ovgrs - Radio Control - 2.4 GHz Revolution Train Engineer

This article details how to install and program the new Crest Revolution 2.4 GHz Train Engineer, hereafter referred to as the 2.4 GHZ TE.

The latest Installation and Operation Manual for the 2.4 GHz TE is available on the Aristo-Craft web site as an Adobe pdf file. To read or download the manual, click on the link. If the information provided here differs from the on-line manual, the manual should take precedence.

A GP-40 diesel will be used for this article, but the installation and programming should be similar for any Plug and Play locomotive.

REMOVING THE SHELL

Place the locomotive upside down on a soft engine cradle taking care not to damage the horns.

Turn the locomotive over and lift the shell from the frame from the back to the front. The long hood, cab and short hood will all come off as one piece. Set the shell on the engine cradle beside the frame taking care not to damage the horns. Fasten the ten screws back in the shell so they do not get lost.

INSTALLING THE RECEIVER

Remove the 12-pin dummy plug from the front of the Plug and Play port and insert the 2.4 GHz TE receiver. Straighten the antenna.

QUICK PROGRAMMING THE LOCOMOTIVE

In order to link the transmitter and receiver so they can exchange data to control the locomotive, a unique linking number and cab number must be assigned. These are similar to the frequency and channel numbers used by the 27 MHz and 75 MHz TE systems.

Press gently to remove the battery cover from the rear of the transmitter and insert 3 Alkaline, Ni-Cad or NiMH AA cells. Replace the cover.

Flip the transmitter over and press and hold the power ON/OFF key for a second until the OPERATING SCREEN is displayed.

ASSIGNING A LINKING NUMBER

Press the MENU key. The MAIN SET UP menu will appear and item 1. ASSIGN FUNCTIONS will be highlighted. Push the STOP key to select it.

The ASSIGN FUNCTIONS menu will appear and item 1.a. LINK ADDR will be highlighted. The highest linking number 49 is displayed as the default. As this is the first locomotive to be programmed, linking number 00 was selected by pushing the STOP key to display it. Future linking numbers between 01 and 49 can be selected by pushing either the "<" or ">" LEFT OR RIGHT ARROW keys to move up or down numerically.

Push the "V" DOWN ARROW key to highlight item 1.b. RX TYPE. As this is a locomotive, the ON BOARD default setting is applicable. NOTE: The "<" LEFT ARROW key could be used to select BASE RX for an accessory controller.

Push the "V" DOWN ARROW key to highlight item 1.c. NAME. Use the alpha/numeric keypad to enter a name to identify the locomotive. The data is entered the same way as using a portable phone or cell phone. Road name CN GP-40 was used for this diesel.

Push the "V" DOWN ARROW key to highlight item 1.d. ROAD NO. Use the alpha/numeric keypad to enter a 4 digit road number. Road number 4008 was used for this diesel.

Items 1.e. to 1.l. are optional items. In order to operate and test the locomotive as soon as possible, these functions can be left in their default settings and set later any time the locomotive is stopped.

Press the "V" DOWN ARROW key until item 1.m. LINKING is highlighted. Linking is similar to process used with the 27 and 75 MHz transmitters and receivers.

The locomotive must be either track or battery powered in order for the receiver and transmitter to be linked. An Aristo-Craft lithium-ion battery pack can be connected to the rear MU plug, or the locomotive chassis can be set on a piece of test track with a maximum of 24 volts of power applied.

On the corner of the receiver, there is a small black momentary switch. Press and hold this button, indicated with the red arrow, until the small red LED on the receiver and the locomotive's lights begin to flash.

While the LED and lights are still flashing and item 1.m. LINKING is still highlighted on the transmitter screen, press the STOP key to link the locomotive's receiver and the transmitter.

In a moment the screen will indicate LINKING PASSED and the red LED and locomotive's lights will stop flashing.

ASSIGNING A CAB NUMBER

Press the MENU key. The MAIN SET UP menu will appear and item 1. ASSIGN FUNCTIONS will be highlighted

Push the "V" DOWN ARROW key to scroll down to item 3. ADD MU/SU CAB. Press the STOP key to select it.

Just as each locomotive must have a unique linking number; it must also have a unique cab number. As this was the first locomotive to be programmed the default CAB number 0, the lowest available, was selected. Future cab number from 1 to 49 can be selected by pushing either the "<" or ">" LEFT OR RIGHT ARROW keys to move up or down numerically.

Push the "V" DOWN ARROW key to scroll down to SU (Single Unit). It will have the default Single Unit linking number 49 displayed. Press the STOP key to display 00, the linking number previously assigned to this locomotive. The road name CN GP-40 will be displayed beside it.

If another linking number had been assigned, pushing either the "<" or ">" LEFT OR RIGHT ARROW keys to move up or down numerically, would display the number and road name.

TESTING THE RECEIVER

Press the MENU key twice to return to the OPERATING SCREEN. On the top of the screen it will show the locomotive's road name (CN GP-40) and its road number (4008). In the second row it will show the cab number selected (Cab 0).

If you press and hold the "^" UP ARROW key, the locomotive wheels would start to turn. Pressing the STOP key will stop the wheels.

Turn the power to the locomotive off. Press and hold the ON/OFF key for a couple of seconds to turn the transmitter off for now.

INSTALLING THE SHELL

Remove the ten screws from the shell. Using the removal of the shell instructions as a guide, re-install the shell and the screws taking care not to pinch any wires between the shell and the frame or damage the horns. Re-install the hand railings.

OPERATING THE LOCOMOTIVE

If you are using track power, ensure the power switch on the locomotive is set to track power. Place the locomotive on the track and apply power. The lights may come on, but the locomotive should not move.

If you are using battery power, ensure the power switch on the locomotive is set to battery power. Place the locomotive on the track and plug a battery car into the rear MU plug. The lights may come on, but the locomotive should not move.

Press and hold the power ON/OFF key on the transmitter for a second until the OPERATING SCREEN is displayed.

On the top of the screen there will be a name and road number of a locomotive. If it is not the locomotive under power, use the "<" T or T ">" key to find and display the name and road number of the locomotive.

To the left of the name is a series of four vertical bars indicating signal strength between the transmitter and the locomotive's receiver. On the bottom of the screen in the center there should be an Link OK indication, and a to the right an indication of the transmitter's battery voltage.

Press and hold the "^" UP ARROW key and the locomotive will begin to accelerate. In the center of the screen the locomotive's speed and direction will be indicated. Press the "V" DOWN ARROW key and the locomotive will decelerate.

When stopped, the "<" or ">" LEFT OR RIGHT ARROW keys can be pushed to change direction.

Congratulations! You have installed your first 2.4 GHz Revolution Train Engineer.

OPTIONAL LOCOMOTIVE PROGRAMMING

As previously mentioned, there were a number of optional programming functions, Items 1.e. to 1.l., that were left in default mode. These functions are used to change the running characteristics of a locomotive. They can be changed at any time the locomotive is at a full stop by using the ASSIGN FUNCTIONS menu. Any changes made will be effective as soon as the throttle is used. There is no need to re-link the locomotive.

If the transmitter is not already on; press and hold the power ON/OFF key on the transmitter for a second until the OPERATING SCREEN is displayed. Press the MENU key. The MAIN SET UP MENU will appear and item 1. ASSIGN FUNCTIONS will be highlighted. Push the STOP key to select it.

The ASSIGN FUNCTIONS menu will appear and item 1.a. LINK ADDR will be highlighted.

1.e – MOMENTUM: The rate at which the locomotive will accelerate or decelerate. Adjustable from 1% to 100% in 1% steps, the factory default is 10%.

1.f – DELAY: The number of seconds a locomotive will pause while changing directions. Adjustable from 0 to 5 seconds in 1/10 of a second steps, the factory default is 1 second.

A personal favorite function that allows me to uncouple cars in a spur or siding while switching before the locomotive backs out.

1.g – MOTOR: The direction the motors will normally turn. The factory default is NORMAL, the option REVERSE. This accomplishes the same thing as the NMRA/Large Scale switch in a Bachmann Annie, but with the push of a button. The OPERATING SCREEN has a graphic display showing the direction of travel. When I see a right pointing arrow, I expect to locomotive to move forward.

1.h – HD DIR: This synchronizes the direction of the headlights with the direction of travel. The factory default is NORMAL, the option REVERSE. On my GP-40 I had to select reverse to have the lights function properly.

1.i – HD LIGHT: This turns the headlights on or off. If this locomotive were a trailing unit in a consist, the headlights could be turned off, but the cab light, number board lights, and porch lights would remain on even at a dead stop. NOTE: The change in headlight operation will not activate until the OPERATING SCREEN is displayed.

1.j – TOP SPEED: This sets the top speed as a percentage of its possible top speed. Adjustable from 1 % to 100% in 1% steps, the factory default is 100%. The top speed of the locomotive could be limited in case you were handing the throttle to an unsupervised child holding a cappuccino and a puppy. But it was more likely designed to adjust the top speed of dissimilar locomotives in a consist.

1.k – START SPEED: Thsi adjusts the speed at which acceleration of a locomotive will begin. It is adjustable from 1% to 25% in 1% steps, the factory default is 0%. This is used to adjust the start of dissimilar locomotives that are run in a consist.

1.l – AUX FUNC. SETUP: This is used to choose between a momentary or latching function of keys 1 to 6 on the keypad. These keys can be used to sound the bell, whistle or horn of a sound board installed in the locomotive; or turn a smoke unit on and off. Latching leaves the accessory on until the button is pushed a second time for things like a bell or smoke unit. Momentary would sound a whistle or horn only as long as the button held down. The system includes a plug in cable for 6 different functions.

Press the MENU key twice and the OPERATING SCREEN will be is displayed. Press the # POUND key and the QUICK MENU will be displayed.

Use the "V" DOWN ARROW key to scroll down to STEP SPEED - This sets the speed at which the locomotive will accelerate or decelerate. The settings are adjustable from 1 the slowest to 5 the fastest, the factory default is 2.

Press the MENU key once and the OPERATING SCREEN will be is displayed. On the bottom line of the screen the step speed for the selected locomotive is indicated.

ADDITIONAL LOCOMOTIVES

In time you may add 2.4 GHz TE receivers to other locomotives. As each locomotive requires a different cab number, you may have to change the default number of cab numbers allowed.

Push the STOP key to select it. The number of cab numbers currently available will be highlighted. Use the ">" RIGHT ARROW key to increase the number from the default of 5 cab numbers. I chose 10 cab numbers; a cab number for each of my nine diesels and one cab number to assemble a consist of locomotives.

As time permits, information on how to assemble a consist of two or more locomotives and control them as one with the transmitter will be added.

Comments:

Aristo-Craft did update the firmware for Revolution TE set. The update allows locomotives with 2.4 GHz receivers installed to be grouped as double-headers or consists and run as one, without having to be re-linked. The horn/whistle, bell and lights of each locomotive can be activated separately. Locomotives can be removed from a consist and run independently, without having to be re-linked.

All the running characteristics of a locomotive can also be changed any time the locomotive is stopped, without re-linking.

When I return from the ECLSTS, I will run a couple of dissimilar locomotives on an oval in the basement to test the consist features.

The road name and number are used to identify a particular locomotive on the operational screen of the transmitter so you can run it. You MIGHT be able to change the road name and number, I haven’t tried that, but it would very confusing unless you also changed them on the locomotive.

The updated Installation and Operation Manual has been added to the Technical Section of the Aristo-Craft web site as an Adobe pdf file. It can read on-line, or downloaded and saved or printed for reference.

The words “binding” and “track” have been changed to “linking” and “cab” as they are more familiar terms to model railroaders.

The menu used to assign a cab number to a locomotive has also been changed and is easier to use and understand. The linking and cab numbers are used by the system to transmit data. They are similar to the frequency and channel numbers used on the 27 MHz and 75 MHz TE systems.

I will be updating the article above to reflect the changes made to the firmware and manual.

Did you get the new firmware that allows changing the loco number without having to press the button on the loco?

Thanks

Not yet Ken, as I have not been able to find my soldering iron. I have just finished painting the entire basement, so I should be able to set my train shop back up soon.

But now that locomotives with the new TE installed can be added or removed from a consist without re-binding (re-linking), there really isn’t any need to change the binding number once the receiver has been installed. Set it and forget it.

All the running characteristics can be changed without re-binding. You can use the easy to read menus on the transmitter to change things like the momentum and reverse delay, and see the changes as soon as you push the throttle buttons.

Thanks Paul for your tremendous effort.

Have you installed the magnetic reed switch for binding yet?

From From Marty Cozad [67.142.130.46] - 25/12/08 12:32 PM [76.70.92.43] - 1/8/09 1:23 PM

I was wondering who got to test them. Good job.But my head hurts after all that reading. I'm below a caveman,

Thanks Paul for your work on this. I have placed the order and anxiously await the arrival of this system. Barry

The quickest way to provide battery power for this GP-40 would be to attach a battery car to the rear MU plug. The track/battery power switch under the top cover of the diesel would be moved to select battery power.

It is my intention to remove the receiver from my 40 foot power boxcar and just leave the battery. Instead of the DPDT switch toggling the battery between its charging plug and the 27 MHz receiver, it would toggle the battery between its charging plug and the front MU plug.

When this diesel is later changed to on-board battery power, a DPDT switch and battery charging plug will be mounted under the switch cover in place of the smoke unit. Both the MU plugs will be unsoldered from the power buss on the circuit board inside the diesel, and the wiring for the switch will be soldered in place of one of them. The switch will toggle the on-board lithium-ion battery pack between its charging plug and internal power buss of the diesel, providing power for the receiver just like a battery car does.

I will try to mount the battery pack on the frame under the hood if there is room. If not, one of the weights will be removed from inside the fuel tank, and the battery pack will be mounted in its place.

Dear Paul,

Thank you for this right up on A/C's new Revolution. And thank you for all you've done for the R/C Battery segment of this hooby. I'm really excited about this new system. I am a retired (20 yrs. ago)RF microwave tech. I follow your installation instructions .You do a good job. My question is, where do you put your battery? Do you install your battery inside the engine and plug it into one of the mu cables located out the front or rear of the engine, or is there a trace on the PC board for connecting batteries to? Or do you put batteries in a battery car trailing behind. I'm sure I could trace it out where to insert the battery, but I'm just curious how you do it.

Thanks again

Radio Control - 2.4 GHz Revolution Train Engineer

A WORK IN PROGRESS

INTRODUCTION