Sorry. Can't agree. Let's wait and see.
Mike
@H1000 posted:Given the large amount of MPC stuff that Eric has. These decoders probably won't work with the pull-mor motor.
Tmcc upgrades are his best option.
Interestingly, the "Pullmor" and postwar universal motors will run on AC or DC. Under DC, they just need a means to control how the DC polarity is fed to the motor to produce reversing action. That's done by adding a bridge rectifier into the circuit between then DCC decoder's motor driver outputs and the motor itself. Nowadays, there are plenty of small, reliable and low-cost bridge rectifiers available to do the job. That wasn't so in the not-so distant past.
Converting a conventional 3-rail AC or a 2-rail DC locomotive to DCC requires the same skills in wiring and soldering as TMCC and PS2/3 conversions; it's not uncharted territory or outrageously expensive -- although it's still a non-trivial investment in new electronics. And like the common proprietary systems' 3-rail upgrades, there can be some additional fabrication of chuff triggers for steamers and smoke triggers for anything without a mechanical smoke puffer. But again, this has all been done before; it's not unique to DCC.
Blunami has the ease of programming its advanced features through Bluetooth and a smartphone, even if (like me) you vastly prefer the idea of running trains with a physical remote. ESU requires a proprietary programming device to access some its advanced features, especially for loading sounds; everything else can be done with any DCC remote or from JMRI. There's also Ring Engineering's line of "Rail Pro" radio-controlled+DCC decoders; however, they need either DC power or at least DCC on the rails as a DC source, and their own power supplies aren't geared for the high-current needs of O (or G) gauge, so something like a 10-amp NCE DCC "backbone" is still needed. At that point, Soundtraxx and ESU DCC sound decoders tend to be more attractively priced in the open market.
@EricF posted:Interestingly, the "Pullmor" and postwar universal motors will run on AC or DC. Under DC, they just need a means to control how the DC polarity is fed to the motor to produce reversing action. That's done by adding a bridge rectifier into the circuit between then DCC decoder's motor driver outputs and the motor itself. Nowadays, there are plenty of small, reliable and low-cost bridge rectifiers available to do the job. That wasn't so in the not-so distant past.
That's true, the Pullmor will run on DC but the stator is grounded to the frame / outside rail. The motor needs to be completely isolated from the track power otherwise you'll have ac power back feeding into the motor power outputs of the board. I don't think the board is going to like that, i'm not sure a rectifier on the output leads of the motor driver is going to work. This is why ERR makes a specific AC commander for open frame motors like the pullmor and a DC commander that will not work with pullmors. This also (partially) why you can not use a PS3 upgrade kit on Lionel engines with open frame motors. All of the MPC upgrades I've seen with PS2 or PS3 kits involved removal of the pullmor and replacing it with a can motor.
@BOB WALKER posted:SoundTraxx has announced a bluetooth wireless DCC decoder which it termed a game changer.
Bob. I am absolutely a novice would you allow me to private message you . I do not want to embarrass myself in front of these members.
@Bill Grafmiller posted:Bob. I am absolutely a novice would you allow me to private message you . I do not want to embarrass myself in front of these members.
Bill,
I'm going to beg you to reconsider. No matter what level of newbie you are there are most certainly others here who would ask the same questions, and benefit just as much from Bob's knowledgeable answers. Taking your conversation off line removes that possibility.
Our forum encourages a free and broad sharing of knowledge. That's one of the biggest reasons it's so special.
Please reconsider. The more experienced of us will gladly hold our tongues in response to your questions.
Mike
Mike Thank you. I am wanting to go dead rail or battery powered . I also want to convert my track to 2 rail. I have just finished converting a lionchief NW2 plus to b a battery power. Having help from Ron045. That said . I want to make my legacy diesels battery powered. Can I use legacies modules or do I need to totally gut them out and replace with RailPro or Blue Rail?
The only dumb question is the one you dont ask
@Bill Grafmiller posted:Mike Thank you. I am wanting to go dead rail or battery powered . I also want to convert my track to 2 rail. I have just finished converting a lionchief NW2 plus to b a battery power. Having help from Ron045. That said . I want to make my legacy diesels battery powered. Can I use legacies modules or do I need to totally gut them out and replace with RailPro or Blue Rail?
TMCC and Legacy require AC to control speed. Its what triggers the PWM to the motors. Its begs the question of why buy Legacy in the first place if you have to gut the electronics. Buy conventional and add the features you desire.
Pete
Well I already have the legacy in my fleet. Rather than have them sitting on the shelf I would convert them to battery power. I also want to get away from cab2 and 3 romote.
Pete I will be buying conventional . I already have 2 in mind. I guess I could sell the legacies and purchase other used stock also.
The Blunami offering by SoundTraxx is a fundamental shift in loco control with many user benefits. It is a simple one board installation, operates in the wireless mode and can easily access the complete DCC library. It is also compatible with battery power and reasonably priced. Suggest that any potential users check out all the available info on this new product.
If you like your models, I'd wager there might be someone here willing to buy the legacy electronics.
Ron
@BOB WALKER posted:The Blunami offering by SoundTraxx is a fundamental shift in loco control with many user benefits. It is a simple one board installation, operates in the wireless mode and can easily access the complete DCC library. It is also compatible with battery power and reasonably priced. Suggest that any potential users check out all the available info on this new product.
Bob. Just the name makes this old geezer shiver. I had a tough go with cab2 and I probably only use 50% of what it will do. I phone's bluetooth , tablets all great if you enjoy using. I just like the hand held type gizmo. You understand the technical aspects of the systems I am in the deep dark place. Just hooking up the battery to my lionchief plus was a biggie for me. I thought RailPro would be simpler . Am I wrong?
@Ron045 posted:If you like your models, I'd wager there might be someone here willing to buy the legacy electronics.
Ron
Thanks Ron I will keep that in mind.
Of all the aftermarket control systems I have installed and I have done quite a few, this will be the easiest which is one of its inherent strengths.
@Boilermaker1 posted:I’m intrigued by this. It supposedly can be run on “any” power source, But I am unsure if that includes AC. They mention straight DC, DCC or battery power in their presentation. You can run it with a DCC system or the app.
Itll be interesting for sure if you can run it off 3 rail AC and the BT connection.
I would wait for the 4400 release for anything with dual motors. I don’t think the 2200 has enough margin of error to handle it.
Boilermaker1, so am I. I have to admit when I first saw this thread I thought to myself oh boy here's another one of those lol. But as soon as I started watching the demos I realized this Blunami has a lot of potential, regardless of power source, dead rail/battery, DC or DCC. btw the Blunami does include operating from AC power sources, which is what a number of DCC systems utilize, I use NCE's 10amp system with an 18VAC power supply. It appears the Blunami now extends many features previously associated with DCC to DC and battery powered configurations as well, that's pretty nice.
For us DCC users, the app's UI certainly appears to make CV configuration significantly more simplified, much more so than even JMRI's app, Decoder Pro, consisting included. It also appears operations are much more streamlined than using our DCC handhelds, although we can also always fallback to our DCC system promptly in the event of Bluetooth failure. I'm guessing this is already a big hit in HO scale, but the Tsunami2 TSU-4400 is one of the better higher amperage sound decoders available, so marrying it with Bluetooth connectivity and an easy to use UI is likely going to be a big hit in O scale as well. Here's a short video with a loco that has a TSU-4400 installed, using a NCE DCC PH10 wireless system. I think the sound and motor control with the Tsunami's is really good, sound is turned down to about 20%.
John
@jgtrh62 posted:Here's a short video with a loco that has a TSU-4400 installed, using a NCE DCC PH10 wireless system. I think the sound and motor control with the Tsunami's is really good, sound is turned down to about 20%
John
Flippin' Awesome!!! I can't wait for Blunami 4400.
Ron
