The 18th DCS User Group Meeting was a great success. We had 86 attendees, which was more than at any previous meeting. Once again, the staff of the Holiday Inn did an outstanding job of setting up the meeting room and catering our meeting!
Many thanks are due to Don Klose. Once again, Don came through as our meeting scribe and did his usual great job at capturing the essence of our meeting!
If there are any errors or omissions in the meeting summary, it is almost certainly due to my editing and not Don's efforts.
DCS Users Group Meeting Summary
Wednesday October 14, 2014
Holiday Inn - Holidome
Barry began our meeting at 7:00 pm by welcoming all the past meeting attendees and all of the first-time newcomers to the 18th DCS Users Group Meeting. He thanked Marty Fitzhenry, Pat Marinari and Robert Robertory for doing the DCS upgrades prior to the meeting. We and a record turnout of 86 attendees.
Barry also informed the group that MTH would not be able to participate in the meeting due to a death of the son of one of its officers. The attendees held a moment of silent prayer for the family that lost their son.
[I will attempt to obtain MTH's answers to the questions previously submitted by the forum and post the answers in this thread.]
Barry began our meeting with a question and answer session:
A meeting attendee asked if the new DCS app would be free. The response was that the first app released will be free and that a second app, which will include much more and would be a replacement for a DCS Remote, will be available at a cost to be determined.
The next person raised the issue of their PS3 engine locking in one direction after being operated in conventional mode. To correct this problem, it is often necessary to perform a “conventional transformer reset." To do so, connect the transformer directly to the track and ensure that the TIU is not connected to the track. Apply power to the track. Then press the whistle button once, followed by 5 presses of the bell button. Use 1/2 second button presses with 1/2 second pauses in-between. If successful, the loco will give 2 horn toots or whistles.
This differs from a DCS Factory Reset and Feature Reset, neither of which will do the job. This cannot be done from the DCS remote.
Barry mentioned that future MTH PS3 engines will allow the DCS Remote Commander to perform a Factory Reset on them.
The next person was unhappy with the bell in their engine and asked if it’s possible to change only the bell sound file. The answer is that no, one cannot change only one aspect of a sound file. Marty Fitzhenry pointed out that sometimes when you reload a sound file from the MTH site a sound may have been improved upon from the original one installed in the engine. Folks were also reminded that you can put any 3 volt PS2 sound file into any 3 volt PS2 engine and any 5 volt sound file into any 5 volt PS2 engine. Further, Barry pointed out that one may also put any 3 volt PS2 sound file in a PS3 engine without disturbing the PS3 engine’s other parameters, since these non-sound parts of the PS2 engine sound file are kept elsewhere, in a chain file, in a PS3 engine.
Another individual had converted a PS1 Cab forward to PS2. Subsequently, while operating the engine it derailed and caused a short circuit. From that time on, when operating the engine, the PFA function referred to the engine as being and oil fired engine when it was previously referred to as a coal fired engine. It was asked if the short circuit could alter a sound file in such a manner. The answer was that this was not possible and there had to be some other explanation.
Barry mentioned that all new PS3 engines, as well as some of the more recently released PS3 engines, will automatically start up, without a Startup command, when the thumbwheel is scrolled one click to 1 SMPH.
A meeting attendee pointed out that, while the PS3 upgrade kit manuals have black and white diagrams, one can download a PDF of the manual from the MTH website that shows all of the diagrams in color.
The next person pointed out that their club is utilizing the newly released Lionel layout modules and they could not get DCS to function properly. The modules provide bus bars for power under their tracks. It was suggested by the attendees that the club should first create isolated track blocks by dividing the total number of modules into equal groups of no more than 10-12 track segments. Then, connect one and only one pair of wires from a terminal block to each track block. This should strengthen the DCS signal.
Another individual pointed out that, in the recent DCS 4.30 upgrade, lashups don’t have some of the individual soft keys of individual engines, such as the RR crossing soft key. Barry explained that lashups have always had, by necessity, a set of soft keys that are a subset of the entire set of DCS soft keys. The set of lashup soft keys did not change between DCS 4.20 and DCS 4.30.
Barry shared that the current DCS 4.31 beta was being developed to resolve a handful of issues in DCS 4.30. One problem that DCS 4.30 users might see is that when in Super TIU mode, if one presses the remote’s smoke button it may sometimes turn off lights in the engine. This is being addressed in DCS 4.31. The remedy is to do a Feature Reset of the engine to restore the lights.
Another individual has a Railking UP SD60 and, when operating the engine on their layout, the programed sounds do not work. However, when the engine is used on another person’s layout sounds work fine. What is the cause? The person stated they use a Z4000 for power and DCS. It was suggested they try a different remote and it was also pointed out that if they’re powering accessories from the track, that’s a bad idea. The items tied to track power could be killing the DCS signal.
Barry was asked if he was an MTH employee. In response, he emphatically stated that he is not an employee. He explained that he has a business partner relationship with MTH because they support and publish his DCS O Gauge Companion book, and that he is also a long-time DCS beta tester and certified repair person.
When asked about when he expected to publish the next edition of his book, he stated that he hoped to have the eBook version available in the first half of next year.
Barry then closed the Q&A portion of the meeting and introduced Dave Hikel, of Hikel Layouts & Trains, who proceeded with his demonstration of the DCS App.
[Please note that Hikel Layouts & Trains is the sole sponsor of the OGR DCS, PS2 & PS3 Forum.]
Dave Hikel conducted a presentation and demonstration of his DCS App:
Dave began by stating that he has been in business since the 1980’s building layouts. His company has already developed a complete automation system for control, block occupancy detection and automation of an entire DCS layout.
At this time, through a licensing agreement with MTH, Dave is developing a mobile device-based app that allows train control and management of a roster of DCS engines. The initial version of the app is currently being beta tested and should be released in the next few weeks. MTH is developing a WiFi connector for the TIU which will allow the app to interact with the layout. This connector is planned to be be available in 2015 and is shown in the new MTH 2015 Vol. I catalog that was released this week. The new TIU WiFi adapter will cost $179.95.
Dave mentioned that, until the MTH WiFi devices becomes available, Hikel Layouts & Trains has a wired, Ethernet device that accomplishes the same thing. Unlike MTH’s adapter, however, the device requires the availability of a wireless network at the layout’s location. Dave had several of these ProtoNet devices available for purchase for anyone who wanted to join the DCS app beta test team.
The DCS App will operate first on Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPad Mini, iPhone, and iPod Touch) and later on Android devices (smart phones and tablets).
Dave demonstrated the current beta of the initial, free version of the app with a Premier, PS3 Dreyfus Hudson on a track connected to a TIU, that was connected to a prototype of MTH’s WiFi device. The app he used is the latest beta version, considerably updated from the one shown at York this past Spring. The new version has a speedometer with a needle to control engine speed and also utilizes gestures to adjust the engine’s speed. These gestures make it possible to adjust speed without actually looking at the app.
The current beta of the free app has 3 tabs: CONTROL for basic engine control; FEATURES for soft keys; and SETTINGS for anything that’s turned on and off. In addition, a startup screen also allows one to view MTH catalogs and news, and to search MTH's product database.
The second, paid-for app will have lots of additional functionality and features to control accessories, switch tracks and other layout functions. It will also be able to operate TMCC and Legacy engines, in Legacy mode. Both apps can be used on indoor or outdoor layouts. The cost of the second app is to be determined.
Dave took questions from the meeting attendees.
[At the end of the meeting summary there are screen shots of the app.]
After Dave’s presentation, demo and Q&A session, the meeting adjourned
The meeting attendees picked up copies of the new MTH 2015 Vol. I catalogs as they left the meeting.
[Screen shots of the current DCS (beta) app.]
