HELP can not get my MTH F3 to work

The engine set you have can be run in conventional mode only.  It is from 1997 which means it predates DCS, PS2 and PS3 by several years.  It is equipped with Proto-Sound (aka PS1; QSI usually written somewhere in the features list) which is not the same as Proto-Sound 2.0 and Proto-Sound 3.0.  You cannot run it through DCS like newer PS2 and PS3 engines.  However, you can make DCS run it conventionally by using the variable channels on the TIU.

Bill above gave you the correct answer.  That unit you bought is the earlier QSI Protosounds 1, which is a conventional control system and not command-control, so it will not add to the remote just as it cannot add any other engines that are conventional-only.

The answer is to run it in conventional mode using your DCS remote by using the variable voltage  ports on the TIU, and you will still have the ability to control direction, horn/whistle, bell, & proto-coupler.  Or, you can get it upgraded to PS2 so you can run it in full command mode.

Thanks for all the replies. I did change my TIU as noted in my instruction manual, and the F3 now works. All my other engines are either PS2 or TMCC and I had the TIU set up for Fixed voltage. 

Think I will upgrade to PS2. Is there a PS3 upgrade kit?

RAY

No PS3 upgrade kits are available yet, and no definitive, official timeline was given when they would become available either, although I've heard that it may be sometime next year.

If you don't want to wait, then your best choice will be to either upgrade to PS2 or TMCC.

Does anyone know if there is an MTH service depot in the San Francisco Bay area that does the PS2 upgrade and what a typical cost might run for the upgrade? 

I could not find any TMCC upgrade kits listed in the Lionel web site.

RAY

TMCC upgrades are available from Electric Railroad Co. they are owned by Lionel but have a separate web site.

http://www.electricrr.com/

Nick H

Here in the Midwest upgrades to PS-2 cost between $250-$300.

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Dennis

I do upgrades and when converting F-3 ensure all the lights are PS-2 enabled vice just using the CV board and having them stay on all the time.  E-mail in profile.  I am a MTH ASC.   G