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Lionel Signal Lock Criteria?

Quick question to anyone here that's super familiar with Lionel electronics...

The lionel signal uses a 455 KHz carrier on the track and when the amplitude gets too low the trains indicate they are loosing signal lock with flickery locomotive lights. That's pretty straight forward.

However when I try to spoof the legacy base by injecting a 455 KHz CW carrier from my bench-top signal generator, the lights are still flickery no matter what amplitude I dial it up to (even like 20dBm). So that suggests the locomotives are looking for some encoding on that carrier, or a sideband, not just the carrier itself.... Which also suggests that even when the base is idle it's sending out more than just the carrier.

Does anyone have the specification on the 455 KHz signalling? or details on what modulation  / handshakes the locomotives needs to see to indicate signal lock?

Original Post

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