I thought people might like to see the process I went through to get Lionel’s sensor tracks working with my Atlas-O track layout. Last Saturday I drove to my local dealer, Legacy Station, to pick up my order of sensor tracks and cables.
Looking at the spacing of the two sensors on the track I noticed that they fit almost perfectly between the ties of the Atlas track.
I decided to try placing the sensor track under the Atlas track without any modification to either track.
I also wanted to use one on a curved section to see if that would work.
Once I had the tracks installed and connected I turned on the power and saw green lights on both.
The next item I noticed was a note in the Sensor Track manual saying that Legacy command base must have version 1.52 or higher.
Since I did not have a lot of time, and had not yet modified some of my blue Legacy modules so I could program them, I decided to wait until this weekend to finish my experiment.
Today after scoring a nice CNW H12-44 at the Atlanta train show this morning I came back and went to work.
First I downloaded the Legacy System Utility and the Legacy 1.52 software from the Lionel website.
I then took two of my extra blue modules and split the cases to get at the circuit boards.
(see https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...k-modules-for-legacy for the procedure for doing this mod) I cut the second pin from the top right on both chips on each circuit board and then taped the modules back together.
Fortunately I had known some time ago that I would be using a computer for the LCS Utility app with no rs-232 serial interface, so I already had a USB to serial converter that I picked up at Best Buy.
I now unzipped the Utility app and the 1.52 software and started the LCS utility. Following the directions in the manual that comes with the software., I easily upgraded the software on the base and the remote from the app and I was ready to try the Sensor Tracks.
Note that you have to unplug the computer from the Legacy base in order to use the serial connecter with the attached power supply for the sensor tracks. Once the new SER2 module ships you can add that to the chain of new legacy devices and connect your computer to that if you wish to have both connected at the same time.
The first process is to assign an ID to each sensor track. I had trouble with the second one as it would not go into program mode. However it seems to have been a loose connector as after I pulled it out and reseated the plug it worked fine. The plugs do not lock in very well and easily come loose, so make sure they are tight.
I programmed both tracks to send a whistle signal when crossed and you can see the results in the video below. Note that there are three trains on each track but only two on each track are the newer Legacy models with the emitter on the engine or tender. The other engines are either older Legacy or TMCC.
Sensor Track Demonstration Video
As you can see the experiment worked perfectly with no modification to either the Lionel track or the atlas track. I am not sure how I will install them permanently, but for now this setup is just fine.
Note: Be very careful when you are programming the sensor track. It records EVERYTHING including the time between commands. If you do not start your command sequence right after the engine crosses the track it will record any delay you have. Also it is easy to bump the throttle wheel and the first few times I programmed it I had an accidental speed change right after I sounded the horn. Of course you may want that, but it is easy to add unintended commands.
I think the Sensor Track is a very nice addition to Lionel’s product line. I look forward to lots of experimenting with at and the other LCS devices as they become available. I do however believe there are two significant omissions in the current design of the track that I hope Lionel will address in some future version. I noticed that recording modes 2 and 3 require inputs from the remote and causes leds on the sensor track to flicker. This must indicate communication from the Legacy base TO the sensor track. It should have therefore been possible to also send commands to the back to place it in program and record mode. With many sensor tracks on a layout it would be much easier if you want to change actions or change the recording not to have to physically go to each sensor track to start the process.
Enjoy
Fred.
