them from one section to the next between stations etc, effectivly i have four seperatly controled ovals or sections each of them controled via each receiver the slight issue i have is matching the speed of each when a train pass's from one to another as the train enginner i have doesnt seem to have anyway of displaying it (the early single handset did i think so im going to fit volt meters to each track and have them all on my switch board so i can match the voltage to the next section so i dont get a train suddenly slowing or accelarating and looking unrealalistic
Tony

 

[Glengrant]

Now I hope you guys read my earlier posts re TE receivers and how I destroyed two of them, (I'm hoping one can be repaired), by leaving them outside all year round, OK under cover, but in a very damp atmosphere, and that was their undoing. The one serviceable one I have got now sits in the garage, no problem with the signal, it's miles away from the transmitter, and in the winter there will be no difficulty in unplugging the thing to keep it warm and dry until it is required for use. I learned the hard way, PCBs do not like damp!!!!!!!

 

[Tony]

Now I hope you guys read my earlier posts re TE receivers and how I destroyed two of them, (I'm hoping one can be repaired), by leaving them outside all year round, OK under cover, but in a very damp atmosphere, and that was their undoing. The one serviceable one I have got now sits in the garage, no problem with the signal, it's miles away from the transmitter, and in the winter there will be no difficulty in unplugging the thing to keep it warm and dry until it is required for use. I learned the hard way, PCBs do not like damp!!!!!!!

Thats my worry but i had problems coding them all when they were all too close together
il have a rethink i think
thanks Tony

 

[chris m01]

My receivers seem to be happy enough in the shed through the winter. I do bring the transmitter into the house as the microswitches don't want to play after a winter in the shed. The transmitter has survived a night outside in the rain though.

 

[beavercreek]

Thats my worry but i had problems coding them all when they were all too close together
il have a rethink i think
thanks Tony

Tony, I think that the reason for your transformer interference problem is that they are not shielded. The simple way would be to have a metal shelf between the receivers and the power supplies. Or another would be to have extensions to the aerials so that they are far enough away from the fransformers (your apple tree trunk would be a good aerial pylon!
Failing doing any shielding, if it is possible to mount the receivers as faraway as possible from the power supplies and in your proposed dry housing then you problem will be cured (as it is now by having them in the buildings around the layout). How about extending the cabling from the supplies to recievers kept inside the sun lounge? This would mean all year running and not having to move them for the winter. The aerials could be routed to the guttering and give good coverage for the transmitters.

 

[Tony]

Mike i see what you are saying
when i first "experimented" with them on the floor in the "sun house" i still couldnt connect 100% and didnt at the time test to see if it was the three recivers and arials close together or the transformers close to recivers or both
and then there is the thought that the perious owner used the short wires i use (restricting distance apart) and had no problems ?
i think i will try bunching them together away from transformers and see what happens because the system is designed to operate 99 receivers and it would be dam hard to get 99 receivers any distance apart in the largest garden
I do love them and am getting quite adept at switching between controls all i have to worry about is where i put the transmiter down sometimes
Tony

 

[beavercreek]

I do love them and am getting quite adept at switching between controls all i have to worry about is where i put the transmiter down sometimes
Tony

Hi Tony
Yeah I have that problem too. It is an age thing......
I will make a little 'pocket on a post' somewhere between the extremities of the layout so that I always deposit the transmitter there....if I remember.....now where was that.................?

 

[Rob s]

Tony
I run 3 TE's and the receivers are sat no more than 3inches apart, and only 4 inches away from the transformers.

When you code each one in make sure the others are switched off at the time, and that all of the arials are straight and not crossing.

The only time i have had any problems in the past i have traced back to one of the following

One other TE receiver left on whilst coding in another
A power lead from one of the transformers was touching a power lead to a receiver
An arial lead was twisted and had wrapped it self round a power lead

The main problem i have is picking up the wrong controller for the piece of track i am looking at and wondering why nothing is happening, whilst some where else a loco is running flat out.

As for matching the track speeds single clicks on the power up button match each other almost perfectly provided you have a matched power supply.
You just have to count the number of clicks, you make on each controller,
unless you are running any buffer lights etc of the track this a can make a big diference.
So i make sure each loop has the same number of lights, and try to remember to not leave the lit post vans or lit carriages standing any where, on one loop i am leaving or entering.

and don't leave the receivers any where they can get damp, i was lucky with one but lost a second, just from condensation, of a fibreglass roof, one misty sunday even though all were in use and running warm

 

[Tony]

many thanks for that Rob believe me i tried every combination of coding the dear little things on off seperatly etc and only once did i get all three working and then they lost the coding when i turned them off
Now after seperating them they coded first time and have never lost the coding even after 2 days not used
as to the power level the button clicks are dependent on remembering the state of the other two and as you say you have 3 recievers and transmitters you must have the single mk 1 units that show the direction and speed in leds along the top mine are the mk2 10 channel ones and to make room for the extra butttons for the 10 channels they did away with the direction and speed indication led mode all my leds show are the channel and fequency you are on so only need one transmitter to control 99 recivers. worth investing in one if you can then you only have one to loose
as mike said we think its the home made transformers being the problem esp after what you say about your set up

Tony

 

[Rob s]

many thanks for that Rob believe me i tried every combination of coding the dear little things on off seperatly etc and only once did i get all three working and then they lost the coding when i turned them off
Now after seperating them they coded first time and have never lost the coding even after 2 days not used
as to the power level the button clicks are dependent on remembering the state of the other two and as you say you have 3 recievers and transmitters you must have the single mk 1 units that show the direction and speed in leds along the top mine are the mk2 10 channel ones and to make room for the extra butttons for the 10 channels they did away with the direction and speed indication led mode all my leds show are the channel and fequency you are on so only need one transmitter to control 99 recivers. worth investing in one if you can then you only have one to loose
as mike said we think its the home made transformers being the problem esp after what you say about your set up

Tony

Hi Tony
Not sure which TE's they are but one is dif (pic below)

I have 5 receivers in total, but tend only to use 3 at the moment, I use the 3 transmitters so friends can [strike]play[/strike] test at the same time,

Have just tried setting them up using miss matched/home (work really) built power sources and yes you are right they have gone all pear shaped and won't hold settings when turned off, in fact the one would not set at all.

So the proposed up grade of power is now be on hold, untill some screening can be sorted
thanks for saving me half a day of fiddling

 

[beavercreek]

Hi Rob
There is another incarnation.
If you look at the middle transmitter in your picture.
This is the most recent version. There was one just before that had the leds but there is a button that said 'speed' in-lace of the where there is now the on/off button. If you pressed the 'speed' button then the leds would give an approximation of the power flowing and therefore a crude speed indication. I also think that it would show the direction using the leds.

 

[Tony]

Rob not sure im understanding you correctly but mine is the one in the middle of your picture you can code each of your recivers into a channel 1-10 so i have all my sidings on 1, lower track loop on 2, upper track loop on 3 then up and down ramps on lgb contolers set to the same speed my points work on 4 i do need another 2 recivers but that can wait
tommorow im going to put the recivers all together but away from the transformers and see if that works as it does now
will let you know
Tony

 

[Rob s]

Hi Rob
There is another incarnation.
If you look at the middle transmitter in your picture.
This is the most recent version. There was one just before that had the leds but there is a button that said 'speed' in-lace of the where there is now the on/off button. If you pressed the 'speed' button then the leds would give an approximation of the power flowing and therefore a crude speed indication. I also think that it would show the direction using the leds.

Hi Mike
Yes, there is, that was the one that suffered from the condensation, its in bits a the moment
awaiting re-assembly, but even before it was a little temperamental

 

[Rob s]

Rob not sure im understanding you correctly but mine is the one in the middle of your picture you can code each of your recivers into a channel 1-10 so i have all my sidings on 1, lower track loop on 2, upper track loop on 3 then up and down ramps on lgb contolers set to the same speed my points work on 4 i do need another 2 recivers but that can wait
tommorow im going to put the recivers all together but away from the transformers and see if that works as it does now
will let you know
Tony

Hi Tony

I use more than one transmiter, so that a mate can run his stock on the other loop, and either of us can pull in out/of the sidings
If your receivers are already coded in, then you should be able to move them around any where just keep the arials uncrossed.
Apart from earlier today, i think the last time i coded mine in was when a transmitter batery went flat about 4 months ago, and they are moved from shed to dry storage almost every day.
We dont always put them out in the same place, depends if it is just, a short play or a full run out. let me know how you get on ?