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Positioning of the RC receiver and aerial are where I departed from the Roundhouse instruction sheet. The suggested position for the receiver is on the footplate to the right of the boiler behind the on/off switch. I wanted minimum aerial length inside the loco body and maximum length outside to help reception in cuttings and round the back of our aluminium greenhouse! To do this, I wanted to mount the receiver under the roof adjacent to the battery holder. Unfortunately there would have been insufficient clearance above the gas tank for the roof to close! My solution was a right angle mounting bracket made from .32 aluminium sheet. The bracket is held place under the battery holder by outdoor strength "Sticky Fixit" tape, and by one of the battery holder countersunk bolts. |
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When the roof is closed, the bracket positions the RC receiver against the cab back between the two rear spectacle plates. When the roof is opened the bracket swings up and clears the cab side, giving easy access to the crystal and various sockets. The roof becomes a self-contained module which can be detached easily, as all leads are attached by means of plugs and sockets. The receiver has a discrete power-on LED that can be checked whether the roof is open or closed, if confirmation of on-board supply is needed. |
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Just a couple of centimetres of aerial lead are inside the loco body. The remaining aerial wire is configured as a spiral on the cab roof. The exposed aerial will be covered by a non-conductive card sheet held by "Sticky Fixits". The roof and cover will then be sprayed with several coats of auto matt black acrylic to disguise the cover and make it weatherproof. As I write this I realise I missed a trick!! If I had found a way to also mount the on/off switch under the cab roof alongside the battery holder, the supply leads could have been made extremely short and only the two servo leads would have needed to attach and run to the rest of the loco from the roof module. |
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On to Lady Anne RC
Conversion (5) |
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The photographs and text on this page are copyright (c) Paul Backhouse 2004 and may not be reproduced or distributed without the owner's permission. |
