Originally Posted by xrayvizhen:
Originally Posted by BOB WALKER:
Here's an interesting premise to dwell on: If LionChief had come first, would Lionel ever have introduced TMCC or just kept adding features to LionChief.
My assumption is Lionel must have considered some form of radio control at the time. After all, four and six channel RC airplane systems were well established long before TMCC was introduced but for whatever reason Lionel, as well as MTH and the DCC consortium, decided to send train control signals through the rails. We'll probably never know.
I would guess the decision was made because the 27Mhz and 49Mhz radio controls that would have been cost effective at the time were susceptible to a lot of interference from silly things like brushes in pullmore motors. I know That I had to work my train running into odd hours much of the time in the 90's because they caused the tv, and especially VCR to record static when running. Not so much of an issue with digital signal used now. Instead Lionel went with a system that was cheap and simple from an engineering perspective. LC+ i the same sort of tech 30 years later. The 2.4GHz transceivers used are so cheap they are practically giving them away, about a dollar in quantities of one. Where as the I think 900MHz band that was used for RC planes was quite expensive just for the radios at the time, and I don't think Lionel could have afforded set the price point much higher when the lower cost option would provide more reliable operation. Also consider that digital encoding of signals was not in common use, you needed a system that would not send garbled data, AM Radio worked. The 2.4GHz radios of the sort used in LC+ use redundant error checking and delivery confirmation, unless they get the whole data package they don't pass it on.
Also, as it seems many people above skipped past, here's a summary of some things above: LionChief, as currently implemented is not intended for people that already use TMCC/Legacy/DCS. If you use one of those systems, and are comfortable with the use of the system, you probably won't understand using LC+ any more than you understand why some people are so militant on sticking to conventional operation. You might like it for various reasons, but you're not who it's made for.
Who it is made for are going to be three groups. First are your people that could have just as easily bought a G-gauge or an HO, and the remote offers some little added reason to buy O for their first and possibly only, train. I would say this is probably the biggest market for LionChief and the smallest for LC+.
The second group are going to be people like me. Always interested in TMCC/etc but cost involved kept me away.( it's not just the system, but all the little add ons to fully integrate.) Putting a simple remote in my hand on the polar express 10 Year anniversary, that I wanted anyway, ignited a fire to finally throw in with TMCC. I think Lionel know that there are a lot of guys they can rope into Legacy by giving them just a taste with LionChief. (I'm too broke to go that route.)
The third, and by far the largest market for LionChief/+ is the folks that just don't want TMCC/etc. These people may have given it a try, but prefer conventional control. Some of the reasons include being a "purist", Not wanting any fancy electronics, wanting it simple, or the simple fact that while TMCC seems simple enough to you or I, to other people it is not. I have trouble understanding that point of view until I think of my grandmother and how I've had to explain how to change channels on the TV remote, and come over to help when she accidentally pressed some feature button. For whatever reason, there are an awful lot of people that just do not want TMCC/Legacy/DSC, They want conventional only, and this is where I think someone was a genius at Lionel. By phasing out true conventional only operation, you force people to buy a product that CAN be used conventional, but that also offers some neat features with a remote. your conventional guy gets to use some remote features in a very easy to understand remote control.... there are pictures on the buttons! In the end, some of these folks might just like using the remote, and if you read some of the above posts, you'll find some of the biggest fans of LC+ are guys that ran conventional before.
There is some more info in above posts on the direction I think LC will take in the future and some technical aspects, but this patch of rambling is more or less a summary of who LC+ is for. The guys that run Legacy layouts can, and probably should, dismiss LC like they would a MPC DC starter set. it's worth knowing it exists, but it's not likely something you need.