Legacy Signal Issues

E-mail John Zahornacky (SantaFe) here on the OGR Forum.

If anyone can fix the problem, John can.

Svrappy

Hi

Look for one of these antanas from radio shack.

This solved a lot of problems with radio to recever problems.

 The modulars we have hooked with 12gauge runners and 14gauge drops.

 We got rid of all are problems doing this.

 We are still tring to work out our problems with the MTH.

 We are having problems with radio signal to tiu. if you get to fat you lose the remote. if you are close to tiu it will run the hole layout .

do you have a part number?

Not as severe but, occasional loss of signal for a short time.

Odd, my old TMCC base and remote worked anywhere all the time, I thought the range was improved with legacy?

Having said that, maybe part of its my fault, wi-fi in the basement, and I usually have some sort of cordless home phone or a cell phone on or near the layout, I've heard static corresponding to the quilling whistle opertation while on the phone.

Of course, these things were all in place with TMCC and did not effect its operation.

Sorry I don't have the number for the antaina.

 Works great.

Can't find that antenna on there Web Site, any help? THANKS.

These may not apply, but a there are couple of things to bear in mind concerning the location of the base unit. If it is hidden away under the layout and possibly surrounded by wires and other devices, then the signal will probably be reduced compared to if it is located in an open area above the layout. Also, the signal will probably be reduced if the antenna is touching anything.

"Odd, my old TMCC base and remote worked anywhere all the time, I thought the range was improved with legacy?"

From personal experience in multiple basements, the remote to base range with Legacy is nowhere near the range with TMCC.  Legacy has difficulty transmitting through objects such as walls and the bodies of people.  It might work well while running your layout alone or with a friend but if the basement is full of people (like an open house) it might not work so well.

Here's the antenna we put on the base in Harry's picture.

2.4ghz 9db Hi-Gain Antenna

What is the difference in this antenna vs the Hawking antenna that was recommended awhile back?

I can't say, if you'd point to the thread and post that mentioned it, I could tell you.  I can say that most of these replacement antennas do not have 9dB of gain, which is why I initially selected this one.

Thanks for posting this since last weekend at the Fullerton Train Days I was having a terrible time with the signal on my Legacy unit. Plug in TMCC only and no issue. This should solve it.

Another candidate for the reference material sticky thread?

Hi Texas Eagle, Try changing the Legacy Channel.  Your range should not have decreased on the upgrades, actually it should have greatly improved from V1.4 to V1.5.  LMK how the channel change works out. 

An extension antenna will have some improvement in signal, but our testing shows limited gains with such as the Cab also would need an external antenna to complete the solution.

Until 1.5 came out my Legacy set was basically unusable.   I even tried purchasing a second Legacy set and had the same issue.

Since 1.5 all good.

Jim

Using 1.51, the 9db antenna on the base at the club improved the signal to the point that we no longer have issues in the far end of the room.  It might help everyone, but it's cheap to try and very easy to test.  Before adding the antenna, there was a large dead spot that even moving the base somewhat didn't solve.

This last weekend we tried the new antennae with our legacy base. We were setup in the Austin Amtrak Depot with a very modest 12x18 ft modular layout. Since changing to v1.5 our range shrank 5ft from the base. Using the new antennae our range grew to about 15ft from the base. This is an improvement but it is very modest compared to the improvements when we first loaded v1.3. When we did this you could be 50+ feet away and still communicate with the base with no problems.

We changed the channel many times during our testing of the antennae during our setup. Some channels we lost range at about 10 ft from the base. Some channels we had the loss of signal at 5ft again.

Is there a way to open up the handhelds to put an external antennae on them?

If you're actually saying with the stock antennas you get 5-10 feet in direct line of sight, there is something radically wrong!  You either have a problem with the hardware or there is some interfering 2.4ghz signal close to the layout!

I agree with John, Something is broken in the hardware or there is interference.  Can you try the system at someones house to see if the issue is environmental?

Here is my update to this thread. I ordered two, one for my personal use and one for the Legacy unit that I take to the Orange County Tinplate Tracker setup. I received them really fast and installed one on my home layout. My Legacy sits on the layout but against one wall. With the stock antenna I could lose signal if I started to walk out of the train layout room. Now I can walk several rooms away with no issues. This should be a sticky IMHO.

Thanks again!

We love success stories Jeff, glad it worked out for you.

I talked to Jon Z. at York about the legacy signal problem & his recommendation was to get on amazon.com & get 1 of the 2.4 ghz/9db antennas which is what I did..signal problem solved..thanks Jon! It cost 25 buck plus $7 shipping.

You could have had the 9db antenna I posted for $9.90 shipped free.

The Austin Tinplate Trackers setup this weekend at the TCA Lone Star Division Train Show & Meet. We borrowed a member's legacy base from their home layout and had much better signal reception. I believe now that there must be something wrong with the club's base as y'all suggested and will be sending it off to Lionel for repair.

Thank you all for your help in solving this issue!

OK, so I got this antenna but it is horizontal as my controller is close to the ceiling and not perpendicular.

does this make a different? 

Although I have never encountered any signal issues with my Legacy system, after reading the above posts I decided to see just what difference a better antenna would make.

So, I went on-line and found an EDIMAX 2.4GHz 9dBI antenna at Conrad for €9.99. (It looks just like the one in Phlashgrdon's pictures.)

It arrived today, and I've just installed and tested it.

With the original antenna, I could control my trains from anywhere in my house. With the new antenna, I am able to cross the road and control them from my neighbor's house!  It has tripled the range of my Legacy system.

For an outlay of €9.99 I am one happy camper indeed.

Nicole,

No all you need is your Night Vision Binoculars to be able to see the train from there!

Now that you've increased the range, you need a live TV feed from the cab to your smartphone so you can run the trains from any location.

 Believe it not, I've just done that!  I set my iPad up overlooking the layout, and used Facetime to call my neighbor. Then I took my Legacy remote over to my neighbor and we spent a few minutes watching my trains running around as we enjoyed a glass of wine. 

Now I just need to rig up a remote smoke fluid filling device, and then I can relax and run my trains from anywhere within about 75-100 yards, and still smoke the house out. 

Lionel sells one, but I'll bet it'll be a challenge to line up the stack running through a video!