DzieX Posted July 8 Posted July 8 I'm trying to fit battery box to it. Only idea I have saving shape of original model is to remove battery box base, which take precious space. Quote
XG BC Posted July 9 Posted July 9 have you considered tryinf cirquitcubes? the motor and battery from that is super tiny, also controllable via bluetooth. Quote
DzieX Posted July 9 Author Posted July 9 (edited) 9 minutes ago, XG BC said: cirquitcubes I've never even heard about it :D I'll check it out, but to be honest I'm plannig to covnert all my train sets to powered up add some sensors and do some programming. I'm not sure if circut cube can be part of that. But you just gave me idea to try to replace train motor with regullar one :) Edited July 9 by DzieX Quote
XG BC Posted July 9 Posted July 9 https://github.com/mduller/pybricks-micropython-circuitcubes you can programm both the powered up stuff and the cirquitcubes stuff with pybricks, but not sure about sensors (i have gone the other direction as you myself, switching to 9v). Quote
DzieX Posted July 9 Author Posted July 9 (edited) 3 minutes ago, XG BC said: i have gone the other direction as you myself, switching to 9v How did you solve controlling multiuple trains? Edited July 9 by DzieX Quote
The_Cook Posted July 9 Posted July 9 The battery box might fit better in the front of the first truck/carriage rather than trying to squeeze it into the cab/engine. Quote
DzieX Posted July 9 Author Posted July 9 That's right. I've even saw that already built here https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/18919/converting-4559-from-9v-to-powered-up But it takes one of accessories place Quote
XG BC Posted July 9 Posted July 9 1 hour ago, DzieX said: How did you solve controlling multiuple trains? i currently only have one irl train, soon have a second one, when the power pickups from my köf arrive. there are multiple options, either have tracks able to be switched off or i might go dcc (like in model trains) soon. Quote
L-Gauger Posted July 9 Posted July 9 @XG BC I don't own any 9V trains and so haven't yet been able to try it, but I wonder if you could connect a power pickup (either sliders like you are using for the kof II or custom pickups like the ones Fx Bricks is planning to make) to a Power Functions IR receiver. That might be cheaper than buying a DCC decoder, and allow you to control track-powered trains with the Power Functions remote. Quote
XG BC Posted July 9 Posted July 9 16 minutes ago, L-Gauger said: @XG BC I don't own any 9V trains and so haven't yet been able to try it, but I wonder if you could connect a power pickup (either sliders like you are using for the kof II or custom pickups like the ones Fx Bricks is planning to make) to a Power Functions IR receiver. That might be cheaper than buying a DCC decoder, and allow you to control track-powered trains with the Power Functions remote. that is also an option, yes. people have indeed gone that route. depending on what you already have (my dad does h0 scale model train stuff, and he has a spare piko dcc control box laying around that i am fairly certain i could borrow). the decoders are the same price as the pf ir receiver (a normal one, without sound) essentially. Quote
L-Gauger Posted July 9 Posted July 9 @XG BC How interesting... in the retail channels available to me a DCC decoder, even a bargain one, rarely sells for less than USD $100. In contrast the BrickLink price guide says the average price for a "New" PF infrared receiver is about $20 USD, and I see a few used IR receivers selling for less than 5$ USD on BrickLink. Hopefully your different experience comes from DCC decoders being cheaper and not from PF IR receivers being more expensive! Quote
XG BC Posted July 9 Posted July 9 https://www.amazon.de/Lenz-10231-02-Lokdecoder-Standard-Stecker/dp/B01AC4F37I?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1OJFXZJRNZN81 the Decoder itself is 20 bucks here. i havent checked the receivers price on bricklink. the thing that sends power to the rails is more expensive, like 60 bucks on ebay, but you can make one for much less with an arduino. Quote
JopieK Posted July 10 Posted July 10 Even though the experiments I did were years ago, I did not have a lot of good experience with DCC. I found that in general LEGO trains are not that heavy compared to model trains and therefore the connection is less stable. I would also go for an easier option like cirquitcubes. Quote
XG BC Posted July 10 Posted July 10 (edited) i personally dont like battery powered trains, so if i can avoid it in any way, i use 9v. i think what is essential for dcc is to have a big enough capacitor that smoothens out the power. Edited July 10 by XG BC Quote
DzieX Posted July 10 Author Posted July 10 3 hours ago, XG BC said: battery powered trains I like, but only rechargable. I even started to think about charging station for trains, but it's long way to that. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted July 10 Posted July 10 On 7/9/2025 at 1:41 PM, L-Gauger said: I wonder if you could connect a power pickup (either sliders like you are using for the kof II or custom pickups like the ones Fx Bricks is planning to make) to a Power Functions IR receiver. That might be cheaper than buying a DCC decoder, and allow you to control track-powered trains with the Power Functions remote. I suspect you might run into problems from transient disconnections that are long enough to "turn off" the PF receiver but short enough that the train glides over them. So looping in a capacitor or some other energy storage to bridge small interruptions would be critical. Otherwise, the PF receiver would say "stop" when it reset Quote
XG BC Posted July 10 Posted July 10 (edited) yes, thats what model ralways also do, with the capacitor, one of my dads h0 scale models (also a köf) can go like 5cm on its own without power. edit: its appearantly more, see here: https://youtu.be/B9WRJTVZ5fI?feature=shared Edited July 10 by XG BC Quote
L-Gauger Posted July 11 Posted July 11 On 7/9/2025 at 3:44 PM, XG BC said: https://www.amazon.de/Lenz-10231-02-Lokdecoder-Standard-Stecker/dp/B01AC4F37I?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1OJFXZJRNZN81 the Decoder itself is 20 bucks here. i havent checked the receivers price on bricklink. the thing that sends power to the rails is more expensive, like 60 bucks on ebay, but you can make one for much less with an arduino. @XG BC Your saying this made me double-check some retailers for decoders in the U.S.... I'm beginning to think that either I confused DCC sound decoder prices with those of DCC non-sound decoders, or that the supply of basic decoders has become more abundant in the last few years. I've gone shopping a few times for DCC decoders to equip my HO scale Direct-Current trains, and never found anything less than $100, usually closer to $160 or (at the very top of the line) $300 USD. But I just checked one hobby retailer today, and they have an entry-level TCS brand decoder on sale for $19.99 USD (normal price is $35.99 USD...) So retail prices here aren't quite as low as they are for you, but the difference is not as drastic as I thought it was. Also, it's neat that your dad is an HO scale modeler! I got my start in model railroading with that scale, but switched to L scale so I could combine my two childhood interests of trains and Lego. Quote
DzieX Posted July 11 Author Posted July 11 On 7/10/2025 at 11:08 PM, XG BC said: yes, thats what model ralways also do, with the capacitor, one of my dads h0 scale models (also a köf) can go like 5cm on its own without power. Hybird plug in :D Quote
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