Updated my USA NW-2 cow and calf to onboard battery power, GWire receiver with QSI soundcard. I am using the AirWire 9000 for transmitter.
I almost completely gutted the wiring on these locos, eliminated the smoke units and took out the switches that are factory.
I wired the two loco to run combined or individually, depending on need. I used an All Electronics CON-640 6-wire plug between the two for power, motor, directional light or trailcar battery power. this is running 4 motors together as combined unit.
The cow unit has the QSI card and GWire and sound. The power out from motor power goes to cow trucks and through the 6-wire plug back to the calf unit to power those trucks also.
2 more wires in the 6-wire connection feed light power to the calf unit from the QSI board. This way the cow and calf have directional lighting.
Placed the QSI receiver where the cow center weight is suppose to be, put that weight in the parts bin. I put the GWire receiver in the upper cab of the cow by removing the interior, then gluing the receiver to the cab rood and then reinstalled the interior. You cannot see the receiver unless you look for it.
I removed the center weight of the calf unit, put in a little floor and put two Aristo Li-Ion batteries in the calf with a little hot glue, wired that battery power to the cow unit.
I placed the removed center calf weight and put it in the fuel tank below to keep weight.
I also have trailcar battery feed wires (all electronics CON-240) on the long nose of the cow and the light end of the calf, that way I can disconnect the onboard batteries and power feed the unit with other batteries. This gives me the availably to run the cow as a single unit with trailcar batteries or run the combined unit with trailcar batteries from either end or run combined unit with onboard batteries. No dead batteries.
I know the amp output of the GWire/QSI card is only about 3.5 amps, but believe it will do everything I wish to do with it as a yard switcher with no trial car for control. i put the combined unit on my outdoor track and held them statonary untill all 4 motors slipped on the track with thier own weight. i think it will do what I want.
It will also pull my log train around my layout.
KC
