Author Topic: Kato SD40-2 - Deadrail Install with Railpro  (Read 12568 times)

Alan

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #15 on: March 05, 2017, 07:14:31 AM »
I think it is case closed for DCC vs RP whether battery or rail. Duplex radio communication is the only way to fly. Notice Bruce takes the radio route and look how much gadgetry he has to add to get to duplex. Importantly, he doesn't even attempt to do it over the rails. A network bus made up of huge nickel silver parallel conductors is a bad idea from the get-go. Least of all trying to do 2 way communication over it. It's a better antenna than it is a network bus. The very reason the DCC biz is trying to push LCC. A second bus is their solution to the fact their primary bus is so ill suited for the task. Credit must be given to DCC when it first came on the scene. A dramatic step forward from DC block. But it's time in the sun is over. Technology has left it behind. The DCC protocol is now more a hindrance than a help. The diehard's claim is people are so invested in DCC. There is merit to that argument however I suspect the same was said about horses when automobiles arrived.

Lest you think I am a RP fanboy, not so. RP will meet a similar fate. Look inside the HC and LM. Generic off-the-shelf components in both of them. AMD processor and flash memory in the HC, PIC processor and flash memory in the LM. The secret sauce for RP is the software. Hardware-wise RP is BlueRail is RP. Level of refinement is the only difference. Sooner or later genericification will come on the scene. Then software will be the sole differentiation. Perhaps why Ring is developing RP Assistant instead of additional gadgets. 

While on my soap box.... the battery charging from rails idea Bruce speaks of is DOA too as far as I am concerned. Batteries in general don't respond well to high cycling rates especially LiPo. Tolerance, or lack thereof, of high cycling rates is what separates batteries from capacitors. If batteries cycled well we would have lot less need for capacitors in common devices. Anyone who has owned a laptop computer has learned batteries used in high current applications don't like cycling. In a charge-from-the-rails application the poor battery is subjected to hundreds of mini charge/discharge cycles every time the layout is operated. Good luck getting any life out of that battery. Case in point: Think about your smart phone battery. Certainly state-of-the-art in battery management. How well does it perform? Great in year one, okay in year two, horrible in year three. Now think about your watch battery. Runs 5-10 years without a problem. The difference? Your watch battery never gets cycled. A watch is the ideal battery environment - a single long slow burn.

It is truly a shame so many people have such an unfounded fear of wire and solder. The track may be a very poor network bus but it is an ideal power conveyance. I am amazed at how much time, money, and effort folks will invest just to avoid one-time soldering of a few more feeders or the four connections to power a frog. Bruce's article epitomizes this fact.

</rant>
Alan

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When I was a kid... no wait, I still do that. HO, 28x32, double deck, 1969, RailPro

G8B4Life

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #16 on: March 05, 2017, 07:38:20 AM »
Sounds like an interesting article to read, I shall do so on the 6th in 1 day, 2 hours, 24 minutes and 46 seconds when it becomes available according to MRH, though it's already the 6th here  ;) actually, I'll read it later, it'll be the wee hours and I'll be asleep when it's released.

Alan, I'd be interested to know how you know it's an AMD processor in the HC.

- Tim

Alan

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #17 on: March 05, 2017, 09:04:46 AM »
Glad you caused me to re-read my post. I mis-typed. Should be ARM, not AMD. The architecture, not the manufacturer. Fingers moving faster than brain. I make the statement based on AMD cores complete dominance of the mobile/micro market. We will never know the manufacturer. Ring deliberately scratches off the labeling - a guaranteed sign it is a commonly available package.
Alan

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When I was a kid... no wait, I still do that. HO, 28x32, double deck, 1969, RailPro

William Brillinger

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #18 on: March 05, 2017, 09:55:34 AM »
- Bill Brillinger, RPUG Admin

Modeling the BNML in HO Scale, owner of Precision Design Co., and RailPro Dealer.


Alan

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #19 on: March 05, 2017, 09:56:15 AM »
Hmmm, take a look at Publisher's Musings as well. Joe Fugate, whom I hold in highest regards, may inadvertently be doing the hobby a disservice with the finger thrown turnout idea. Ironically, it may feed the dead rail concept.

Touch your finger to a piece of glass. Hold the glass to the light. Did you leave a fingerprint? Fingerprints are skin oils. Oil is an insulator Dust sticks in oil. Oil and sticky dust - two things everyone needs on their track. /S Will touching your track bring trains to a halt? Of course not. But it is just one more log on the poor connectivity fire. I wonder why people who flick switches bother to clean models before they paint them. also /S
Alan

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When I was a kid... no wait, I still do that. HO, 28x32, double deck, 1969, RailPro

G8B4Life

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #20 on: March 07, 2017, 05:18:37 AM »
I mis-typed. Should be ARM, not AMD. The architecture, not the manufacturer

Thanks for the clarification Alan, thought you might have had some magic insight and could tell who made it and what it likely was just by looking at it and what's around it.

The article in question is available here:

Thanks Bill. For what it's worth I found out MRH's "next issue" clock is useless, It was available much much earlier that it said.

- Tim

William Brillinger

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #21 on: March 07, 2017, 06:56:16 AM »
Quote
For what it's worth I found out MRH's "next issue" clock is useless, It was available much much earlier that it said.

The clock was counting down until the official release email. MRH is released early on the forums to let the regulars help find any errors that missed the editing process.
- Bill Brillinger, RPUG Admin

Modeling the BNML in HO Scale, owner of Precision Design Co., and RailPro Dealer.


G8B4Life

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #22 on: March 07, 2017, 07:44:08 AM »
The clock was counting down until the official release email. MRH is released early on the forums...

Thanks Bill, I was pretty sure subscribers (I am not one) were able to get it early, as you did, but thought the rest of had to wait for that clock to count down. It was less than half of the time remaining on the clock before it was available on the front page to me.

oh, and to keep this on topic; It was an interesting article to compare deadrail on DCC with deadrail on RailPro. I would hate to think of trying to cram all that extra stuff into my smaller than US prototype models!

- Tim

Alan

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Re: Deadrail with Railpro
« Reply #23 on: May 02, 2017, 10:40:15 AM »
The IOT wave is quickly advancing DC-DC converter technology. That may be useful good news for dead rail folks.

XP Power just released a new series of super compact DC-DC converters. JSM2512S15 is perfect for battery to RP power conversion. At 1" x 1" x 0.4" it should easily fit in HO models. It will provide steady, tightly regulated 15V at up to 1.67A until the battery drops below 9V. 

http://www.xppower.com/Portals/0/pdfs/SF_JSM25.pdf
Alan

LK&O Railroad website

When I was a kid... no wait, I still do that. HO, 28x32, double deck, 1969, RailPro