KB404: UR90 Infrared Receiver Frequently Asked Questions

This article was last updated on Sept. 18, 2011, 4:15 p.m. | Print Article | Leave Feedback

How Many UR90 Infrared receivers will I need?

One UR90 should provide complete coverage if your room is typical, with a hard surface floor and finished walls and ceiling.

However, several things can cause the need for additional UR90s, such as: larger room, odd shaped room, acoustical ceiling, carpeted floors, or book shelves or other things on the walls that can interfere with the infrared signal.

How many more you'll need depends on how many of these "impediments" are in your layout room.

This Infrared signal should be considered to be line-of-sight, but the IR signal does reflect off of other objects, thus the concern about carpeted floors and other soft surfaces.

Will Infrared work outdoors?

No, Infrared does not work well outdoors.  If you have large windows in your layout room, this may cause probelms with infrared operation.

How many IR throttles can I operate at a time?

The UR90, UR91 and/or UR92, will typically allow the use of about ten IR throttles to operate at the same time, but if there are a lot of IR command signals being transmitted at the same time, system response may slow down.

It is recommended that you plug IR throttles in to operate trains when you'll be at the same location for a prolonged period, such as switching at a yard or industrial area.

While IR operation is quite efficient, there's nothing like a direct connection for the absolute best control - especially at slow switching speeds.

And by plugging in, it relieves the air-waves of this traffic, thereby allowing other IR throttles to operate tetherless.

What do I need to hook up a UR90?

The UR90 connects to the system via a LocoNet cable.  A cable does not come with the UR90, so you'll have to make or buy one.

LocoNet cables should be made and istalled so that pin one of the UR90 is connected to pin one of the command station.  Phasing is very important when using UR90s. If you're plugging it into another LocoNet device, you must insure that all cables between it and the command station are phased correctly.

The UR90 does not come with a wall-plug power supply, but one should be used to power it. Without a power supply, the UR90 will draw power from LocoNet. Since LocoNet supplies a finite amount of power, the UR90 may not be able to draw enough power to provide reliable operation, and is likely to cause problems with plug-in throttles unless it is powered separately.

Multiple UR90s can be powered from the same power supply.

Also, with the power supply plugged in and left turned on when the system is turned off, and the throttle left plugged into the UR90, it will keep the throttle battery alive.

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