That's one good thing Lionel is known for is making things backwards compatible.  Unlike MTH who didn't bother to install a trans/receiver in the new WTIU so you could us the DCS remote if someone wished.

That's good news as an avid 990 user. Now I just need to find out what will happen if you have two-digit-addressed locomotives mixed with four-digit-addressed locomotives? Can I address the four-digit loco as a two?

I don't have a CAB3 on order but I'm very excited for the release. It's good to see an attempted consolidation of the technologies and I'm especially happy that this thing was tested on large layouts.

@superwarp1 posted:

That's one good thing Lionel is known for is making things backwards compatible.  Unlike MTH who didn't bother to install a trans/receiver in the new WTIU so you could us the DCS remote if someone wished.

That's a harsh assessment. The Legacy remote came out just when 2.4 GHz technology was blossoming. The DCS remote was many years prior and used 900 MHz transceivers.

@BillYo414 posted:

That's good news as an avid 990 user. Now I just need to find out what will happen if you have two-digit-addressed locomotives mixed with four-digit-addressed locomotives? Can I address the four-digit loco as a two?

I don't have a CAB3 on order but I'm very excited for the release. It's good to see an attempted consolidation of the technologies and I'm especially happy that this thing was tested on large layouts.

Wouldn't it be cool if there was an event that you could ask these questions?

The Legacy Users Group Virtual Event with Dave Olson from Lionel Trains.

Thanks MartyE for all you do for us Legacy users

@rplst8 posted:

That's a harsh assessment. The Legacy remote came out just when 2.4 GHz technology was blossoming. The DCS remote was many years prior and used 900 MHz transceivers.

So?

@Vernon Barry posted:

Again, per the video straight from the mouth of Dave- the CAB3 application should be compatible with existing users of Legacy 990 Base and LCS WIFI module.

Since the 990 is no longer made, I suppose of wider interest is that for those wanting some kind of remote control handheld, the Cab3 is also compatible with the Cab 1L, which Lionel is still making.

Ya got my interest @MartyE haha I'll tune in from Youtube most likely.

@superwarp1 posted:

So?

So, 900 MHz tech is just not really available anymore with an FCC approval.

FCC Frees Up Spectrum in the 900 MHz Band for Broadband

Yet they made new remotes just a few years ago with that same 900 mhz.

Well, there is still some part of the 900mhz band available, I just don't know if the old system used the part that the FCC closed off to such use.  Anyone know the exact frequency the MTH remote runs on?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Well, there is still some part of the 900mhz band available, I just don't know if the old system used the part that the FCC closed off to such use.  Anyone know the exact frequency the MTH remote runs on?

https://fccid.io/OT8RFMR

Directed to MartyE: I asked this question of Dave at Lionel, but he is swamped, so I don’t know when he might be able to reply.  This seems likely to interest some others as well.  The Cab3 app allows addresses 2-9 for Lionchief RF locos, and 10-29 for BlueTooth, but we still have only 98 (?) total other than new 4-digit models.  My Q relates to creative use of the A-Z version of the Cab3/Base3 roster.  If (don’t know for sure) the A-Z roster version lists engines in alphabetical name order, is it possible to “name” each loco with its road number.  Then, would the A-Z roster version give us a list of all our locos (up to that 98 maximum) by road number lowest to highest same as it would list in alpha order if names were in the form of words?  Would solve some problems if possible to do this way.

@cnwdon posted:

Directed to MartyE: I asked this question of Dave at Lionel, but he is swamped, so I don’t know when he might be able to reply.  This seems likely to interest some others as well.  The Cab3 app allows addresses 2-9 for Lionchief RF locos, and 10-29 for BlueTooth, but we still have only 98 (?) total other than new 4-digit models.  My Q relates to creative use of the A-Z version of the Cab3/Base3 roster.  If (don’t know for sure) the A-Z roster version lists engines in alphabetical name order, is it possible to “name” each loco with its road number.  Then, would the A-Z roster version give us a list of all our locos (up to that 98 maximum) by road number lowest to highest same as it would list in alpha order if names were in the form of words?  Would solve some problems if possible to do this way.

I'm not sure if it is an option to list road numbers lower to higher.  I suspect it's possible.   Unfortunately Dave or the Lionel team would be the only ones that can answer for sure.

Any word on whether the Cab 3 app will connect with the LCS Wifi?  If so, how?  

With my phone linked to the LCS Wifi (in Access Point Mode), the app searches for a Base 3, then the app crashes.  

Bob

There was a thread somewhere here where someone said Lionel found it too difficult to do so they scrapped it.

They had initially announced that 990 owners could use the Cab3 too if they paid $39 or $49 for the app. Never happened.

@superwarp1 posted:

That's one good thing Lionel is known for is making things backwards compatible.  Unlike MTH who didn't bother to install a trans/receiver in the new WTIU so you could us the DCS remote if someone wished.

Well considering the BASE3 is the first device from Lionel that finally bridges the gap from stuff they made in 2013 that was built at that time to purposely not be backward compatible with TMCC/LEGACY tech, I wouldn't rip on MTH too hard. 11 Years and 500 bucks later you can finally run that LC+ engine on a CAB2 that is no longer being made.

Repairing Legacy & TMCC engines from the 2000's is pretty hard to do these days given the NLA electronic parts from Lionel but I was able to repair an MTH engine from 2001 just last week with a drop in stacker board available from MTH Parts & Sales.

Can someone who is using the Cab3 app now answer whether the A-Z roster listing will work with numbers in place of letters, and list 1 to 9999 in order so we could “custom name” each loco starting with its road number and have the roster display them in number order under the A-Z version?

@superwarp1 posted:

So?

Never bring facts in, the story about not being available is what it is a ghost story. In electronics we always have a replacement. I rebuilt ancient electronics and always find the replacement or upgrade. Sometimes a little work to get it to work but always a happy ending. Only in our hobby parts go away……….

@rplst8 posted:

There was a thread somewhere here where someone said Lionel found it too difficult to do so they scrapped it.

They had initially announced that 990 owners could use the Cab3 too if they paid $39 or $49 for the app. Never happened.

Correct, pretty sure it was Dave Olsen himself that stated it ended up being too different than the BASE3 so it was not going to happen, at least not anytime soon.

@cnwdon posted:

Directed to MartyE: I asked this question of Dave at Lionel, but he is swamped, so I don’t know when he might be able to reply.  This seems likely to interest some others as well.  The Cab3 app allows addresses 2-9 for Lionchief RF locos, and 10-29 for BlueTooth, but we still have only 98 (?) total other than new 4-digit models.  My Q relates to creative use of the A-Z version of the Cab3/Base3 roster.  If (don’t know for sure) the A-Z roster version lists engines in alphabetical name order, is it possible to “name” each loco with its road number.  Then, would the A-Z roster version give us a list of all our locos (up to that 98 maximum) by road number lowest to highest same as it would list in alpha order if names were in the form of words?  Would solve some problems if possible to do this way.

Found the answer to my question on one of the Sean's Train Depot short YouTube videos on tips for roster and engine photo editing.  He placed his own reference numbers for accessories as the first characters in his engine "road name" field and the A-Z roster sorts them correctly in numeric order, same as for letters.  Assuming you have some 4 digit road numbers in your roster, and your first road number loco is #1, then you must enter 0001 for that road number and continue that way since it sorts on the first character first, second next, etc just like alpha sorting.  You have road number options from 0001 to 9999 in this way.  That is going to make the A-Z Cab3 roster extremely useful for quickly finding a loco you haven't run for a while.  Then you can see its 1 or 2-digit TMCC/Legacy ID number in the roster, and run it with whatever remote you like.