The Versatile Revolution TE System  

I’m a strict track-power kind of guy. I put down my first G scale brass track about 5 years ago and after a short period of time, bought my first Aristocraft 27Mhz Train Engineer remote control system with trackside receiver.  Now, with two brass track loops and one brass track point to point, all controlled by Aristo 27Mhz TEs, I read about the Revolution with slight interest. I liked that it was made for both track power and battery power but until Aristocraft produced their Revolution Trackside unit, I was not interested. I keep my trackside receivers in my shed 35 ft from my layout and I liked being able to control the track power remotely. Nope, I did not need the Revolution system. I was happy with what I had. At least I thought so!

 Reading the forums, I discovered the Revo could handle 5amps continuous power and 8 amps max. I use 5 amp fuses in-line between my trackside units and track, so I began to think I could use the Revo receivers as trackside units. I also read how guys were replacing the 27Mhz trackside receivers in their battery cars with the Revo receiver. I figured I could do the opposite. I also read how easy it was to control up to six sounds or auxiliary functions. I love the various sound features in my sound systems so I quickly became much more interested in the Revo system. It wasn’t long before I had a Revolution system and a 6 pack of receivers on my work bench.

 The Revolution System as a Trackside Controller.

The first thing I did was to replace my three 27Mhz receivers with the Revo receivers. I used the adapter boards that came with the receivers to connect the power from my Elite power supply to the track power connections. I then connected the motor leads to my track wires. Since the adaptor board did not support both ends of the Revo receiver, I used the packing foam to support the 10 pin side of the board. Linking the three receivers and setting them as Cab 1 – Lower Loop, Cab 2 – Upper Loop and Cab 3 – Point To Point, only took seconds.

The Point To Point Track - The start voltage settings and max speed settings work great for controlling the Ariso Auto Reverse unit. I set the start voltage to 25% and the max speed to 75%, which works well for the small locos I run on the point to point. Plus I always know I have the correct polarity for the reversing unit by watching the direction arrows.

The Narrow Gauge Upper Loop - The Revo control settings, such as momentum and start speed, make the Revo a great wireless system for track power control. All of my narrow gauge locos ran smooth with great low speed performance. The PWC power did not cause any noticeable problems with my non Aristocraft locos, although I did not test all brands.

The Mainline Lower Loop - Since I would be using track power for Revo receivers in either locos or control box cars I wanted this track to come up to full power quickly. With the speed steps set to 5 and the start voltage set to the max of 25, the Revo receiver supplied full power to the track in seconds. The Revo receiver has handled three 4 axle locos on this loop without overloading or overheating. All locos ran smoothly with good low speed performance.

 The Revolution System as a PNP Receiver

The first PNP installation was into a GP40. I opened up the loco, pulled out the dummy plug, installed the receiver board, and installed the capacitor board and remote link button. I put the remote link button under the top cover and fed the wire into one of the clip holes, then to the receiver. The capacitor board is recommended when using track power. It helps the receiver run smooth on dirty track. I had made the decision to include the board with all of my installs to help ensure no power problems.  

Setting up the transmitter with the loco type, name and road number went quickly. A little playing and I had the start speed, momentum and reverse delay set up.  

The GP40 ran great with the PNP receiver. An added bonus I did not expect was the headlights remained off until I applied start voltage to the loco. At rest, just the cab and running lights were lit. Pretty Cool!!

 The Revo as a Non-PNP Receiver

My 1998 CNJ RS3 did not have the DCC/RC PNP board so this install took slightly longer. After opening the loco I found a plug on the main circuit board with two red wires and two black wires. Two were marked Power and two were marked Motor. Studying the board I realized that power came out of the board through the “Power” wires and back into the board to the motors via the “Motor” wires. I installed a Non-PNP board near this plug using circles of hook & loop material. This board is a separate purchase. It has screw terminals instead of wire leads to make connections which make the install easier. I cut the power wires and connected them to the track power connections of the PNP board. I then did the same with the motor wires, connecting them to the motor output connections on the PNP board. I had previously installed new LEDs for headlights so I found those wires and connected them as shown in the Revo manual.

The capacitor board did not fit under the long hood because of the smoke unit. I cut the board in half and soldered wire jumpers across the cut traces of the board. I was then able to mount the capacitor board as two rows of three caps. This allowed it to be mounted under the short hood. I again fed the plug of the remote link button through a clip hole and down to the receiver. This install took a bit longer and a bit more work than a PNP install but it was still not difficult.

Again, setting up and linking the receiver to the transmitter was quick and easy. By separating the headlight wiring and connecting it to the Non-PNP board I again had cab and marker lights lit by track power and the headlight controlled by the receiver.  

The Revo as a Track Powered Control Car

I use sound box cars rather than installing sound cards in each loco. I decided to try the same thing with the Revo receiver.

I opened a newer RS3 that had the DCC/RCC PNP board. I then went to the Aristo web site and found a DCC/RCC Connector Wiring Diagram under the Technical Support section. Studying the diagram and notes I found that pins 1&2 and pins 11&12 were for power connections. Pins 3&4 and 9&10 were for motor and headlight connections. The power, motor and headlight pins were connected by a circuit board trace on the dummy plug. While I had track power pick ups in my sound box car, I wanted to also pick up power from the RS3.  So, I cut the traces between pins 2&3 and between pins 10&11 on the dummy plug. Leaving the Track/Battery switch in the track position, the factory installed MU connector would supply track power from the loco to the box car.

The next step was to solder another MU connector, with a female end, to pins 3&4 and pins 11&12 after running the wires in from the area of the coupler.

This set up allows me to run the loco on track power just by connecting the male and female MU connectors.

With the loco wiring complete, I opened the box car and installed a NON-PNP board and receiver, again using hook & loop material. I drilled a hole in the floor of the box car behind the area for the body mount coupler. I ran two MU connectors, one male and one female to the Non-PNP board. The female MU wires were connected to the track power connections on the board and the male MU wires were connected to the motor output connections of the board. I also installed the capacitor board and connected it to the receiver. I tried using a reed switch mounted on the floor for linking the RX. It did not work well so I drilled a hole in the floor and mounted the push button for linking facing down.

The power inputs of my sound card had been wired to track power. I now moved them to the motor outputs of the receiver. I plugged in the auxiliary wiring harness and ran the wires to various sound trigger terminals of the sound card. I wired auxilary functions 5 and 6 to pins 4 and 6 of my Phoenix 2K2 board so I could control the sound volume with the Revo transmitter. More cool!!  

I connected the control/sound box car to the RS3 using the MU connectors, programmed the transmitter and linked the receiver. I powered up the track, hit the forward button on the transmitter and the loco slowly moved forward with the appropriate diesel sounds coming from the box car. Pressing the 1-4 keys played the various sounds like bell and manual horn. Keys 5 and 6 controlled the sound volume. By having the receiver in the box car with the sound board I have full control over both the sound board and the loco.

Very Versatile!

I had now used the Revolution receiver successfully in four completely different installations, all using track power. The receiver worked as a PNP unit, Non-PNP unit, in a control car and as a trackside power controller. The ease of programming, controls, and  features of the 2.4Ghz Revolution TE system have allowed me to move to a new way of running my trains. It has proven to be a versatile receiver, capable of several types of track power installations. 

I thought I was happy before but now I am very happy!!