skaako

I manged to do it with a Technic Axle Pin by cutting the pin in half and fitting inside a PF Train motor. The result is quite good and with the new PF motors it is much more easily installed as the motors can be disassembled without causing permanent damage to the casing.. I really like the look with the PF motors as all the wheels match nicely.. I have also run a few 9V motors with this modification done for many years without any noticeable wear. In order for the pin to rotate smoothly cut in half and then file back until it can turn freely.. i add a small drop of silicone to keep it lubricated. Looks better with the end painted black too :) Oversized images removed by moderator. Please see site guidelines re. image posting. (Sorry for that.. i have re-sized the images) thanks -TB

Hi, i've actually tried this and it can be possible with a bit of modification.. The gears are exactly the same as the 9V so can be interchanged, also the motor is the same dimensions as the 9v but... the electrical contacts are in a different postion so they would need to be modified.. plus the diameter of where the motor sits into the plastic is slightly larger on the PF motor.. so the plastic would need to be cut back on the 9V plastic a little. The manufacturer is Hai Po Motors in China but i think the Lego motor must be a special order as there are no twin gear motors listed on their site, but they do have similar sized DC motors listed that are single gear. I was thinking of using the PF as a way of replacing old burnt out 9V motors, and as the gearing is the same there is a possibility that these newer motors have slightly more power than the ones in the 9V motors.

Hi again :) My sensors have arrived and i have made a few small programs in LB to test the sensors. There are 2 links below that shows the source code.. one program is just to read the values from all inputs.. and the other is for testing the rotation sensor. For the rotation sensor i used a 9V motor (Newer type) set to the lowest speed from Port A output. At this speed it can read all steps, at the next speed it misses 1 or 2, above that it misses too many to be reliable. I think this is more of a limitation with the sensor. I think for reading the sensor, using the Value from the port and the lowest bit from the second byte.. this bit seems to show 0 when the reading is stable. Feel free to ask any questions.. i didn't put many comments to describe the program. Read Inputs Rotation Sensor Test

Hi, yea i've tried using these servo's too with some success. I got them from a model airplane seller here for under $10NZ ea. They worked well with my old unmodified 9V switches quite well.. but when it came to brand new RC switches it would only switch to the straight track, to the curve it couldn't do it without a bit of help. Also i noticed how much strain is put on the housing. I managed to fit it inside 3 hollowed out 2 x 4 bricks by removing the small screw tabs on the servo, however the base didn't have enough grip to hold it in place, i had to increase the size of the housing but then defied the goal of keeping it small. I'll put some pics on brickshelf when i can. Also when modifying the switch for less friction you dont need to file anything, just use a pair of long nose pliers and squeeze the friction part together, this way the switch remains technically unmodified.. still kinda pure

Yea, the interface B is the later 9V control lab.

I know it's possible to open the black connector with a good thin flat screwdriver under the tabs and pry it open, i've never opened a grey track connector to be able to say though. The cable are easy to join once you get inside, they just push down onto the metal clips without needing to solder or anything.

Awesome design and detail I really like the chilled section.. looks great!!!

That's the same here in New Zealand.. about twice the price and then get stung with $80 for shipping. That's very true.. Even if TLG re-released them in a brown paper bag without instructions i would still jump at the chance to get hold of a Cafe Corner

Wow, thats cool.. i didnt even know there was an interface A until now. Now i know why the interface B is called the interface B Yea.. More pics would be great

There a many really good designs out there, just be patient searching and you'll find something suitable

I'm not convinced that its commercially viable at this stage anyway, the biggest challenge being that the switching track still needs to be modified for it to work. And if you are willing to modify the track yourself, then you're probably more inclined to build the motors and housing by yourself too. And besides, its more fun to do

Sorry to say, the printing on the ones that came with my set were really transparent, overall though the pieces are quite good quality in comparison to other brick manufacturers. And the bogies, wheels and couples are quite well made too. I think i would be laughed at if i took my enlighten train to the local police office and ask them to slap the cuffs on Although i do agree the company that produces Enlighten clearly do copy Lego designs, i believe the intended market was not aimed at those who would or had the ability to purchase the original Lego products. China has a big enough market of its own to not need to rely on the western world for sales of building toys. Some countries in asia have no direct way of purchasing Lego, no Lego Shop at Home, no Lego in stores, if their only option is to buy a product that is available to them, then they will. If Lego can find a viable market in these countries then the other companies producing bricks have given them an introduction to the market, and then Lego can show to that market their product is more superior in design and quality. I agree too.. Very well said :)

Hi again :) Yea i'm pretty sure you can download the software free.. i think the free version doesn't let you compile programs as standalone programs but you can execute them from within the software no problem. It has no problem running with Windows XP or 7 with comm ports too. Let me know if you find it useful. And yea sure you can use the source code if you like :) Heres a link to their website

I originally wrote it in Liberty Basic 4 so will probably stick with this.. i dont really do too much programming so i find this easy to get back into after a long time away from it. Its set up really nice for serial comms and really quick to write programs.

Thanks too :) It made me decide to finish what i started, which was a motorized gantry crane. I got to the point of being able to control it with the Dacta CLI by using the computer keyboard to move the 2 axis plus the gripper.. and then got too busy with other things. I also added a variable resistor to one of the inputs to control the speed of one of the motors to test the inputs worked correctly. I would have really liked to automate it with rotation sensors and touch sensors for limit switches.. when the sensors arrive i'll have to get started.. maybe i can finally finish it :)

You're welcome mate :) I actually decided to order some rotation sensors and a temp sensor off bricklink to try myself too.. i always wanted to get it working with the control lab but never got round to getting them in the past. From looking at the info from the rotation sensor i think it wouldn't be too hard to get it working with some decent resolution. I have figured from the data that the status bits are not really required as the 10bit value contains the different voltage levels from the sensor indicating each quarter turn. 100% 75% 35% and 50% for steps 1 to 4. However the first status bit is handy as it looks like it goes to 1 as the sensor is in its transition phase.

Hi again, i emailed Anders Isaksson, the author of the site and he gave me the new link to the information found here at http://blockcad.net/dacta/

Hi, i didn't get the chance to look on the other computer yet but i managed to find a program i wrote for reading the inputs. Its been a while but luckily i left enough notes in the code to find may way around again - The program loops and checks the com port until 19 bytes are available (These 19 bytes contain all the data from the inputs) (In the program i only used input 0 which is contained in bytes 13 and 14) (Byte 13 contains the 8 most significant bytes of the 10bit value, in byte 14, the 2 most significant bytes are the 2 least significant bytes of the 10bit value) ie Byte 13 Byte 14 = Input 0 00000000 00xxxxxx MSB LSB (of 10bit value) - Convert and add the bytes together to get the value of the input. I hope this helps

Hi again :) Yea i'll dig up the info i got when i was working on this last year.. its on my other computer so i wont be able to get for a day or two.. i see the site is down from where i got my info from but i think i made a copy of the info on my computer. I hope it will help :)

Hi, it sounds right but only 2 bits are used from that first byte 0f ff = 00001111 11111111 so i think it just uses the first 2 bits. and the value will convert to 1023 ie 11 11111111 in binary or 3h ffh in hex.

I found reading a sensor such as the light sensor was not too hard.. i also hooked up a variable resistor and used that to make sure i was converting the data correctly. I still havn't got a rotation sensor to try with it yet though. As i remember there are 2 bytes.. one has the 8 lower bits.. and the other byte has 2 bits that make up the 10 bit resolution.. i cant remember exactly how it goes but its something like this.

When i get the time i would like to build my own version of an IR transmitter for PF that is compatible with the HiTechnic devices blocks. I wasn't aware their IRLink was so under powered. You're right, it would be best for it to have it's own power connection, and i was thinking of making it so multiple IR LED's can be connected so they can be placed in various locations around the layout, i.e. in tunnels, blindspots etc. I think the cost to integrate Bluetooth with PF would cost too much for TLG as the IR PF trains are really quite adequate for their intended market. And i'm guessing that with using IR it avoids costs for TLG in gaining approvals as they would need if it was an RF or Bluetooth device, the same as how there is less toy regulations for a battery powered device compared to a plug-in device. And of course IR is much more cheaper to design and build. That would be really cool to see when you have something up and running :) Hi Thorsten, for the IR i will look into making my own device, it will be a while before i get the time for it. For using a phone as a controller, i'm not going to be using a NXT for my own layout but instead using a Bluetooth serial module directly interfaced to my own controller. This controller will have the ability to send IR signals to my IR-PF trains, and it is also connected to a RF transceiver for communications with the RF train (still havn't finished yet), and also control lighting and switching. I still want to make use of RF transceivers in the trains for future uses, currently it is just used to acknowledge that a command is received. So many things still to do

It does look quite good, it will be interesting to see what comes up in the next issue. Although it would have been helpful if they said if the motor can be continuously run or not, i'm guessing it can be.. but just guessing. With looking at this design i don't think it has that problem derailing, as it still uses the spring mechanism inside the switch to allow the train to pass when it is switched to the siding. Thanks Oggy Although i'm still in pursuit of finding a better motor that can be used without having to reduce the friction in the switch. Thanks again

Yea that looks really cool with trans-black. I agree.. With the side panels trans-black would really look the part

Thanks Railbricks!!! I always look forward to the latest issue. Keep up the great work