In a past press release, Piko stated that production of G items along with others was in Germany and only the "Hobby" line of cheaper H0 items was made in their China plant.....but I cannot say if that applies to electronics or just models themselves?
PIKO CR(A)P
- Thread starter Tim Brien
- Start date
Hi Tim
Sorry to hear of your further problems, my Piko DCC Wireless remotes seems to have come to an abrupt end also . Worked Ok last week connected it up yesterday nothing , works ok hard wired but not wireless, will let you all know more when I bench test it tomorrow. Hope all Piko gear dose not end up with faults we live too far away have them shipped and fixed.
Frank
Sorry to hear of your further problems, my Piko DCC Wireless remotes seems to have come to an abrupt end also . Worked Ok last week connected it up yesterday nothing , works ok hard wired but not wireless, will let you all know more when I bench test it tomorrow. Hope all Piko gear dose not end up with faults we live too far away have them shipped and fixed.
Frank
Do these Navigators need a battery for wireless operation?frankando12 said:
When hard wired, I guess they are powered directly via the cable from the Central Station Unit. (As is my LGB MTS II 55015 Universal Remote.)
But in wireless operation, you'll need battery power, and these may have become discharged....
Frank,
since repairing my Piko it now works perfectly, although, as yet I have not tried it on the wireless option, only using it tethered since carrying out repair. That being said, the tether cable is only an option to using the receiver and my Navigator works fine on wireless mode in analogue operation and did work fine on wireless DCC before the central unit failed. While the unit is now working well, I do have resevations as to the quality of the unit.
Gizzy,
when using the cable the batteries are bypassed. Also, apparently there is a charging setting for onboard batteries when operating in tethered mode. Hopefully, one would have used rechargables if selecting this option. I would expect several weeks usage from a set of batteries.
since repairing my Piko it now works perfectly, although, as yet I have not tried it on the wireless option, only using it tethered since carrying out repair. That being said, the tether cable is only an option to using the receiver and my Navigator works fine on wireless mode in analogue operation and did work fine on wireless DCC before the central unit failed. While the unit is now working well, I do have resevations as to the quality of the unit.
Gizzy,
when using the cable the batteries are bypassed. Also, apparently there is a charging setting for onboard batteries when operating in tethered mode. Hopefully, one would have used rechargables if selecting this option. I would expect several weeks usage from a set of batteries.
Hi Tim and All
It looks like something is wrong with my Piko wireless remote, it has worked great , much better than than my LGB wireless remote. Have been very happy with the performance on my first couple of runs. Conected every thing up over the weekend the wireless receiver would not work. The antena symbol was not showing on the Navigator and I could not see the red led light on the receiver allthough in daylight is very hard to see , the LGB can be clearly seen in the daylight. I hard wired the Navigator to the receiver cable and the system worked fine . I benched tested the Piko today and I am sure there is someting wrong the led light is not coming on . I also tried new batteries in the Navigator this made no difference I didn't think it would. I don,t know if I may have changed some setting in the Navigator on it's last run that may have turned the wireless system off , as you mentioned before their instruction are not great just a printed operation Manual thought it may have been something a bit better. I had the Piko Receiver conected to the same position on my Layout as I had the LGB receiver conected too for over 6 years and had no problem with it and it was working when I changed , must say the Piko system is heaps better to use when working with the Navigator. I may now have to reinstall the LGB system as it may be some time before I can run the Piko one now . It is a great time of the year to run trains around the back yard over christmas here in Australia my granchildren love our backyard late in the afternoon. Will have to follow up the problem with James Shourt
Thanks Frank
It looks like something is wrong with my Piko wireless remote, it has worked great , much better than than my LGB wireless remote. Have been very happy with the performance on my first couple of runs. Conected every thing up over the weekend the wireless receiver would not work. The antena symbol was not showing on the Navigator and I could not see the red led light on the receiver allthough in daylight is very hard to see , the LGB can be clearly seen in the daylight. I hard wired the Navigator to the receiver cable and the system worked fine . I benched tested the Piko today and I am sure there is someting wrong the led light is not coming on . I also tried new batteries in the Navigator this made no difference I didn't think it would. I don,t know if I may have changed some setting in the Navigator on it's last run that may have turned the wireless system off , as you mentioned before their instruction are not great just a printed operation Manual thought it may have been something a bit better. I had the Piko Receiver conected to the same position on my Layout as I had the LGB receiver conected too for over 6 years and had no problem with it and it was working when I changed , must say the Piko system is heaps better to use when working with the Navigator. I may now have to reinstall the LGB system as it may be some time before I can run the Piko one now . It is a great time of the year to run trains around the back yard over christmas here in Australia my granchildren love our backyard late in the afternoon. Will have to follow up the problem with James Shourt
Thanks Frank
Frank,
have you tried a factory reset on the Navigator. This will most likely delete any stored specific locomotive settings you have entered.
Is is possible you changed the frequency setting on the Navigator so that it does not correspond with the frequency of the receiver? The receiver red LED will not illuminate until the Navigator is turned on. I believe you may have a frequency disparity (inadvertently selected one of the other three remaining frequencies). Check your frequency on the Navigator against the DIP switch setup on the receiver.
have you tried a factory reset on the Navigator. This will most likely delete any stored specific locomotive settings you have entered.
Is is possible you changed the frequency setting on the Navigator so that it does not correspond with the frequency of the receiver? The receiver red LED will not illuminate until the Navigator is turned on. I believe you may have a frequency disparity (inadvertently selected one of the other three remaining frequencies). Check your frequency on the Navigator against the DIP switch setup on the receiver.
Hi Tim and All.
Have reset to factory settings as you suggested still no go, checked the RC channel setting they are matched. still no LED light in the Wireless Remote. I have reinstalled my LGB set up which had been set up for over 6 years as previously mentioned and it has the light in the LGB 55055 receiver, lucky I held on to it I was going to list it on e-bay . I have used the same cable to hook the LGB up as I used with the Piko system the light in the LGB unit shines bright as soon as the central station is regestered a fault I find with the Piko receiver as mentioned earlier. I do beleive that there is something wrong with the Piko Receiver what a shame was very happy with the way it was working. Now for the long and expensive task of trying to have it checked and fixed. Will keep you up to date on my progress.
Frank
Have reset to factory settings as you suggested still no go, checked the RC channel setting they are matched. still no LED light in the Wireless Remote. I have reinstalled my LGB set up which had been set up for over 6 years as previously mentioned and it has the light in the LGB 55055 receiver, lucky I held on to it I was going to list it on e-bay . I have used the same cable to hook the LGB up as I used with the Piko system the light in the LGB unit shines bright as soon as the central station is regestered a fault I find with the Piko receiver as mentioned earlier. I do beleive that there is something wrong with the Piko Receiver what a shame was very happy with the way it was working. Now for the long and expensive task of trying to have it checked and fixed. Will keep you up to date on my progress.
Frank
Frank,
is the coathanger antenna fully seated in the receiver? Really, once the cable is fitted there is little that could disturb the receiver. You said that you were not getting the 'antenna' signal on the Navigator. Does it come up 'R/C disabled' on startup? This will occur if the Navigator is turned on BEFORE the central station is stabilised.
I did have an issue early on whereby the R/C would not turn on and I had to 're-establish' the turning on order. From memory, I had turned on the Navigator before turning on the central station, getting the R/C disabled message. Leaving the Navigator turned 'on', I turned on the central station, then turned the Navigator 'off' then back 'on'.
p.s. The light on the receiver is very, very dull, almost hard to see if illuminated.
is the coathanger antenna fully seated in the receiver? Really, once the cable is fitted there is little that could disturb the receiver. You said that you were not getting the 'antenna' signal on the Navigator. Does it come up 'R/C disabled' on startup? This will occur if the Navigator is turned on BEFORE the central station is stabilised.
I did have an issue early on whereby the R/C would not turn on and I had to 're-establish' the turning on order. From memory, I had turned on the Navigator before turning on the central station, getting the R/C disabled message. Leaving the Navigator turned 'on', I turned on the central station, then turned the Navigator 'off' then back 'on'.
p.s. The light on the receiver is very, very dull, almost hard to see if illuminated.
HI Tim
Tim yes I get that message every time the Navigator is turned on with the batteries installed, I checked the antenna when iI had to take the top off to install the Digital Cable , Also when you return to factory settings everything is in German you have to count down 3 in Navigator Config to change to English. I have emailed James Shourt about the next process. With the Shipping times I hope I can have it back by Christmas.
Tim yes I get that message every time the Navigator is turned on with the batteries installed, I checked the antenna when iI had to take the top off to install the Digital Cable , Also when you return to factory settings everything is in German you have to count down 3 in Navigator Config to change to English. I have emailed James Shourt about the next process. With the Shipping times I hope I can have it back by Christmas.
Hi Tim and All
Just received a reply from James Shourt, seems there is a problem with the receiver board , James said to return the board only and they will replace it. Hope this dose not take long.
Frank
Just received a reply from James Shourt, seems there is a problem with the receiver board , James said to return the board only and they will replace it. Hope this dose not take long.
Frank
Well, the short reprieve has ended. After getting the central station to work several months ago, I put it away in storage as I have the NCE 10 amp system to use. Even though not used since rectification carried out, when I attempted to use it today there was no output from the unit. This unit has only ever been connected to a two metre section of rail and has less than 30 minutes of testing.
I have finally given up on this piece of rubbish and will stick with the reliable NCE setup.
I have finally given up on this piece of rubbish and will stick with the reliable NCE setup.