G3 Clubroom

The Forum for Gauge 3 Model Trains

My attention has been drawn to this Ebay seller and I was interest to see Bluetooth being offered as low cost control systems.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/philseddy/m.html?item=144177572158&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562

The standard ESC components are rated too low for most G3 applications but the small print does say that uprated versions can be ordered.

So, would Bluetooth be a secure method of control in an "outdoor" (garden) environment?
Would the range be too small and susceptible to electronic interference?

Not planning to use the system but curious as to whether anyone here has tried it.

John. 

The short range answer is No. In the early 2000's I did try to sell/promote a system based on industry standard radio modems @422MHz that could have taken the 19.2kB of DCC...

The bandwidth of Bluetooth is capable of giving a good transmission capacity there is too much risk of command failure. I would cite the tume that I went to Huddesfield and had my Peak hijacked by Peter Spoorer using high power equipment. When the Peak switched on it looked for an active system sending BIND and then latched onto the transmitter being demonstrated inside the building...

Regards

Ralph

I've experimented with a bluetooth controller by BlueRail in O Gauge. Our layout required a range of about 40 feet and even over that distance, the communication wasn't reliable enough to be usable. Which does not bode well for your average G3 garden railway.

Nick