DCS upgrades are still a great way to go.

Just to give all of you some history on this loco........my Dad bought it brand-new in 1998-99, and ran it very little. When he passed away in 2001 and left his collection in my care, the Blue Comet (as well as the rest of the collection) was packed away in storage until 2015 when I started building my layout. My first love with toy trains is prewar tinplate, but this Blue Comet, especially now that it has been upgraded, will see regular service, along with all 7 cars and Weaver Blue Comet box car in tow. 

Thanks, Marty, she looks and sounds fantastic!

John

Great info, and great story. 

John gave me the story of his Dads locomotive and I gave it all the special care and respect it deserved.  All axle bearings were oiled as was all the valve gear.  When it was open, I opened the gear box and added some grease as well as a drop of oil on each end of the big Pittman motor.  While at it, I put on new traction tires.   The smoke unit was converted and treated to new heating elements and some special tweaking.   John will have a great locomotive for his entry to DCS.

Marty,

I'm out of the loop with what DCS electronics are currently available for conversions. What does one need to convert a PS-1 ABBA to PS3/2? I think the last A unit currently has a slave board or something similar in it. There is a tether that runs from one A through both Bs to the second A.

Chris

LVHR

Do these kits have quillable whistles?

MTH did a run of slave kits for the diesel application.  I would hold off and see if they show up again.  If you are doing an early F unit set you will only have two motors and the job is not bad.  I am not a fan of these as they did not have markers.  The first Protosound locomotive with 4 motors I remember was the NYC.

You mentioned converting the smoke unit.  What do you mean exactly? Do you have to replace it completely? 

No.  The PS1 smoke unit needs the heaters to be joined together in parallel  and the traces on the board that led to the heaters need to be cut so they will not connect to the heaters.   I use my motor tool with a cut off wheel.  This makes nipping traces very easy and fast.  The heaters now are powered from the new board.   The fan is now wired from the PS2 or PS3 board and not from the PS1 PCB.   I usually put in new heaters and I like to set them a bit deeper in the smoke bowl.   I have had great luck with this and get great smoke.   I use the newer MTH rope style wicking.  If the existing fan motor is still good, I always pull the impeller and put a drop of oil on the impeller shaft.

Wow Marty, she really smokes well. Great job. Do the new resistors have to be a different ohm value so that they run hotter? I upgraded the same engine with the earlier PS2 kit, but the smoke is nothing like that. They are a beautiful engine. I have two more I want to upgrade but need the kits. Do you prefer the PS32 kits over the PS3 kits, that you chose to go that route and are the lights always on when the track power is on, like the PS2 kits? I used the old smoke unit switch to give the ability to shut the lights off if I wanted to, but would sure rather command control lights.  

The PS-3 Kit for Diesel is PS-3 diesel board.  MTH no longer making Slave units, so the only upgrade for a Diesel ABBA is to use 2 Diesel kits and make both full PS-3 engines.

Or you need to use some one who can do custom work to go PS-32 in the Lead, with a PS-2 Slave.  I have done this for customers.

Yes you can select a quillable Whistle SF if one exist and use it in a PS-32 upgrade.  G

Very NICE enjoy JOHN!!!!

Great job MARTY!!!!

Thanks LAZ...............stop by and see it for real when you're in Maine this summer. 

Dave, I choose to use the existing Mux board so I can get a cab light, firebox glow, and front LED markers.  These come alive on power up.  The headlight is always wired to the PS3  board so it comes on when the engine is started.   The Mux does support a headlight but you have no control over it.  Now you have control to turn the headlight on/off.  Frankly, I do not know why anyone wants to turn the headlight on/off.  On John's  engine the resistors were a bit on the burned side.  I made the choice to put in new ones as I like to seat them lower in the smoke chamber.  Standard 16 ohm resistors tied together to give the required 8 ohms.  I know the forum is loaded with guys who like to mess with other resistor values.   Stay clear of that on MTH engines.  Use the factory recommended value.    I do it my way and the operator will need to turn the smoke down.   The smoke in this video is set at medium.  The key is the better rope style wicking set low in the chamber.

I have received several emails regarding this post.  I do not advertise on the forum and do not look for work.  The forum has many great people that do advertise and they can get your upgrades done for you.   I can always try to answer any questions and you can feel free  to contact me by email.   I am not trying to be a snob over this, I am buried with Charles Ro repairs and am currently dealing with another health issue.

Have they made any progress on S or HO sized upgrade boards? Even though the sounds are better in DCC, I would prefer the DCS system over DCC any day. 

Just a side question. Does anyone know where I can get a TIU upgrade cable?

Staples

I maybe wrong, but I watched the DCS Video and Rich said it was some kind of special 6 pin or something like that cable. But heck if I can get it at staples or Wal-Mart, GREAT!

Thank you Marty and I wish you well with your issue.

MIKE G. I believe the cable that is special is the one to connect the Lionel TMCC box to the TIU. Supposedly there are two wires reversed in them as compared to the same standard cable.

Thanks Dave, but was I right about it being a 6 pin cable? I am kind of slow with computer stuff! LOL

MIKE, it's a 9 pin on one end and USB on the other. There should be a disc with it to install software for it on your computer.

Thanks Dave I will look when I go to the store today!

+

FYI  that same cable works with Lionel LSU.

Leaving our DCS system at 4.3 has been a good move.  Everything we care about works without the hassle of more upgrades to three TIUs and  three remotes.  Never have upgraded the TMCC part; works great.

Well I found out Wal-Mart doesn't carry it. Go figure.

BlueComet400 posted:

Thanks LAZ...............stop by and see it for real when you're in Maine this summer. 

Yes JOHN will do.  Looking forward to checking out all the layouts up in your Great State of Maine.

WIFE and I, along with trusty dog, will be up there from July 29-August 5.  See you at YORK in April.

I do not understand why people do not want to keep all equipment upgraded to the latest code.  It takes just a few minutes.   I do not know anyone that does not stay upgraded.   

MIKE G. Bought this one pictured through Amazon. I had to purchase this cable because the laptop I normally used, which had a 9 pin port, lost its ability to do upgrades after I did a Microsoft update (TIU could not be found on any com ports). So my newer laptop only had USB ports and this cable along with its disc to load the necessary drivers, made it possible to hook up to the TIU for upgrading. On a hunch I decided to try running the disc in my old laptop to see if it would bring the 9 pin port back to life. Sure enough it did. Great product.

Will TIUs only upgrade on thru Windows systems, or Mac, too?

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

I do not understand why people do not want to keep all equipment upgraded to the latest code.  It takes just a few minutes.   I do not know anyone that does not stay upgraded.   

I think if I ever went full DCS I would probably keep it up to latest code. But as someone who is NOT a MTH trained tech :-), I can tell you that the idea of buying a TIU and the Wifi unit and THEN having to immediately update it and run around and buy cables and figure that out--is a huge leap in learning curve.

If I could be guaranteed from a vendor that I was buying a TIU and WIFI unit that both had the latest, updated code pre-installed, I would be much more likely to buy full DCS. 

But to have to buy it, AND discover it isn't the latest code? Turn off. DCS will be challenging enough to learn and use, without having to immediately, out of the box, do updates.

Apologies for the side bar.

AmeenTrainGuy posted:

pdxtrains posted:

Will TIUs only upgrade on thru Windows systems, or Mac, too?

 

You will have to get windows on Mac or try Windows wine which can sometimes run windows apps on Mac. I can help you with getting windows on Mac I already helped a forum member on that.

You are very kind to offer.

I think I will just keep it simple: I have the DCS Explorer which runs limited features and I run two engines at a time on my small layout, with other loops for other trains.

I still think MTH is missing a bet: I would be more than willing to pay-- and I'm not talking $9.99--- I would be willing to pay a fair sum to have more of the DCS features unlocked for my two trains.  The Explorer works--and is brilliantly simple. I am quite certain it could be made feature rich without effecting performance. If I was trying to run a bunch of engines at once, sure, I might wade into full DCS.

I believe that MTH has stumbled on a technology that may put them in a pickle--they don't want the Explorer to be too feature rich to hurt full DCS sales. But I really believe we are talking about two markets here--the guys who run big layouts and scale trains who want full DCS--and guys like me who run two or three engines at once and love the Explorer and would pay to have more features added. I am unlikely to ever upgrade to full DCS--and MTH is leaving money on the table by not offering me a step between the Explorer and full DCS.

Sorry again for the sidebar. But this has been on my mind, and the fact that I can't upgrade the full DCS without running Windows on my Mac further confirms for me that full DCS is not for me. And I'm certain I'm not alone. :-)

mike g. posted:

Well I found out Wal-Mart doesn't carry it. Go figure.

I got my 9pin to usb at Best Boy.  Upgraded my three TIU's and two remotes in less than 30 minutes and that includes re-reading the steps a few times and having a beer  while doing it.

Oh and my laptop has windows 10 and it downloaded the cable driver as soon as I plugged in the USB.  It didn't come with a CD anyway.

Nobody needs to be a tech.  It is a very simple operation.   Why would anyone complain if an update is needed from time to time.  That is much better than having to buy new equipment each time.   Instructions are very easy to read.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Nobody needs to be a tech.  It is a very simple operation.   Why would anyone complain if an update is needed from time to time.  That is much better than having to buy new equipment each time.   Instructions are very easy to read.

"You talkin' about me Willis?"  Seriously it is a simple process if I can do it.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Nobody needs to be a tech.  It is a very simple operation.   Why would anyone complain if an update is needed from time to time.  That is much better than having to buy new equipment each time.   Instructions are very easy to read.

I'm not complaining about updates. Updates are necessary. I'm complaining about updates out of the box.

In my case, here would be the workflow:

Buy the components---> figure out what versions they are running-->install some windows program on my Mac-->buy a cable---> run the update.

It's a lot of steps. I'm sure I could get there eventually, but it would be nice if the components worked out of the box, and if I were to buy them tomorrow I don't think there is any way to know that. That's my point. And the fact that it stops me is a valid point, because I'm not alone. 

Whereas--the DCS Explorer is a simple, no brainer. The app updates. The Explorer works. Eventually, the Explorer may have to be updated with firmware, but not now, out of the box. I can be running trains with it in a half hour.

Am I missing something here? If MTH shipped the hardware and on the box listed the software version, I would not have an issue. But I have no idea if the components I would buy would be compatible without being immediately updated, and I'm simply not willing to spend all that money, and then have to spend all that time--installing Windows programs, buying cables--simply to get it going.

It would be great if we could get kits for the smaller scales too.

I'm thankful for the kits that have come so far. I really prefer to buy MTH engines when possible because of their great value.

Sometimes, there's no choice.

Joe, Mike will never do anything but O gauge upgrade kits.   I remember years ago after PS2 was released I was hanging with Mike at Ready to Roll and he was asked if he would ever do upgrade kits for Protosound engines.  Mike said that he will never do that.  About a year later after getting hit with the same question by many people he announced he will do upgrade kits.   Mike listens to what people have to say.  

The upgrade kits are very well done and assembled.  I have never had a kit with missing parts.  The book is easy reading.  Done right, you will be very happy.  I tell people who are not sure of themselves to give the job to someone who knows the system.  Now with PS3 we have to deal with flashing the chain files  then adding the sound file.  It is no longer just load the sound file and done.  

Dave Zucal posted:

MIKE G. Bought this one pictured through Amazon. I had to purchase this cable because the laptop I normally used, which had a 9 pin port, lost its ability to do upgrades after I did a Microsoft update (TIU could not be found on any com ports). So my newer laptop only had USB ports and this cable along with its disc to load the necessary drivers, made it possible to hook up to the TIU for upgrading. On a hunch I decided to try running the disc in my old laptop to see if it would bring the 9 pin port back to life. Sure enough it did. Great product.

Thanks Dave I will be looking for it, I sure love all the information you can get here on the forum!