Servonaut infrared ARO transmitter question

[Espeefan]

Hi guys, is anyone using the Servonaut infrared ARO transmitter and receiver kit? The instructions say the transmitter is a wide angle type, which makes sense, but I am wondering what the range of the transmitter is. If I mount it to the back of my cab, how tight can I turn a trailer before the receiver cannot pick up the signal? Alternately, Servonaut mentioned mounting the transmitter under the 5th wheel, and the receiver in a hollowed out trailer king pin. This seems the ideal set-up, except that I don't know if I will have the room to do this. With a transmitter mounted in the back cab wall, can I jack knife a trailer to 90 degrees, and still expect the receiver to pick up the signal?

Just looking for some real world advice and experience here. Thanks in advance!

[apfubar]

Hi,

I have both the AIRU and AIR4 with the AMO's.

As to range, I think something like 15-20cm(6-8 inches) is aok.

With regards to angle, I think it is pretty close to 90 degrees. I can try this out later(when I get a little bit of time) on my new trailer and update. Remember that the other challenge with a non-king pin setup is the IR signals will be received even if the trailer is not hooked up, hence the lights will activate even when the trailer is unhitched, you can turn the unit off though.

On the king pin side, that is the best way, but agreed it is a pain to install. Also the pin itself doesn't have a long thread, and sometimes undoes itself (I have put thread lock on it now - so we will see how long that lasts).

I haven't torn it off yet, and that is overloading it a bit, pulling with the Aeromax, carson 4:1 reduction(or it did have), and 30kg's of models on the back, up a pretty nasty incline(which blew the 4:1 up).

Cheers,
AP

[Espeefan]

Thank you for your response, AP! I am going to try my best to mount the transmitter under the 5th wheel. I have some ideas, but whether or not they will work I don't know yet. I just like the idea of having a good signal to the trailer, no matter how tight I turn. I'm hoping to work on mounting my 5th wheel plate to my chassis this weekend. Once I figure that out, I'll know if I can pull this off.

[apfubar]

Hi,

So I see from you needle nose thread it's a Wedico fifth wheel... I have converted my Wedico DAF to IR up the guts, a drill and a bit of glue... all done. No remote unlocking though.

To do the remote unlocking I think a remote cable release should be possible, just not sure how (I haven't looked under there for a while).

Cheers,
AP

[Espeefan]

AP, I started out thinking I was going to run a Wedico 5th wheel, but now I'm going to go with a Scale Art 5th wheel. It sits lower, which looks a lot more scale. I hadn't thought about a cable to unlock the pin. That's a good idea. I still think I will just operate the lock manually. Except for the yard trucks (spotters), drivers have to manually unlock their 5th wheels too, so it's realistic, if nothing else!

[apfubar]

Given the ScaleArt team do use IR gear(inc. servonaut), you could ask them on how they do it with their 5th wheel.

Also the German forums will have some builds with similar setups.

Cheers,
AP.

[Espeefan]

AP, after getting my Scale Art 5th wheel mounted up today, I think I have a good idea for fitting the transmitter directly below the king pin. I won't be using a servo to unlock the pin, so I plan to make use of the space for the infrared transmitter instead. There are a couple mounting ears underneath the 5th wheel, and they are meant to use as a servo mount, but I will just machine a plate to bolt to the ears, with a hole in the center for the transmitter. No matter what angle the 5th wheel plate pivots to, the transmitter will move with it and stay perfectly aligned to the receiver, inside the king pin.

Thanks for the advice!

[apfubar]

Cool! I will keep an eye out for some pics!