What 2.4GHZ Radio Transmitter to go for

Richie

Richie

Rio Grande Railroad , Mountain biking , Gardening
Last summer i got a Accucraft live steam C-16 loco fitted with Radio Control . The control system is one of the old hitec Ranger 3s using the 40MHZ band digital FM . Have been told by several people that i should up grade the transmitter with a 2.4GHZ but have no idea what to go for only need the 2 channels for the loco throttle control and reverser would i have to change the receivers & servo's or would these still be ok to use ?
Can anyone recommend or give advice on a 2.4GHZ transmitter for around £50
 
Planet T5, has 5 channels but is well worth it IMO, used it on my little battery electric loco. If you get the one from Howes Models it comes with the relevant Reciever.
Steven
 
Richie said:
...advice on a 2.4GHZ transmitter for around £50
Click to expand...
One factor to consider is running costs, ie batteries.
The Planet T5 uses 4 x AA cells while some of the cheaper sets use 8.
 
I have had good results with this:-
Acoms Techniplus 2.4G Stick Radio £45.00
available from Modelsport at Otley near Leeds
 
Richie said:
Last summer i got a Accucraft live steam C-16 loco fitted with Radio Control . The control system is one of the old hitec Ranger 3s using the 40MHZ band digital FM . Have been told by several people that i should up grade the transmitter with a 2.4GHZ but have no idea what to go for only need the 2 channels for the loco throttle control and reverser would i have to change the receivers & servo's or would these still be ok to use ?
Can anyone recommend or give advice on a 2.4GHZ transmitter for around £50
Click to expand...

I use a Spektrum set with my live steam locos and a planet t5 with my battery powered locos and both would be suitable for your C16.

I have a question though, if you haven't got a problem with your 40mhz set, why do you want to change it?
 
Many thanks for all the advice didn't know there were so many brands out there . I hope to see Steve at Back2bay6 next week end will check with him if he has any in his shop couldn't seem to find any on the web site .
 
Midwalesstokie said:
Richie said:
Last summer i got a Accucraft live steam C-16 loco fitted with Radio Control . The control system is one of the old hitec Ranger 3s using the 40MHZ band digital FM . Have been told by several people that i should up grade the transmitter with a 2.4GHZ but have no idea what to go for only need the 2 channels for the loco throttle control and reverser would i have to change the receivers & servo's or would these still be ok to use ?
Can anyone recommend or give advice on a 2.4GHZ transmitter for around £50
Click to expand...

I use a Spektrum set with my live steam locos and a planet t5 with my battery powered locos and both would be suitable for your C16.

I have a question though, if you haven't got a problem with your 40mhz set, why do you want to change it?
Click to expand...

Hi James
The main reason for the up grade was the interferance or glitching between the transmitter and loco found the loco some times wouldn't come to a holt and also the throttle was swinging back un forth when the loco was running or is this normal with R/C live steam locos .
 
There's a bit of a shortage for some reason. And a lot of dealers don't know when they're next going to get stock.

I bought a Saturn 4 just before Christmas from Wheelspin - £40

Comes as TX/RX set, but no servos, and takes 8 AA cells but has a recharging socket.
 
And now I find the thread that would have been useful a week ago.
My 27mhz receiver on a Lady Anne failed last week and after some research I visited Marionville Models in Edinburgh who are rc model specialists. On offer was a replace met 27mhz receiver for £25 complete with short range, long ariel and glitching, or an Ektronix Pulse 2.4ghz 2 channel transmitter / receiver kit for £39.99. Deal done the receiver was fitted yesterday with the servos plugging straigt in, and the speed controller centrising spring removed. This afternoon the test was carried out and what a difference smooth running, long range, and th satisfaction of a modification done succesfully. The receiver is the same as the 4 channel comes with a spare socket so the next task is to wire in lighting. There was a 4 channel version TX available for not a lot more.
 
Since I've also been thinking of upgrading some old steam locos to 2.4Ghz I was wondering what the difference is with servos lablke as digital? Can I use the old servos or not?
 
funandtrains said:
Since I've also been thinking of upgrading some old steam locos to 2.4Ghz I was wondering what the difference is with servos lablke as digital? Can I use the old servos or not?
Click to expand...

I think you can use the old servos Steve i don't fancy replacing the ones on my loco . I think you just have to change the receiver to connect to the transmitter .
 
Jeff said:
And now I find the thread that would have been useful a week ago.
My 27mhz receiver on a Lady Anne failed last week and after some research I visited Marionville Models in Edinburgh who are rc model specialists. On offer was a replace met 27mhz receiver for £25 complete with short range, long ariel and glitching, or an Ektronix Pulse 2.4ghz 2 channel transmitter / receiver kit for £39.99. Deal done the receiver was fitted yesterday with the servos plugging straigt in, and the speed controller centrising spring removed. This afternoon the test was carried out and what a difference smooth running, long range, and th satisfaction of a modification done succesfully. The receiver is the same as the 4 channel comes with a spare socket so the next task is to wire in lighting. There was a 4 channel version TX available for not a lot more.
Click to expand...
Sounds like 2.4GHZ is the way to go then Jeff, heres what i have in my loco at the present
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In the tender is it just the receiver that needs changing or is it the batteries as well ?
 
Yes just the receiver needs changing. One thing i've found with th new 2.4 gig receiver's is that although they are slimmer, they are quite often a bit longer than the old type due to the servo wires poking out the side. Some bit of tinkering maybe needed to fit the unit in.
 
Rosco said:
Yes just the receiver needs changing. One thing i've found with th new 2.4 gig receiver's is that although they are slimmer, they are quite often a bit longer than the old type due to the servo wires poking out the side. Some bit of tinkering maybe needed to fit the unit in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Ross :thumbup: Have not long ago made the housing for the R/C out of plastic card shoudn't be to hard to modify.
 
With regard to the newer 2.4 Ghz systems. I got a cheepie set up some rime back that I have still not got around to fitting yet. It is a Planet T5. The only worry that I have about it is the Reciever, this is a card covered thing and I was wondering if anyone has used a similar one in a Steam Locomotve environment ( not a Tender). How do you keep it Dry and Oil Free?My existing Recievers 27 and 40 mg arr well covered in oil but work just as well as the day they were bought. I have been told that the Card covered jobs do not like to be wet or covered in oil.
JonD
 
I use a 4 channel transmitter, receiver combo from HobbyKing in Hong Kong which I modified I removed the centring spring and made a tab to allow incremental control so that the LHS controls the throttle and the RHS controls the reverser. I followed the ideas in the Electronics section on the "Sandstone & Termite" site.
Mine is fitted to an Accucraft Ruby installed in a scratchbuilt tender but a friend has all his R/C gear in the side tanks of one insulated from the heat by using blank PCB substrate as an insulator with the batteries under the cab roof.
I use the combo for both my electric and live steam locomotives
I live in Australia where access to a local hobby shop usually entails a couple of hours driving each way so I shop mostly on line and have found Hobby King to be very reasonable.
Because trains don't drop hundreds of feet if the R/C gear fails I fail to see the need to use expensive aircraft gear when the cheaper versions work just as well.
The I use 3000mAHr rechargeable batteries from China @ under $10 for Aust for 16
 
Richie said:
Midwalesstokie said:
Richie said:
Last summer i got a Accucraft live steam C-16 loco fitted with Radio Control . The control system is one of the old hitec Ranger 3s using the 40MHZ band digital FM . Have been told by several people that i should up grade the transmitter with a 2.4GHZ but have no idea what to go for only need the 2 channels for the loco throttle control and reverser would i have to change the receivers & servo's or would these still be ok to use ?
Can anyone recommend or give advice on a 2.4GHZ transmitter for around £50
Click to expand...

I use a Spektrum set with my live steam locos and a planet t5 with my battery powered locos and both would be suitable for your C16.

I have a question though, if you haven't got a problem with your 40mhz set, why do you want to change it?
Click to expand...

Hi James
The main reason for the up grade was the interferance or glitching between the transmitter and loco found the loco some times wouldn't come to a holt and also the throttle was swinging back un forth when the loco was running or is this normal with R/C live steam locos .
Click to expand...

Check that the batteries for the receiver and transmitter are at full/best charge. Make sure your rechargable batteries in the tender are still servicable. If you are using a "smart" charger make sure it is functioning properly and not showing a false full charge, I've had problems in that area that fooled me.
Make sure transmitter ariel is fully extended when operating and that there is no fault with its connection to the transmitter apperatus.
Likewise ensure the ariel wire from the receiver is in good condition high up and/or properly connected at both ends and to a metal part on the loco, e.g. cab roof.
Check the little trim levers next to the control sticks, these fine tune the the top and bottom ends range of operation for your regulator and reverser.
If all of these are not checked they can cause the "glitching" symptoms you are indicating. If these checks fail then you need a smaller layout or a new fangled R/C set up.
I use both R/C systems and have no problems with either so long as I carry out these checks if a problem arises.
Max.
P.S. I have read on this forum and heard from some R/C fitters that Planet 5 recievers do not like hot places like being near boilers and can cut out during operation.
 
If you remove the stick return spring try fitting one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Hitec...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae44e6695 < Link To http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm...mp;hash=item5ae44e6695 I can't find one in the UK at the moment but model shops should stock them. It helps to keep the stick in the position that you left it in and gives it a helpful bit of friction. They 'should' fit the vast majority, if not all, of transmitters on the market.
Here's a UK one http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...6LDHBw&usg=AFQjCNF4qBLzKGTtF38GjifLtRK-CcZ5-Q < Link To http://www.google.co.uk/u...KGTtF38GjifLtRK-CcZ5-Q
 
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