This discussion started in another thread, and I thought it should stand on it's own, so I'm starting it here.
The issue is how to control feature of rolling stock based on the locomotive situation or direction of travel. Examples would be untethered subway car lighting, untethered dummy locomotive lighting, etc. I looked around and found these RF transmitter and receiver pairs. The nice thing about this set is it's a learning code pair, so you can pair the locomotive transmitter with the receiver and have it only react to that environment. Another neat feature is one receiver can be trained to recognize multiple transmitters, thus adding to the flexibility. Each transmitter and receiver handles four channels, so depending on the mode of operation, you can control multiple functions, a nice feature as well. Finally, the transmitter/receiver pair are only around $2 a set!
The receiver has three modes of operation, they look to be flexible enough to cover a lot of situations.
- Momentary: This simply activates the receiver channel whenever the corresponding transmitter channel is triggered.
- Toggle mode: This toggles the respective receiver output state for each corresponding transmitter channel trigger.
- Interlocked mode: This activates the selected channel, all other channels are deactivated.
The mode where one channel latches until another channel is triggered sounds like just what we'd need for a simple backup light scenario. The only thing that would have to happen is for a small circuit to send a pulse when the backup light comes on or off. If we're talking about a diesel or electric, the directional lighting can provide the pulse to two channels, one for on, and one for off.
The really cool thing is, if you're talking about PS/2, you could tie into one of the seldom used functions like strobe light and have it do a function at the other end as well.
The receiver and transmitter are each 99 cents, so they're not out of reach.
Mini Wireless 433Mhz RF Remote Control 1527 Learning Code Transmitter Module
Size: 1.8×1.8cm/0.71×0.71in
433mhz Wireless RF Receiver 1527 Learning Code Decoder Module For Remote Control
Size: 28×12.3mm/1.10×0.48in
For convenience, I've attached the captured descriptions.
