Wondering about MTH and Airwire

G gauge do it all the time.  They typically use an 18-22V battery with an amperage rating to support the run time.  Usually 2 in parallel to get the necessary run time.  The problem you have is getting DCS control.  They use a TIU in a trailing box car with the batteries to run an engine under DCS.  G

One thing that might make wireless/battery DCS more viable is the use of the DCS Explorer unit's internals in a "power car" with the batteries. That would cover 3-volt PS2 and PS3-equipped locomotives. For single engine operation, the price point of the Explorer seems like a viable option.

That is an interesting scenario Matt. I will look into it further. BTW, we talked some time ago, and finally, I have got off my rear end and started to make my layout happen. I ended up going with two loops of Scale 2 rail on one level and a loop of 3 rail on the other. Still in the beginning stages, but I am running trains! Thanks for all your past help and advice. Here is a quick video from YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0lr1_PvCxM

I need to make a new layout update as the layout track wiring is now done and trains on both levels are running great. The biggest part of this was getting all the construction done to the room itself and finishing the bench-work so that I could move on to the fun part

-Todd

 Was thinking the same thing since on my garden railroad there is no electricity. Airwire and battery power is the way that I run. The way to do this would be the Airwire converter and a battery adding about 2 hundred dollars in cost. Airwire doesn’t recommend using track power to run with their system although they say it is possible 

Sorry for the late arrival, but I have extensive experience converting MTH PS-3.0 to Airwire CONVTR60, Tam Valley Depot DRS1 High power, etc. Here are the steps for a steam locomotive:

1. Remove DCS/DCC jumper on board to activate DCC operation. The Airwire T5000 throttle is essentially a wireless DCC throttle. Only the PS-3.0 has DCC capability.
2. Cut Red(Pin1 and Pin 2, if present) and Black(Pin3 and Pin4, if present) wires on the 7 Pin connector going from the tender to the loco and maybe to the tender ground.
3. Shrink wrap the cut ends of the Red/Black wire ends going to loco and ground to insulate them.
4. Connect Red wires going to  Pin1 (and Pin2, if present) and Black wires going to Pin3 (and Pin4, if present) of the PS-3.0's 7-pin connector to DCC outputs of the CONVRTR60. So, the connections are  CONVRTR60 DCC Output A → Red wires going to Pin1 and Pin 2 (if present), and CONVRTR60 DCC Output B → Black wires going to Pin 3 and Pin 4 (if present).
5. Install the CONVRTR60, its antenna, and battery per CVP instructions, which are quite good.
6. After hardware installation is complete, set the DCC address of throttle to 3, the default short address. The default long address is 3333.
7. Set CV17 and then CV18 to provide the correct long address: LongAddress = (192+CV17)*256 + CV18; i.e., CV17 = 192 + INT(LongAddress/256) (INT means round down) and CV18 = LongAddress % 256 (the remainder function).
8. Set CV29=38, which guarantees that CV29, bit 5=1, which activates the long address.
9. Set the throttle to the new DCC address, LongAddress.
10. Press F3 twice to activate the decoder sounds. Or, just start the throttle.
11. F0 headlight/taillight, F1 controls bell, F2 controls whistle, F5 controls lights, F12 smoke on/off, F13 smoke volume (on/off induces the next step).

See my webpage here for more details on an MTH PS-3.0 dead-rail conversion using the Airwire CONVRTR60.