tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7108382665458119460.post6060081463281309042..comments2024-03-22T22:30:30.297-04:00Comments on USMRR Aquia Line and other Model Railroad Adventures: Implications of Keep Alive Circuits on Layout Design-Having Cake and Eating it.Berniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14041125155303909803noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7108382665458119460.post-32175311833870692752015-03-27T16:25:46.469-04:002015-03-27T16:25:46.469-04:00Following up on my earlier comment, my Keep Alive ...Following up on my earlier comment, my Keep Alive decoder experiment has been a rousing success. The impact is truly transformative and I am now curious as to how much this feature can compensate for faults in both various design weaknesses, such as pickup on only one side, short wheelbases, and low weight. My blog post on the topic can be found at http://updunesjunction.blogspot.com/2015/03/brass-south-shore-coach-remotoring.html.Steve Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05110351547045693224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7108382665458119460.post-78845184715552730102015-03-14T13:01:16.190-04:002015-03-14T13:01:16.190-04:00Steve Lee has left a new comment on your post &quo...Steve Lee has left a new comment on your post "Implications of Keep Alive Circuits on Layout Desi...": <br /><br />Keep alive decoders have been on my mind lately, too, but for somewhat different reasons. In addition to taking the tedium out of powering frogs, I am particularly curious whether keep alive tech can shortcut a fix to the poor pickup characteristics of many 70s era brass models. Most old brass locos and traction models often have poorly engineered pickups (traction equipment in particular is often underweighted, and short-wheelbased trucks balk on unpowered frogs and gaps just like your 4-4-0s). <br />In the past the fix has been to add pickups and weight--sometimes deceptively difficult tasks. I'll soon be experimenting with keep alive tech to see how much it mitigates the electrical pickup problems in these older models. To that end, there's a TCS Keep Alive decoder on my workbench right now that I intend to wire into my current brass repowering project (a South Shore MU car) for testing. I'll post results on my blog soon. <br />Steve Lee | http://updunesjunction.blogspot.com Berniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14041125155303909803noreply@blogger.com