General > General Discussion
Article for MRH
KPack:
Thanks everyone for your input. I ended up not putting much in about large scale because I have zero experience with it. I'll leave that for someone else to write and article on.
For better or worse the article is in the January MRH Magazine, but it's in the Running Extra section which means it has to be paid for to view it. If you are a member give it a read and let me know what you think. Always open to critique both positive and negative.
-Kevin
G8B4Life:
Well, well done Kevin for writing the article and getting some positive light for RailPro out there, though I won't get to read it. Congratulations to the publisher for taking something that shows the readership an alternative in a practical way and sticking it in something that only a handful of people read. :P I bet we wouldn't have seen it in Running Extra if it was DCC ::)
- Tim
trainman605:
As far as scale goes, be it HO, or G, I found most of my Rail Pro info from KPack's video's on YouTube. For myself I can adapt any scale to G Scale for my modeling needs. I think in this hobby you will find model railroaders with all levels of skills and I realize some can make it work and others need picture by picture and step by step instructions. I do understand writing an article for a magazine will not be easy to do so many can understand it, but some will, some won't. The biggest problem for many with Rail Pro, DCC, etc., is understand the electronics of the engine and how to go from the old system to the new system. Many modelers today just can't get past LED's and how they work and how to change them out. I think those who write the articles for the magazine will do a good job.
trainman
AlexW:
--- Quote from: KPack on January 19, 2023, 06:33:37 PM ---For better or worse the article is in the January MRH Magazine, but it's in the Running Extra section which means it has to be paid for to view it. If you are a member give it a read and let me know what you think. Always open to critique both positive and negative.
--- End quote ---
The idea of battery power in HO scale is quite intriguing, just not with the anti-DCC closed and proprietary RailPro system. I have seen it used with battery power in both HO and O scale independently of the DCC power on the rails.
The first part of the article reads a lot like a sales pitch for RailPro, without mentioning that it is an anti-DCC proprietary system. While there is CVP AirWire, and more recently Blunami, they still limit you to a specific throttle or app, unlike DCC, where you have many throttle options. The part about speed matching seems irrelevant, as DCC speed matching is easy and takes 5 minutes.
The part about the batteries and the step-up regulator is much more interesting, and could apply to standards-based approaches like AirWire or Blunami (which may not have been out when you wrote this article?). The voltage regulator is surprisingly small compared to the rest of the stuff involved, so that seems like a relatively minor issue to deal with compared to the battery.
One thing I'd be interested in reading is a built-in trickle charger that can take DCC track power and use it for battery charging, creating a self-charging locomotive that can operate on modular or club layouts when there are DCC issues or shorts.
--- Quote from: G8B4Life on January 19, 2023, 07:35:45 PM ---Well, well done Kevin for writing the article and getting some positive light for RailPro out there, though I won't get to read it. Congratulations to the publisher for taking something that shows the readership an alternative in a practical way and sticking it in something that only a handful of people read. :P I bet we wouldn't have seen it in Running Extra if it was DCC ::)
--- End quote ---
MRH has given way more space to RailPro than it deserves. Of course a DCC article would have a much wider appeal.
KPack:
Thanks for the response. I'll address your comments below:
The idea of battery power in HO scale is quite intriguing, just not with the anti-DCC closed and proprietary RailPro system. I have seen it used with battery power in both HO and O scale independently of the DCC power on the rails. - Battery power has been used in many scales with many different systems. Many of those have been proprietary. This article was about Railpro and battery power.
The first part of the article reads a lot like a sales pitch for RailPro, without mentioning that it is an anti-DCC proprietary system. - It's common knowledge that Railpro is not DCC, and for those who didn't know it was pretty clear that it was not DCC in the article. Is it wrong to talk about the features I like about Railpro? I don't feel so, especially since that information was important to share in order to explain why I attempted this experiment.
While there is CVP AirWire, and more recently Blunami, they still limit you to a specific throttle or app, unlike DCC, where you have many throttle options. The part about speed matching seems irrelevant, as DCC speed matching is easy and takes 5 minutes. - CVP Airwire and Blunami are all throttle and control systems based within the DCC universe. To get true wireless communication directly to the locomotives you will need a different controller than the current DCC standards. To my knowledge none of the normal DCC controllers are capable of any sort of wireless signal directly to the locomotive. Besides the aforementioned control systems, the other "wireless" DCC control systems I'm aware of essentially send a wireless signal from a controller to a command station, which then sends the signal to the locomotive via the track. As far as speed matching, you may be okay with it but it is not something I enjoy. To each their own.
The part about the batteries and the step-up regulator is much more interesting, and could apply to standards-based approaches like AirWire or Blunami (which may not have been out when you wrote this article?). The voltage regulator is surprisingly small compared to the rest of the stuff involved, so that seems like a relatively minor issue to deal with compared to the battery. -Those systems were out when I wrote this article. The step-up regulator would work in any system as all it does it convert some of the battery power to voltage. Unless you are using a 12V battery (large scale) then you will need to use a small LiPo and step it up. They are very small, which is nice. It's not a very efficient way of getting the voltage you need, but it does work.
One thing I'd be interested in reading is a built-in trickle charger that can take DCC track power and use it for battery charging, creating a self-charging locomotive that can operate on modular or club layouts when there are DCC issues or shorts. -One of the DCC wireless solutions (CVP maybe?) made a battery management board that allows charging from the track. It was somewhat large if I remember correctly, and was another board that needed space to mount. Working in HO scale hood units makes space a premium and I was looking at the simplest possible solution. Railpro made that easy because it's just three components...battery -> voltage converter -> Railpro module. And to be honest, if you are charging from the track you are essentially using a glorified keep-alive capacitor. Granted, it would never run out of juice, but so far I just haven't seen the need to do that. I'm not running trains for 6 hours straight.
MRH has given way more space to RailPro than it deserves. Of course a DCC article would have a much wider appeal. - MRH publishes what they receive. If you want a DCC/battery/wireless article then you are welcome to write one.
-Kevin
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