meesje

How to set up double 60197 with two motors running

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I am thinking of making one train of two Lego 60197 sets. Of course I can drop the second powered up hub/motor. In this video I saw that it is possible to operate two hubs/motors with one controller. As a test I connected the 60198 and 60197 (both on port A) with one controller successfully. However how can I manage that the second motor is not running forward? When both motors are running forward the train will not move. ;-) Do you have any idea how to manage that when pressing the plus button (port A) on the controller the first motor is running forward and the second backward?

Edited by meesje

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Of course that's possible. However I have done a test with combining the 60198 with the 60197. When the train was running slowly, the wagons were uncoupled (f.i. in a 90 degree corner) because the magnets are not that strong.

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You can open the motor and solder the wire vice versa. Thats what I did with a PF motor for my double Horizon Express. I case of the 60197, it seems it is doable to drive a double version with 1 motor. Skip one coach and add jacobs boogies:

 

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You can either turn the motor physically around (and change it with the other wheels) or you can make a custom control configuration in the powered up app.

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In the video, one of the engines had its motor turned around and changed positions with the other bogie.

Another way is to make an extension cable that flips the c1/c2 wires around so the motor go opposite of what the hub tells it to.

 

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How do I make extension cables? Is the plug a standard plug wich can be ordered somewhere? I need extension cables to reduce the number of hubs (bloody bluetooth unscalability) needed for sensors and switches in a BAP setting.

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1 hour ago, TuxTown said:

How do I make extension cables? Is the plug a standard plug wich can be ordered somewhere? I need extension cables to reduce the number of hubs (bloody bluetooth unscalability) needed for sensors and switches in a BAP setting.

I ordered the parts from AliExpress and made my own.  You'll need to order both the grey female socket and the black cable with "crystal" connector.

They work fine for me, but the crystal connectors seem to be veeeeeeeeeeery slightly larger than the official Lego ones.  They insert into the socket fine, but require a bit more force to remove than the official Lego connectors.

I made this circuit board to hold the socket and cable.  Cost me only $1.25 for three boards.  OSHPark is an American company so I'm not sure what the economics would be for you to order boards from them to Europe, but I will try to post my board files on Github later today so you can use any manufacturer you want.

This design is a straight-through extension.  If you wanted to reverse the polarity, you'd simply swap the M1 and M2 wires when soldering the cable to the board.

 

I've also designed this splitter to easily connect two train motors to one hub port, with jumper wires to select whether they should run in the same direction or opposite.  However, I just ordered the boards yesterday, and won't receive them for a few weeks.  So this design is untested, still.

Edited by TrainDragon
Further clarifications

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@meesje In the video you posted, you can see that one of the locomotives the motor is on the front, and on the other its on the back. Both motors are running in the same direction, but he's turned the motors around.

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Use the PoweredUp App and connect your Controller and hup to it. Then you can do exactly what you want without turning the motor, soldering anything and so on. Look into the Powered Up Thread. I created a PoweredUp app doing exactly this.

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23 hours ago, *thomas* said:

Not the answer you're looking for, but can't you just use one motor?

I think that's possible. I have tested running the 60197 with the wagons of the 60198. When the speed is not too slow, everything is okay. However when speed is a little slow then the wagons are uncoupled in for example a 90 degree corner. A solution will be the Jacobs bogie which is also looking very nice!

23 hours ago, TuxTown said:

You can open the motor and solder the wire vice versa. Thats what I did with a PF motor for my double Horizon Express. I case of the 60197, it seems it is doable to drive a double version with 1 motor. Skip one coach and add jacobs boogies:

 

I indeed saw a video of how to open the motor and change the cables. For me that's a bridge too far. I will consider the Jacobs bogie.

23 hours ago, Tcm0 said:

You can either turn the motor physically around (and change it with the other wheels) or you can make a custom control configuration in the powered up app.

Changing position is indeed the trick!

Since the latest update of the PU app you can indeed create a custom config. Although I prefer controlling the train with the white controller.

However it's very nice what can be established with the new PU app. Also see this video of racingsbricks: https://youtu.be/BNNHfuEImqo

 

21 hours ago, dr_spock said:

In the video, one of the engines had its motor turned around and changed positions with the other bogie.

 

15 hours ago, Mr Hobbles said:

@meesje In the video you posted, you can see that one of the locomotives the motor is on the front, and on the other its on the back. Both motors are running in the same direction, but he's turned the motors around.

I did not see that! I think changing position is the easiest solution, for me... ;-)

11 hours ago, Elphiel said:

Use the PoweredUp App and connect your Controller and hup to it. Then you can do exactly what you want without turning the motor, soldering anything and so on. Look into the Powered Up Thread. I created a PoweredUp app doing exactly this.

See my comments above (racingbricks video).

Edited by meesje

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Well read again. You want to control, your train with one + and on - button of the white controller. Thats what you can do with the powered up app. You don't use the app as controller. You use the white lego controller, jsut that the apps translates your buttons to multiple motors in any directions you want. you cnonne ct the white controler and the hub with its two plugged on motors (or even another hup with more motors) to the app. and then you write a program where hitting the + button on your white remote starts every connected motor to run at your desired speed in your desired direction.

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@ElphielMy apologies, I thought you can only create a custom controller in de PU app (as shown in de racing brick video). Apparently you can also 'program' the behavior of the buttons and the motors. This means the PU app should always be active (a mobile device should be in range), correct? I will give this a try.

Edited by meesje

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@meesje That's correct, unfortunately in such a configuration you have to leave the mobile device on and the PUP app running to use the "reprogrammed" controller. But you can just plug it in and set phone not to go on standby if you need to run it for long periods. :)

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On 4/24/2020 at 7:08 AM, meesje said:

Of course that's possible. However I have done a test with combining the 60198 with the 60197. When the train was running slowly, the wagons were uncoupled (f.i. in a 90 degree corner) because the magnets are not that strong.

Flip your car 180 on the track and it won't decouple.  I've noticed this alot with the new magnets just flip them to the other direction and normally they are fine

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On 4/25/2020 at 1:17 AM, Elphiel said:

Use the PoweredUp App and connect your Controller and hup to it. Then you can do exactly what you want without turning the motor, soldering anything and so on. Look into the Powered Up Thread. I created a PoweredUp app doing exactly this.

Danke schön Elphiel!

The design created by Elphiel works. Got 2 x 60197 running controlled by my iPhone. I used a simplified version of the codingdesign to get the hang of it, but dont be discouraged by all the buttons and options in the app. To be more precise the description is on page 25 in this thread

I started with just the stuff marked with a orange rectangel which send a start signal to both engines with a predefined speed ... and nothing more. The rest of the drawing is a more gracious start, stop and controllermanagement instead of the mobile phone etc.

 

60197x2.jpg

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On 4/24/2020 at 12:08 PM, meesje said:

When the train was running slowly, the wagons were uncoupled (f.i. in a 90 degree corner) because the magnets are not that strong.

Re weak coupling magnets, a common problem due magnetic poles in the two magnets are out of alignment with each other.

The magnets can shift  / rotate inside the coupling housings

Rotate one coupling relative to the other one it is connecting to until you feel the pull get stronger, the magnets need to have their poles aligned for full strength.

Edited by Doug72

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