Hello John,

Thank you for the follow up post. Much appreciated. We're glad to hear that all of the original issues have been resolved.

>Some of the things learned are that a "keep alive" system is necessary to compensate for power interuptions when operating on a club layout., mainly in turnouts.

"Keep alive" is certainly an option here. However, we would suggest you take a look at 'FAQ -> Troubleshooting -> 01'. It would be great to review the following couple of things:

1. Are all wheels (on both sides) picking up power? Try the "continuity" test with your multimeter between each wheel of either side.

2. Does the locomotive tend to tilt on one side while going over a turnout such that there is a temporary loss of connection of ALL the wheels with the rails? The locomotive will keep going due to its momentum and immediately get power again soon enough to completely disconnect (it may actually even disconnect at slow speeds). Running at slow speed will be a good experiment to observe this. The wheels should be "free" enough that if one set "dips" in the turnout, the others keep the power going.

>...found that using a 3 W 4 Ohm baffeled speaker did not produce an adequate sound level.

Try getting a larger speaker with more "sensitivity". More importantly, make sure the baffle (speaker box) is good.

>18 VDC would have been prefered...

Another advantage of using LocoFi™. Run at a variety of voltages!

Again, thank you so much for the follow up writeup. It clears up things a lot! Eagerly looking forward to the 3-rail test!

Best regards,

LocoFi™ Team

Some of the things learned are that a "keep alive" system is necessary to compensate for power interuptions when operating on a club layout., mainly in turnouts.

Since a steam sound package is not avilable the diesel sound package was used as a baseline and found that using a 3 W 4 Ohm baffeled speaker did not produce an adequate sound level. Between the noise of the open frame motor and drive train of the locomotive it drowned out the engine sound coming from the speaker. Horn sound level was marginal. Bell sound level was OK.

The club layout operates on clean 12 VDC and it apperared it was not adequate for this old style locomotive. 18 VDC would have been prefered and the locomotive would have performed better. Throttle was at 3/4 position to get the locomotive to move and at full throttle at 34 mph track speed with no cars attached to the locomotive. Overall the LocoFi system performed perfectly and was able to establish and maintain a local area network with the modified Locofi system and H-bridge located in the brass tender. Previous problem with not being able to establish a local area network in this posting was a fault done by me in the use of the phone.

The next phase is to finish the installation of modified LocoFi system with an H-bridge in a high amp draw, 3 rail, O scale, twin can motor diesel locomotive. After observing how the steam locomotive performed, no problems are antisapated and the diesel sound package with a 3 W 4 Ohm speaker should provide an adequate sound level for club use. The need for a "keep alive" system will probably also be needed for this installation and club use.

One major concern with the 2-rail conversion is that the LocoFi system is located in the locomotive's brass tender.

Great to hear that everything is working as expected. Please keep us posted about your tests with respect to installation in the brass tender.

Can't say if the bridge rectifier was the sole issue or a contributing issue because clean DC power was not used.

It appears that not having clean DC power was the major issue. A bridge rectifier would usually blow up if trying to draw more amps than it's rated for.

THANK YOU !!! LocoFi and Cytron Technologies for your support by providing technical advice throughout the conversions.

You're very welcome, We're glad to hear that things are working well now.

The 2 rail conversion started with a 4 amp bridge rectifier and experienced problems. Can't say if the bridge rectifier was the sole issue or a contributing issue because clean DC power was not used.

Rembering past research on the amount of stall amps various O scale locomotives drew, 1+ amps up to 6.75 amps, plus not knowing exactly what my locomotve's stall amp drew, an 8 amp bridge rectifer and a MD13S H-bridge were installed along with clean 12 VDC power and everything operated A-OK. 4, 6 or 8 amp should work, it depends on the amp draw of your locomotive's motor(s).

THANK YOU !!! LocoFi and Cytron Technologies for your support by providing technical advice throughout the conversions.

Early problems centered around having clean DC power and bridge rectifier size with the MD13S H-bridge.

Using a test stand has shown everything is now working properly on both conversions. Testing will now progress to a large club layout and will center primarily on communications between the Android phone or table and the locomotives. Past experience has showed that a router was required when operating an O scale locomotive, outfitted with LocoFi, on a large club layout. With the latest LocoFi software update, loss of signal and emergency stop, testing +is going to make the evaluation much easier.

One major concern with the 2-rail conversion is that the LocoFi system is located in the locomotive's brass tender. The tender has no openings for the control signals to enter. Modifications may have to be made to the tender's body or an external antenna may be required. Future tests results will be posted ASAP

You have some great successful experience with running battery powered ("deadrail") locos and battery gets you the best possible "clean" DC. If switching to track power, please use regulated "clean" DC or use a "filter" capacitor at the output of your "pulsed" DC power supply. See FAQ -> Troubleshooting -> 02 for more details.

Thank you for that information. One more question.

Does the "TYCO Model 899" output "clean" DC? What's the output voltage and max current?

The colors in the wiring diagram are for illustrative purposes only. The key thing to remember is to interface DIR, PWM and GND correctly. The corresponding colors of the output wires are mentioned in the NOTES section of each invoice. The current color coding is subject to change for future modifications. This is something new and we are not setting standards here (yet). However, we will take a look at revising the wiring diagrams and coming up with a more consistent color coding. Thank you.