emilyan

Guys, must say these were excellent responses - I saved everyone's feedback in a word doc and printed it out so I can absorb it better. I really could not have expected better feedback than this. I'll check and see if I have any other questions in regards to the PFs and get back to this thread. For now, thanks much to Zblj, Blakbird, and aol000xw! As far as SBrick - quite fascinating! I am going to keep my eye on this development and leard the more basic PFs first. However I do hope the SBrick pulls through and I can see myself buying this sometime next year (assuming it takes off and works as advertised). Edit: My remaining debate is whether I should own 2 std. remotes + 1 speed remote vs 3 std. remotes + 1 speed remote. I am pretty set on just going ahead and buying additional 4 IR receivers so I have maximum control over my set.

Hello! INTRO: I am new on this forum but not new to legos. It's been almost two decades since I played with legos (as a kid) and recently decided to invest in several sets (42009, 8110, and 9398) to get some parts to work with. My next step is getting all the power functions I may ever need to build something cool. Let me define "cool" because my goal is make this a hobby where I make my own creations (I think MOC is the name?). I love the idea of remote controlled functions and planning to buy a whole lot of PF parts from lego directly. However, I am still struggling to understand what I will need... Hoping someone with knowledge on the subject of PF can break the parts down for me. How do the PF components interact? Power unit / Motors: How many motors / components can you hook-up and draw power from one power unit? The power unit is 9V - so if its possible to hook-up 2 motors, each motor will be operating at 1/2 the normal power & speed vs when you hook up just 1 motor? How long does the power unit last say if you hook up 1 large motor and let it run until it dies? Any other limitations / things I need to know about the power unit? Cables / Switches: I noticed there are extension cables and switches you can buy - these are only for convenience purposes? My understanding is the switch allows you to control the power source from another location. IR Remote / Receiver: This is the newest part of legos to me (aside from mindstorms) - how do these work exactly? The IR receiver has 4 channels - does this mean you can have a maximum of 4 IR receivers (and thus control a maximum of 4 motors)? One IR remote can switch between all 4 channels - is there any reason to get multiple remotes? Is there ANY reason to get more than 4 IR receivers for the purpose of building ONE custom model?... so having a 5th IR receiver on one model is basically useless?.. please correct me if I'm wrong! As far as remotes, I notice there are 2 types: IR Remote Control IR Speed Remote Contros What is the difference between these two remotes?? Are both necessary for someone interested in building various controllable functions into a model? Are both remotes V2 and work with the IR receiver (which is also V2)? My understanding of the two remotes is this: The basic IR Remote controls power source On/Off and rotation direction. The speed IR Remote controls power source On/Off, rotation direction as well as rotation speed (slow,med,fast) As far as getting these PFs, my plan is this (please let me know if I am missing something or getting too many receivers/remotes): buy 4 IR receivers buy 2 basic remotes and 1 speed remote buy 2-3 switches and extra cables buy any additional motors I may ever need Sorry this post is so long! I am hoping I can close all the gaps in my understanding of PF components in one thread. Thanks so much, -Emilyan