DCS App Updater for iOS is in the Apple iOS App Store

Barry, thanks for clarifying the versions...  Have a good meeting next week... see you all in April...

GregR posted:

MartyE posted:

GregR posted:

 Meanwhile, this same app has a severely crippled implementation of Legacy control. It is not unreasonable or conspiratorial to state that a business motivation exists to diminish the appeal or function of a competitor’s product. 

 

 

How so?  I find the MTH app pretty good for running Legacy.  While it's not fully compatible with LCS and some functionality of Legacy yet it does a very good job at offering a uniform control application.  I'd be interested to hear why  you feel it "crippled" your Legacy implementation.

The app does a great job making an engine move forward and backward. And to be fair, bell and quilling whistle functions also work. However, automatic ramping of diesel RPM’s has been disabled in the software.  All you get is the flat sound of idle RPM’s, unless you go to the hassle of switching screens to make a manual adjustment to RPM for each increase in speed. Automatic RPM ramping is a basic feature that has been available since the early 90’s, even on some of the cheapest engines with Trainsounds or Locosounds chips. It’s like MTH has pushed Lionel products 30 years into the past. You might as well have the flat buzz of an E-unit. Others have noted the absence of other Legacy features like squeezing brakes, and the train brake function. Therefore, yes, I do call this a “crippling” of the Legacy system. In fact, the MTH app meets every classical definition as “crippleware”. Why? Because it not only disables Lionel features, but also disables many other functions as part of an effort to “induce” a purchase of “premium” versions for more and more money. I had to dish out money twice before I got software that even nominally functioned. 

Hi GregR,

Well, from the horse's mouth (or maybe arse?) I can tell you we definitely do not want to sabotage TMCC or Legacy operation in DCS.  Any bugs or anomalies are merely just that.  Of course, the focus is on our own products and features first but, we would love to have every TMCC/Legacy engine run under DCS.  

We did struggle with deciding which features were most important to Legacy operators.  Further, and even with much appreciated assistance from Lionel, some features didn't make the cut.  There are some aspects of Legacy operation that are not well documented and have been lost or forgotten by staff long gone.  We have the same issue with some low level aspects of DCS.  Luckily for us, the same employees and contract engineers who developed things are still on the job for the most part.  

With regard to all the discussion about app updates, generally speaking, the DCS should update exactly like any other app on your device.  We've not done anything different in that respect.  I would shy away from deletion and reinstall except as a last resort.  Most users simply get a notification of an update and update through the App Store.  In the case of Android users, most seem to leave their apps set to auto update so, it just happens.  At least that's how the Android guys around here operate.

Stay tuned for continued enhancements and expansion of the DCS system including TMCC/Legacy operations.  The place to start is for Legacy users to chime in and and make sure we're clear as to what your priorities are.  If you ask us to vibrate your phone when accelerating, we may pass on that.  Let's stick to running the trains how you want to run them please.  We know train brake is of strong interest.  However, this falls into the category of lots of unknowns, apparently.  Of course, we could figure it out if sales support the effort.

Thanks for responding @MTH RD

Yes Train Brake is a big one.

I certainly appreciate that MTH took the time to respond to these concerns regarding Legacy operation. My "chime in" is to request that RPM's ramp up and down as they should on diesels. Then I'd be happy!

Of course, diesel RPMs should ramp up with acceleration.  Well, actually, the other way around but, in model traindom....

So, I went out to our test layout and set a Lionel Legacy NP U33c diesel on the rails and tested it with the app.  To my surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.  So, I picked up our Legacy Cab 2 and ran the engine.  To my even greater surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.

It appears we are sending the exact same commands as the Legacy system with the same results.  That's a relief.

I will get into this further and try to update this thread with what is going on.  I vaguely remember some issue with the type of Legacy speed commands being sent but, of course, we opted to mimic the Legacy system as this would seemingly be acceptable to those users.

More to follow on this down the line. 

MTH RD posted:

Of course, diesel RPMs should ramp up with acceleration.  Well, actually, the other way around but, in model traindom....

So, I went out to our test layout and set a Lionel Legacy NP U33c diesel on the rails and tested it with the app.  To my surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.  So, I picked up our Legacy Cab 2 and ran the engine.  To my even greater surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.

It appears we are sending the exact same commands as the Legacy system with the same results.  That's a relief.

I will get into this further and try to update this thread with what is going on.  I vaguely remember some issue with the type of Legacy speed commands being sent but, of course, we opted to mimic the Legacy system as this would seemingly be acceptable to those users.

More to follow on this down the line. 

I have about 50 Legacy diesels and every single one of them has an RPM sound increase/decrease relative to the throttle when controlled via the CAB-2.  However, when controlled via the DCS app, there is no RPM change at all.  They stay at idle regardless of throttle movement.

Have I misunderstood your post?

MTH RD posted:

Of course, diesel RPMs should ramp up with acceleration.  Well, actually, the other way around but, in model traindom....

So, I went out to our test layout and set a Lionel Legacy NP U33c diesel on the rails and tested it with the app.  To my surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.  So, I picked up our Legacy Cab 2 and ran the engine.  To my even greater surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.

It appears we are sending the exact same commands as the Legacy system with the same results.  That's a relief.

I will get into this further and try to update this thread with what is going on.  I vaguely remember some issue with the type of Legacy speed commands being sent but, of course, we opted to mimic the Legacy system as this would seemingly be acceptable to those users.

More to follow on this down the line. 

MTH RD:

The CAB2 will not ramp up RPM's if you slowly increase speed linearly. Give it a sharper turn of the knob and it should work - unless you're in manual RPM mode, or you have a broken engine.

The following information may be  more helpful for you than it was for me. When I previously posted this issue, I received the following reply from Rudy Trubitt at Lionel---

On a related note, if I set up the MTH app with a Legacy engine as a TMCC diesel, RPM's work in the default, R100 and TAS speed control modes, but fail to work in TMCC 32 mode.

RAILSOUNDSMEMBER

7/5/178:34 AM

MTH RD posted:

Of course, diesel RPMs should ramp up with acceleration.  Well, actually, the other way around but, in model traindom....

So, I went out to our test layout and set a Lionel Legacy NP U33c diesel on the rails and tested it with the app.  To my surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.  So, I picked up our Legacy Cab 2 and ran the engine.  To my even greater surprise, no diesel rev changes relative to throttle.

It appears we are sending the exact same commands as the Legacy system with the same results.  That's a relief.

I will get into this further and try to update this thread with what is going on.  I vaguely remember some issue with the type of Legacy speed commands being sent but, of course, we opted to mimic the Legacy system as this would seemingly be acceptable to those users.

More to follow on this down the line. 

They always ramp up for me with my Cab 2.

@MTH RD Did you see Rudy Trubitt's comments, above, regarding speed control and RPM's?