Reply To: Alan Gibson pickups

My wisdom is don’t use plunger pickups!

Unlike (say) 7mm scale, the forces we have to deal with in 4mm don’t play nicely with these arrangements.

As you have found, the wire taking the current to the motor/frame/chip will be too stiff to allow flexible movement – although you could try DCC wire as it is much finer.  And getting a smooth movement of a brass(?) plunger through a plastic tube is difficult given the stiction involved.

A better alternative is phosphor bronze pickups bearing on the tyre, or best of all split chassis like the 2mm folk do.

Best,

Paul (who puts the plunger pickups straight on eBay every time he starts an AG kit…)