If so, do you like it? Would you recommend it? Did you invest a ton of $$$ on hardware?
If not CTI, do you have any experience with a different product/vendor?
Thanks.
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CTI?
D500 posted:CTI?
Visit CTI-electronics.com
@OGR CEO-PUBLISHER @SantaFeJim IMO, this would be better posted in one of the control system forums. Is CTI a type of DCC?
I am also interested in CTI for controlling my signals on my layout.
reading it's literature it seems relatively straight forward. but devil is in details.
this is not a control system for train operation.
an experience pro or con appreciated.
prrtraincuy
Ted S posted:@OGR CEO-PUBLISHER @SantaFeJim IMO, this would be better posted in one of the control system forums. Is CTI a type of DCC?
No, it's more like LCS. It doesn't seem to involve any onboard (speed control) electronics. It looks like a computer based set of sensors with dedicated software. JMRI may be able to control this hardware and it's free. There are a lot of different ways to do this set of functions. It just depends on how computer savvy you are.
This would be cool to check out. I'd imagine that if its like LCS, you'd just the command remotes (DCS, Legacy ect) to run the trains and have the computer do the other things you want? I'd love to use this for my passing siding.
Trainlover9943 posted:This would be cool to check out. I'd imagine that if its like LCS, you'd just the command remotes (DCS, Legacy ect) to run the trains and have the computer do the other things you want? I'd love to use this for my passing siding.
It doesn't quite work that way. This system can throw turnouts, change signals, and detect trains, as well as basic input and output functions for any other devices you may have.
You still have to operate the trains (as you've noted), but that means you have to obey the signals yourself.
If you wanted the computer to do everything, that's possible, but that needs software like JMRI which can do both, but only with TMCC or Legacy, not DCS.
SantaFeJim posted:If so, do you like it? Would you recommend it? Did you invest a ton of $$$ on hardware?
If not CTI, do you have any experience with a different product/vendor?
Thanks.
I haven't used it, but I did go to the website and looked at the products. I'm going to be using C/MRI and JMRI to accomplish the same functions as this product line, except that my combo is even more powerful, because it can also control the trains via second COM port connected to the TMCC base. I'm committed to that combination because I own all the C/MRI hardware already.
How big and complex is your layout? That will determine the cost of the hardware you'll need. If you can post a track plan, I could probably figure it out for you.
Big_Boy_4005 posted:Trainlover9943 posted:This would be cool to check out. I'd imagine that if its like LCS, you'd just the command remotes (DCS, Legacy ect) to run the trains and have the computer do the other things you want? I'd love to use this for my passing siding.
It doesn't quite work that way. This system can throw turnouts, change signals, and detect trains, as well as basic input and output functions for any other devices you may have.
You still have to operate the trains (as you've noted), but that means you have to obey the signals yourself.
If you wanted the computer to do everything, that's possible, but that needs software like JMRI which can do both, but only with TMCC or Legacy, not DCS.
Ah. I gotya.
Just to go one step further Matt, I use the terms "smart trains" and "smart track". This system allows you to have smart track. Smart trains simply refers to command control, however for this purpose it has to be TMCC or Legacy, because DCS command codes are not published. I have heard of some reverse engineering efforts to control DCS with a computer, but it sounds like a lot of work. JMRI actually has the codes for TMCC built in to the software. That's why JMRI is so powerful, it blends smart trains and track into a seamless package.
There is another way to do automated passing sidings, but that is done electrically, using conventional trains and relays. The reason this method doesn't work with command controlled trains is, when a command engine looses power, it doesn't restart when the power comes back on. It will just sit there until you start it again.
