I guess I am going have to do some homework. I am giving serious consideration to buying a second remote. I see the remotes are selling on eBay for $145 plus shipping. I am not sure if all remotes are compatible with my vintage of TIU - hence the homework.
Check with Mario's, and note his sale code. For what you are quoting plus a few bucks and including shipping, you'll get one new from a reputable dealer. I got one last week from him.
All remotes, regardless of vintage, are fully compatible with all vintages of TIU, and all versions of DCS. I know, I've got them all, from Day one to now.
Lv4trains posted:I guess I am going have to do some homework. I am giving serious consideration to buying a second remote. I see the remotes are selling on eBay for $145 plus shipping. I am not sure if all remotes are compatible with my vintage of TIU - hence the homework.
Every DCS remote ever made will work with every TIU ever made (no matter what version of TIU you have). It is strongly recommended to make sure that the TIU & Remote have the same version of firmware.
RJR posted:Check with Mario's, and note his sale code. For what you are quoting plus a few bucks and including shipping, you'll get one new from a reputable dealer. I got one last week from him.
All remotes, regardless of vintage, are fully compatible with all vintages of TIU, and all versions of DCS. I know, I've got them all, from Day one to now.
Thanks. I will check Mario’s out.
So then I need to spend $179 (retail) on the DCS Wi-Fi unit, added to to the purchase of the TIU?
If Wi-Fi is the direction forward, shouldn't it be built into the TIU?
will the 6.0 run the variable channels
Doug,
will the 6.0 run the variable channels
Every DCS release will operate the variable channels. Is there a particular reason that you're asking?
I personally would not like to see the end of the remote. I used to run 4 trains per loop and I had a remote for each loop and with the "ALL" command I was able to control 37 trains simultaneously. I have no issue giving my grandchildren a remote to control "their" train. I would have an issue of giving them a phone or downloading a app on their phone. I am not happy with the proliferation of apps using my wifi network. What security controls are built into the app. Has the integrity of the applications been tested to determine if they can be a trojan horse to compromise your home wifi system.
winrose46 posted:I personally would not like to see the end of the remote. I used to run 4 trains per loop and I had a remote for each loop and with the "ALL" command I was able to control 37 trains simultaneously. I have no issue giving my grandchildren a remote to control "their" train. I would have an issue of giving them a phone or downloading a app on their phone. I am not happy with the proliferation of apps using my wifi network. What security controls are built into the app. Has the integrity of the applications been tested to determine if they can be a trojan horse to compromise your home wifi system.
I have done some extensive testing and internet traffic monitoring with the app, WIU, and DCS Explorer.
The app itself get tested rigorously by Google & Apple for security flaws and the very things you are worried about. My own monitoring of the app hasn't shown anything unusual about the way it interacts with a device or has it made any non-legitimate requests that I could detect.
In any case the app doesn't run in the background, so you don't really have to worry about waiting to strike with a trojan horse payload.
As for the WIU and DCS Explorer, the only internet traffic I have ever seen requested by the devices is for NTP (Network Time Protocol). The device simply connect to an NTP server on the internet and updates the time of the software running on the WIU / DCS Explorer. This only happens once during startup and only if an internet connection is available (i.e. in MTH MODE, the device won't request NTP because it won't have an internet connection*)
If you run the WiFi enable devices in MTH MODE, they have no outbound connection to the internet and therefore have no way to download or infect your network.
It's a minor point and you guys seem to have turned over most of he rocks in this stream, but I just like the ergonomics of the remote better. I tried the DCS wifi but I never became proficient with it. Am I wrong in saying that the wifi solution requires you to FREQUENTLY shift your attention to the app screen to be sure of correctly interacting with the locos and accessories? With the remote,I can FEEL the buttons I need and keep my eyes focused on the action. Occasionally I have to look at the remote. But not often.
Don
Barry thanks for the reply i ask that question ive used th variable since 2000 what i failed to say will the variable work with 6.0 if you use a ipad or phone
Doug,
will the variable work with 6.0 if you use a ipad or phone
Yes, it will, in the Premium DCS App.
Thank you Barry
I have never tried this and do not think it would work because the physical remotes and the Ipads are two different monsters. Given all that would not setting up things on the engines like smoke volume, engine sounds, lash ups ect. be much faster with the app as opposed to the physical remote yes? Thearedically could a person use the app to change engine settings or make engine lashups then switch back to the physical remote for operation and would the engine settings/lashup stay the same?
I got the wiu and at first I used it a lot controlling all the dcs functions it is so much easier and faster than the pysical remote to access engine menus and settings. Btw this got me back into buying more mth engines as the app with premium is nice. Then one day I went back to running engines with the remote. During a typical operating session once the engines are set aka lashed up, smoke, volumes adjusted ect. I found running them with the remote as don pointed out much better as I hardly look at the remote vrs the ipad due to the physical buttons I can feel. Once the remote is memorized it becomes second nature as to where the button is you want to press. I also like the ergonomics of the physical remote when operating vrs the tablet or phone. I have used both. I also have legacy and two remotes and now that dcs controls legacy and tmcc engines I find that the mth remote is more ergonomic than the legacy remote also. Granted it cant do all legacy features at the moment such as train link, it does enough to get to most of the features when running a single engine or tmcc lashup. However I do kinda miss the quillable whistle feature. Using the physical mth remote during operations also frees up my other hand to hold my uncoupling tool or do other other things like activate acc buttons ect.
