Record / Playback accuracy

Only using a 18x8 loop, I found the sensor track to be pretty accurate. I set it up to stop under the water tower every 2 loops. It stopped within an inch every time. 

I had no incline / declines. So I can't comment on how that would effect anything. Not sure the sensor track makes it any more accurate. The Legacy base sees the sensor track as just another remote in a sense sending command to it. 

For what it's worth, I played a lot with the Sensor Track and found it to be very reliable as long as you enter the Sensor Track in Play Back at the same speed you Recorded the program. I did not compare with the Record/Playback feature on the Legacy remote to the Sensor Track.

As long as you maintain the same speed when you enter the Sensor Track (ST) in playback as you did in record, all the stops will be very close on, if not dead on. If you Recorded the program at a slow speed, but then you hit the ST at a higher speed, the stop positions will not line up.

I know others will have more info on this than I do.

RAY

Good point Ray. I think what improves the accuracy is that a stationary point that recorded the sequence is triggering the playback. No human intervention. 

Playback definitely will be affected by the speed entering the track. I always use a RR speed to set that entry speed and typically if I'm running it as a loop set the same RR speed as the last recorded command. 

Wouldn't the speed selection be part of the recording???

meaning that you just have to ensure that the loco is parked in an exact starting spot and then start the recording and select a specific speed.

Or am i missing something?

GRAZ, 

The ST does, in fact, recognize the speed of an engine as it passes the sensor during the RECORD session. But think about playback, if the engine hits the ST at a higher speed then what was recorded, the engines will have to coast down to the RECORDED speed, which may take several inches depending on how fast it hit the ST.

So if you have RECORDED a stop sequence, say a station, the engine will travel beyond the spot that was recorded because of the coasting effect that was required to slow the engine down to the correct RECORDED speed. 

In playback mode, it's the time it takes to bring the engine speed down, or up, to the RECORDED speed that would effect other features you program into the sequence, such as stopping, horn blowing, reversing, etc.

Hope this makes a little more sense.

RAY

It sounds like you guys are describing a recording session that is started once trains are moving.

I'm still not getting why there would be a variation if the recording was started when the loco was at a standstill. As long as you have it in the same spot when you do the playback, it should have the same increases and decreases in speed as it did during the recording session because every input is being recorded.

graz posted:

 

It sounds like you guys are describing a recording session that is started once trains are moving.

I'm still not getting why there would be a variation if the recording was started when the loco was at a standstill. As long as you have it in the same spot when you do the playback, it should have the same increases and decreases in speed as it did during the recording session because every input is being recorded.

It will.  The only variation is how fast a locomotive may get to speed from a stop.  Load will have an effect.  Accuracy of the starting position etc.  But you're correct.  It should be the same.

If you have more than one of the sensor tracks, can you record the second sensor in your recording, and if so, will it adjust the timing around when the train passes that second sensor.  For example, if you had an oval of track with a sensor track on each end and recorded a simple set of instructions just to blow the whistle as you pass the second sensor, would the playback blow the whistle a set time after passing the first sensor where the recording started, or will it only play back the whistle blow when passing the second sensor, if you manually lowered the throttle  or some such that would interrupt the timing?  

JGL

JohnGaltLine posted:

If you have more than one of the sensor tracks, can you record the second sensor in your recording, and if so, will it adjust the timing around when the train passes that second sensor.  For example, if you had an oval of track with a sensor track on each end and recorded a simple set of instructions just to blow the whistle as you pass the second sensor, would the playback blow the whistle a set time after passing the first sensor where the recording started, or will it only play back the whistle blow when passing the second sensor, if you manually lowered the throttle  or some such that would interrupt the timing?  

JGL

 

Only one SensorTrack can record at any given time. Otherwise, you could be recording the same operating commands into multiple tracks, which would almost certainly not yield the intended result. However, you may make separate recordings into two or more tracks and these can playback at the same time (more accurately, they could overlap if a triggering engine passed over the second while the first was still playing back a longer recording). 

>if you manually lowered the throttle  or some such that would interrupt the timing?  
Nothing you would do with your remote would change the timing of a SensorTrack playback.

graz posted:

 

I'm still not getting why there would be a variation if the recording was started when the loco was at a standstill. 

SensorTrack features are triggered by a moving locomotive, not a stationary one. You can certainly create a custom recording during which the engine comes to a stop of a short or long period of time, but the beginning of a new recording or the playback of an existing recording is triggered by a passing locomotive.

I think most of the question and information about using the Sensor Track can be found in the User/Owner Manual which can be found on the Lionel site. The Sensor Track number is 6-81294. 

JGL: If one has a single loop of track and a ST placed opposite of each other. The first ST can record a whistle blow, say at a road crossing, each time it passes the first ST, provided that this whistle blow is BEFORE the second ST. Then the second ST can be programmed to do something else, ring the bell, make an announcement, stop the engine, etc as long as this is done before reaching the first ST.

RAY