Loco Remote Mini B Manual

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Loco Remote Mini B setup -!www.locoremote.co.uk!
The Mini B is suitable for 3V to 6V motors only. Any type of battery can power it with a suitable voltage including NiMH, NiCd,
Alkaline, Li-ion and Lipo. The absolute maximum battery voltage for the Mini B is 6V.
The diagram below shows all the models in the series. To identify how to connect to your loco, hold the Mini B with all of the
connectors pointing towards you with the metal USB connector on the top. The word USB is written on the board just to its right.
The USB connector is used to program the module during manufacture. Please do not connect anything to it or try to power your
module this way. It won’t work!
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Connecting the battery
Two battery connection cables are included. One will plug into the white
rectangular battery connector on the module. Make sure the positive
(red) lead is on the left and the negative (black) lead on the right.
Connecting the other way round will destroy both the battery and Loco
Remote module. If you are using a 3.7V (1s) Lipo of the type I
recommend (a 600mAh or 1200mAh Lipo with a mini charger – search
for “Syma X5C battery” on eBay), the other supplied cable will connect
to your battery. The cables can either be joined directly together, in
which case the Lipo battery must be disconnected when not in use, or a
power on/off switch can be inserted between them. If you choose to use Lipos, any 3.7V (1s) Lipo will work with the Mini B. If you
choose one with a different connector style from the one I supply then you will need to source a mating cable that can be connected
to the cable provided that plugs into the module. DO NOT USE other types of Lipo such as 7.4V (2s) or 11.1V (3s), as they will
destroy it!
The standard way to charge the Lipo battery is to remove it from the loco and use the mini charger
supplied with the batteries. The LED is on while the battery is charging and goes off when completed.
Having a spare charged battery also means the loco can quickly be up and running again after the
initial battery runs down. Lipo batteries must be treated with care. If the battery terminals are
shorted or connectors damaged then the battery will be destroyed and could catch fire! If the battery
shows any sign of getting hot or physically swelling in size then it must be immediately disconnected,
put in an open safe place, preferably in a Lipo safe bag and then disposed of appropriately. When
trying a brand new Lipo battery for the first time connect it to the Loco Remote outside your loco and
allow it to discharge until the Loco Remote turns off the power to ensure the battery has no
manufacturing defects. It is strongly advised that you remove the Lipo battery from your loco when not in use and store it in a Lipo
safe bag - search eBay for these. If you are using either 3 or 4 x 1.2V NiMH (AA or AAA size) or 3.7V 18650 Li-ion batteries instead
then you will need to get a suitable cable to connect these. You should also change the Shutdown on low battery setting from On to
Off in www.locoremote.co.uk/v1/settings with these battery types when you first connect to the Wi-Fi interface of the Loco
Remote (see below).
Connecting the motor
A DuPont header connection cable is included. This plugs into the motor connector. Remove the
header from the other end if necessary and solder the cable to your motor lugs. If the loco goes the
“wrong” way in forwards/reverse you can swap the polarity of the cable.
Connecting the LED lights
Two similar cables are included for versions with the LED lights control to connect to the LEDs. The Loco
Remote is not able to supply enough current for other types of lights such as filament bulbs. The board
can supply up to 150mA at 3.3V, which is enough for up to 8 LEDs on at once. Pulling out and then
plugging in the jumper at the back of the board can change the current limiting resistor. Set it at 100
ohms for just red LEDs or 50 ohms for just clear white. For a combination or to vary the brightness set
it at 0 ohms and use external resistors in series with your LEDs. See the separate downloadable lights
guide for more examples.

Connecting an external sound card
You can connect the motor outputs of the Mini B to sound cards including the Mtroniks digiSound 5m series and MyLocoSound
in their automatic modes to get full variable speed engine noise. The sound cards should get their power from a separate battery as
the 3V to 6V battery for the Mini B will probably not be enough. Connect the negatives on both batteries. The External Sound
Triggers versions provide a dedicated connector for the motor input to the sound card as well as 4 triggers. Sound 1, 2, 3 and L (as
supplied) provide a momentary half-second low signal for operating horns, whistles and brake sounds. The Mtroniks only has one
input for this (Aux 2), while the MyLocoSound has several (F1, F2, F3, F4).
Sound L can be changed in the www.locoremote.co.uk/v1/settings from momentary to latch which toggles between high and
low each time it is pressed. The button background goes grey when low. This setting can be used to turn the engine sound on and
off for the Mtroniks sound card Aux 1. Keep the default momentary setting for Sound L for MyLocoSound F6 input to turn the
engine on and off. Connect directly from the Loco Remote sound triggers to the Mtroniks Aux inputs. For the MyLocoSound please
put a 4k7 ohm resistor in series with each of the Fx inputs. Please see the instructions supplied with your sound card for details of
how to set it in its various modes. With the MyLocoSound set the Motion Sensitivity to 4 or 5 to ensure a smooth increase and
decrease in the engine speed sound. Once connected, to start the sound it may be necessary to press the Faster button once in
either automatic or manual sound card mode.
Using the internal sound card
If you have the version with the Internal Sound Card, connect a small 8 ohm speaker directly to the 2 pins marked on the bottom
of the board. To maximise the bass try to mount the speaker in an enclosure in the loco. A cut down toilet roll tube works well! Tap
the 4 sound buttons on the display to operate each sound.
Placement of Loco Remote in the loco
Velcro pads are also included that you may find useful for securing the module in your loco. Attach the hooked part to the loco and
the soft part to the module. Please make sure no part of the Loco Remote module is at any risk of directly touching anything metallic
such as the motor or loco body, inserting something insulating if necessary. Please do not fully cover the module leaving some
of it exposed to the air, as it can get quite warm in use when running at higher speed. Ideally place it on its side with the boards
vertical to help heat dissipation with plenty of space around it. It should never get too hot to touch.!
Wi-Fi Setup – Android
1. Power on the Loco Remote - you should see a single
short blue flash on the top board - do you see this?
2. Tap settings app on the Android phone.
3. Tap Network & Internet.
4. Tap Wi-Fi.
5. You should see a Wi-Fi access point called
loco_xxxxxxxx where the x are numbers or letters, as
well as your home Wi-Fi router and maybe some others
- do you see this?
6. Tap on loco_xxxxxxxx
7. It should ask you to enter a password - you can tap on
the "Show password" box to see what you are entering
- the password is locoremote - all one word lower case.
8. Tap on CONNECT. You should see that is says
"Connected, no Internet" by the loco_xxxxxxxx - do
you see this? Until you see this you are NOT connected
to the Loco Remote.
9. You will probably get a pop up box that says
"loco_xxxxxxxx This network has no internet access.
Stay connected? Make sure you tap the box saying
"Don't ask again for this network" so you get a tick,
and then tap on YES. If you do not do this then your
phone will try to access the Internet over the
3G/4G/5G network and you will lose the controller
window. If this happens you will know as you will get a
message back from the locoremote.co.uk/v1 web site
telling you " Oh dear - you shouldn't be here!"
10. Leave the Wi-Fi settings.
11. Open your phone web browser (the default for the
phone is Chrome).
12. Type www.locoremote.co.uk/v1 in the web address box
at the top of the screen (not in a Google search box in
the middle of the screen.
13. Press enter and the control page should come up. You
may need to refresh it by swiping your finger down the
screen and releasing it once - do you see this?
Wi-Fi Setup – Apple iPhone
1. Power on the Loco Remote - you should see a single
short blue flash on the top board - do you see this?
2. Tap settings app on the Apple phone.
3. Tap Wi-Fi.
4. You should see a Wi-Fi access point called
loco_xxxxxxxx where the x are numbers or letters, as
well as your home Wi-Fi router and maybe some others
- do you see this?
5. Tap on loco_xxxxxxxx
6. It should ask you to enter a password. The password is
locoremote - all one word lower case
7. Tap on Join. You will see a whirling circle that should
turn into a blue tick by the name. (On newer iPhones it
will also say "Weak Security". Ignore this as you are
not connecting to the Internet so it is not relevant) - do
you see this? Until you get a blue tick you are NOT
connected to the Loco Remote.
8. Leave the Wi-Fi settings.
9. Open your phone web browser (the default for the
phone is Safari).
10. Type www.locoremote.co.uk/v1 in the web address box
at the top of the screen (not in a Google or other
search box in the middle of the screen).
11. Press enter and the control page should come up. You
may need to refresh it by hitting the circular arrow in
the top right of the screen - do you see this?
12. After connecting to the Loco Remote access point, you
may get a pop up window stating, "The Wi-Fi network
loco_xxxxxxxx does not appear to be connected to the
Internet. Do you want to temporarily use mobile data?"
Click on Keep Trying Wi-Fi and the pop up will close
and you can return to using your web browser as a
controller. If you click on Use Mobile Data, then your
phone will try to access the Internet over the
3G/4G/5G network and you will lose the controller
window. If this happens you will know as you will get a
message back from the locoremote.co.uk/v1 web site
telling you " Oh dear - you shouldn't be here!"
For further information please open the Loco Remote Wi-Fi and controller operation guide which can be found on the Guide &
Shop page at www.locoremote.co.uk If you are having difficulty connecting using the steps above please contact us and tell us your
phone and battery type and what step number you get to successfully. We are here to help and ensure you really enjoy your Loco
Remote. If you have any questions, problems or suggestions for improvements please contact us either via the web site or by email
at [e-mail] and we will be sure to get back to you promptly.