DCS driving me crazy part 2

Chances are that one of the following is the problem:

• The phone handset cable is only 2-conductor, not 4-conductor, as required
• The cable is otherwise defective
• There's a bent or shorted pin inside the jack on the TIU or the remote.

Ok, thanks Barry. I haven't used the phone cable yet as I first need to up grade the TIUs. The cable was last used when I upgraded everything several years ago and it worked fine. All the pins appear to be straight. Before I locate another cable, can the TIU/TMCC connector cable be used for this? I have 1 but it is not just a cable as it has that little box (transformer, maybe?) in the middle. What i really need I think is a nice functional PC.

No, it cannot.

 

Also, my comment was aimed at a problem i thought that you were having qwith the remote, not the TIU. pleasemdisregard that comment.

I'm not familiar with a "a 2 serial/1-parallel PCI adapter."  Doesn't the Dell have a USB port?  Radio Shack has a USB to serial adapter cable that works fine.  I believe brand name is Gigabyte.

It is the 9 pin receptacle on the back of the computer that is needed to accept the 9 pin cable to connect to the TUI from the computer. The Dell has USB ports. I will look into your suggestion. Thanks.

The USB serial port adapters work well.  You can use them with Macs as well, but I've never tried any of the DCS stuff with a PC emulator.

 

This is one of those areas where model trains are still living the the technology stone age.  Everything should be all USB by now.  Frankly, I think you should just be able to plug the trains themselves in via USB for upgrades.  In fact, the TIU itself should be internet enabled.  

 

By the time MTH gets around to updating the TIU, USB will likely be obsolete as well 

 

I cannot remember the last time I upgraded my 2004 MTH DCS system, if I ever upgraded it at all.

If it works fine for me, I am not going to touch it.

Same with my Lionel Legacy system.

IMHO, both command and control sets by Lionel and MTH, are not like my PCs that I upgrade often as far as patches and fixes and updates are concerned.

Instead, they are subject to widespread quality control issues (especially Lionel) that make you afraid to even stare at it for too long.

 

 

 

Stumper, where have you been for the past few years?  Rev L TIUs have USB ports.

 

Plug trains in?  Trains don't get upgraded. Only TIU and remote do.

Stumper, you nailed it. In an age when a light switch or a smoke detector can get a firmware upgrade via wireless, the DCS system is pretty archaic. I’m hoping they hire someone with some advanced technology credentials. Think of The Apple Watch. Does lots of things in the space of one small DCS circuit board. But, it is what it is, so we adapt. What baffles me is the fact that the upgrade can ONLY be done with a PC. My son is a computer tech and he does my upgrades because I’m all Mac.

George (G3)

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

> On Dec 20, 2014, at 7:42 AM, O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum <alerts@hoop.la> wrote:
>

The good news is the TIUs are upgraded!!!!!!!!!! I got a USB-serial port cable at radio Shack. Thank you STUMPER. thank you Barry.  Not quite there yet. When I went to up-grade the remotes, the file cannot be found.(remote4p3.rem). So now I am stuck at this point. Any ideas????

The file should be in the same directory as the TIU software.  The loader installation program does this.  If you have selected, in the loader program, the proper icon to download to a remote, the loader program should find it in the same way it found the tiu software.

Why you are correct   I've been using an older, upgraded TIU to run my stuff;  I have a newer one that I bought as a backup and I never really looked at it. Until now... 

 

As far as plugging a train in, have you never upgraded sound files?  Swapped them out?  I have, and the whole thing would be a lot cleaner if you could just plug a micro-USB port into the train and download the new code.  

 

I would like to see the day where the TIU is internet enabled and exists as a device on my network just like my TV, Blu-Ray Player, etc.   That way I could just open up a browser session, connect to the TIU, perform and code upgrades and configuration changes I needed, and away I go.   If you can put a WiFi chipset into a $50 Blu-Ray player, you can put on in a $300 TIU 

 

In a perfect world, each train has a WiFi chip set and associates to the TIU over the network.   You log into the TIU and run/configure your trains from whatever browser-enabled device you might have.  Simple WiFi chipsets are tiny these days, and pretty inexpensive to boot.  It's not equipment cost, it's software development costs.   

 

We're going to be part of the way there soon with the new WiFi module coming out, but that's limited to control from what I can see.   Perhaps the next evolution will be the extension into the home network. which is ultimately what I think needs to happen to appeal to the next generation of operators.

 

I have 3 ancient TIUs myself, including two issued when DCS first came out.  No sense in spending good dollars to replace something that works.

 

The problem with what yoo suggest is that it costs MTH money to implement, and there is only a limited & maybe shrinking market in which to recoup costs.  And given limited amounts of capital, there are probably more remunerative ways to parcel it out.

 

The market for such advanced electronic approaches is further limited because many users aren't that familiar with electronics and/or do not have wireless.  They would find the internet process forboding, just as many now do the current upgrade problem which involves connecting a few wires to a basic computer, and then running a program.  I am always surprised to find how many people are afraid or unwilling to tackle an upgrade.  I often read on the forum of people taking their units to LHS and paying for an upgrade, or seeing the upgrade lines at York.   I have many relatives who are completely stymied by home wireless, access codes, and curing minor malfunctions.

 

As an example of lack of knowledge, some 70+ years ago, when I was new to trains, a relative told me that the wires between transformer, whistle controller (#167) and track should be coiled rather than straight, because the electricity would flow better.

 

I hadn't thought about the sound files.  You're correct on that.  I'm not so sure that simply plugging in a micro-USB would be easier:  one still has to find the correct file and press a few buttons/keys.

 

I've been sort of following the new system development.  Got a hands on demo at one of the beta tester's homes some time ago.  Personally, I prefer the handheld remote.  I can keep one hand free as I walk around, and have been know to have one in each hand when I run 4 or more at a time.  But I am fascinated with gadgets, so maybe.....

 

 

Steve, have you tried the Windows Explorer search feature to find the file?  If you use Explorer to open the directory where the tie file is, what other files are there?

 

Age of the computer shouldn't make a difference.  Over the years I've used some pretty old ones.

 

But trains are [supposed to be] fun.

Wow, this conversation reminds me too much of work where our controls systems stop working when there is a new Windows OS upgrade. Not sure I want the same pain on my layout.

 

Perhaps I'm just getting old and long for simpler times.

 

Bob

WOW! DCS is technologically so far advanced esp. compared to DCC as to the way it handles things that there's no comparison.

 

Try banging your head programming DCC decoders in either hexadecimal or binary. What DCS does in the background is nothing short of phenomenal!

 

And all for the cost of less than $300.00  

Amen CRH.   Joe