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At the October York TCA meet we will be running DCS engines from our iPhones in MTH's booth! They are demoing it tomorrow. I am sure you will be getting more details shortly.

 

and, PS, do you know the cost for running a single engine at a time on your DCS system?

 

FREE. 

Last edited by Rich Melvin
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Awesome!! 

 

You know that car commercial where the woman is on the plane starting her car with her iPhone while her husband stands in the driveway and watches it start? MTH could make one where a guy is on a plane and fires up his trains while his wife walks past the layout and probably rolls her eyes or something.

 

I don't think I would use this much on my main layout, however it would be great to use under the Christmas tree. I wonder if it will work with the DCS remote commander?

 

Barry?

Originally Posted by Dick Malon:

So help me to understand why you would want to do this.  Is it just because you can?

just a guess here but I could see it being ported to a full size computer screen and being able to have multiple engines in the screen as well as accessory and switch control without having to scroll through multiple menus. Track control was mentioned at the presentation.

 

Pete

>>>Tomorrow we will be running DCS engines from our iPhones in MTH's booth! They are demoing it tomorrow. I am sure you will be getting more details shortly.<<

 

Sounds really dumb and impractical  I see no use for it.

What they should take from a smartphone or Ipod  is the ability to use earphones.

Find a way (should be easy) so folks could run trains and hear all the great sounds without disturbing others. Especailly during those critical late night runs.

Joe  

   

Originally Posted by MrMuffin'sTrains:

Tomorrow we will be running DCS engines from our iPhones in MTH's booth! They are demoing it tomorrow. I am sure you will be getting more details shortly.

 

and, PS, do you know the cost for running a single engine at a time on your DCS system?

 

FREE. 

Dramatic indeed... Thanks for the update. I am holding off for the Spring York. (just spent a LOT of money on trains)

At the risk of stereotyping...

If you are over 65 - Not a chance you even try it.

If you are between 50 and 64 you may experiment with it but only use half the features.

If you are less than 49 the chances go up as the younger you are that you will actually embrace it.

 

I am in the group that will experiment with it.

Also, the larger your layout the better use you could make use of it.  All you need to add is block / train detection.

 

dan

p.s. I don't use my cell phone for texting, except to text my grand kids to tell them to call me.  They won't answer an actuall phone call.

Initally it won't do anything more than the DCS remote.  So most will not see any advantage to it.  It will take time to build the apps to make use of the wifi feature. As I said before only the bigger layouts will see any advantage.  Only the young will see the possibilities and experiment with it.  Us older guys just want to run our trains and what's wrong with using the handles on the transformer!

Dan

Originally Posted by MrMuffin'sTrains:

As we are building a public display layout, I really like the idea of guests being able to use their own phone to run a train on one of our loops. 

 

As pointed out above, Dave's intention is to have the ability to see your whole layout on an iPad or similar device and use your finger to control trains. 


Until some hacker in Upper Elbonia takes control of your train and runs it off your display...

 

Rusty

I don't have much info other than what was presented at last night's meeting (thanks to all who attended and especially to those who laughed at my opening anecdote), however:

  • Currently, Dave Hikel provides DCS layout control (the whole enchilada) from a web browser interface. That's what will be demo'ed at MTH's booth, starting today
  • Planned for next April's (2013) York is a free app for any iOS device (iPhone, iPad and maybe even iPod Touch) that will allow running one engine at a time, sort of like the DCS Remote Commander
  • Planned for next October's (2013) York is a paid app for any iOS device (iPhone, iPad, etc.) that will allow capabilities similar to the DCS Remote, plus some additional functionality
  • Android apps wil follow the iOS apps in a time frame not yet specified.

I would like to incorporate the apps in a future edition of The DCS O Gauge Companion, and Dave and I have had preliminary discussions in this regard.

 

See you all at the show!

Here is what it could be used for:

 

1.  Lets say we have a traverler with a layout who rarely gets to run his trains becuase he is on the road so much.  It is not beyond technology to set up a few webcams so he can see what is going on and use the app to control the action from the other side of the world-I know latency may be an issue, but it really depends on what kind of running he does-roundy round would be easy, switching would be difficult!

 

2.  You don't have as many remotes as people who want to run trains, but they have an iphone. 

 

I personally run convential, so there may be other advantages I don't see.

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