Lionel iCab app and WiFi Box - What do YOU want to know?

Hmm...

 

I want to know it ALL! 

 

Seriously!

Derek 

 

will the IPhone app operate the ZW-L in the same way that the legacy remote does?  

 

Ben

Derek,

Will the icab allow you to very the track voltage with a ZW-L and operate conventional trains from the iphone?

When is this app slated for debuting?

You could start by noting that it's "iPhone", not "IPhone".

 

Also, I would guess that it's "iCab", rather than "ICab".

Then he can note that also is not spelled "alos"

Then he can note that also is not spelled "alos"

Huh? Where?  

 

My point is that the author's credibility suffers when the basics of the devices under discussion, such as their names, are stated incorrectly.

What Barry said

 

Ranks up there with calling a Mac computer a MAC which is a networking term

iCab app

I'd like to welcome Barry and Chris to the Notch 6 team. I will be forwarding all future posts to them for approval and editing before posting.

 

Thanks for keeping this thread at the top of the recent post list with your constructive input

 

 

How will you select and add locomotives to the app?  Which iPhone models will it support, also which iOS versions?  Can you swipe the screen left/right to select between most recent locomotives/trains/routes/accessories?  Will it offer full Legacy control, or just the core control like the Cab1-L?  If full Legacy, with the small screen size compared to the larger size of the Cab-2, how will they get all the buttons on the screen for fat fingered people?  If there are shift keys to get additional buttons, are they no more than one level down?

Sinclair, the answer to your first question is on the LCS page, it reads the base and sees the engines in there

A better way to ask the question might be "can the iCab add locos to the base like you do with the Cab2" (minus the modules of course)

Whens the Icab software gonna be out?

Looking forward to thus episode Derek. I know a few folks have been looking forward to operating their trains with the ipad and iphone for some time now. The iCab and LCS should be a crowd pleaser. And more to discuss at the LUG meeting. 

 

Anxious to hear. Will anyone from Lionel be joining you?

never, none were made with that name!

Derek please think about porting the software to windows and windows phone. I'll jump in when it supports a windows tablet.

Ron

Does the Smart Device connect to a Router then the Router to the WiFi or can the Smart Device connect directly to the WiFi Box.?...

I already have a Windows phone and would really appreciate an app for it.

The LCS WiFi can be configured either way - your choice:

 

1. The LCS WiFi box can be configured as a wireless client to your home's existing WiFi router. If set up this way, the "iDevice" running iCab would be configured exactly as it is right now, ie it would remain connected to your home's existing WiFi router. 

 

2. The LCS WiFi box can be configured to be a wireless access point completely independent of your home's existing WiFi network. If set up this way, the "iDevice" running iCab would need to be configured (via the Setup->WiFi menu) to connect to the LCS WiFi box's wireless network before iCab could be used. With this configuration, your "iDevice" would of course have no internet access or access to other hardware currently networked to your WiFi router while it is being used to run trains with iCab. However, this is Lionel's "recommended" configuration, based on concerns that the first configuration I described above could introduce an unpredictable delay in transmission of commands sent from the "iDevice" to the LCS WiFi box if your home's existing WiFi network has a lot of other WiFi data traffic going across it.

 

 

Guys

 

Unless I am mistaken, Derek asked for questions that he could present on his podcast.  I think it would be a good idea to let Derek put these in the podcast and present them there.  I know there is a desire to answer but I'm not sure this was the intent of this thread.

Point well taken, Marty.

 

Many of the questions asked can be answered by reviewing the Lionel LCS information site.

Derek......anything you do will be fine!
Peter

Well, I guess I worded my question that way as I don't fully have a grasp of how Legacy works (Like are the locomotives in t he base or handheld?).  But the main thing is I want to know which iDevices and iOS versions are supported.  The wider the range the better.  I do have an iPhone 4S, but if the best is to set the module as a WiFi point and connect directly to it, I'd rather be able to use my old iPhone 3G or 2nd gen iPod touch as a dedicated LCS controller.

I'd be curious as to design intent. Meant to control one engine or multiple just like the Cab-2? 

 

From http://www.lionel.com/lcs/LCSproducts/iCab/index.html

 

"The iCab app requires LCS WiFi to connect to your layout (up to 15 users can share a single LCS WiFi module). The iCab App works with the Base-1L; a Legacy base adds additional features."

 

What might those features be relative to the Cab-1L?

Locos are stored in the 990 base (not the 993) The remotes reflect what is on the base. This is why when you take your CAB-2 to a friends house or club you can immediately see their engines

 

I saw where Lionel switches can be accessed and controlled by the IPAD; what about switches connected through an AIU and addressed via DCS?

The LCS WiFi module and its app (just like the Lionel CAB-1 and CAB-2) cannot be used to control any DCS device. iPad control of switches connected to an AIU and addressed via DCS will have to await release of the MTH's own WiFi module and the DCS WiFi app.

 

OK than makes sense even though the MTH TIU can be connected to a SER 2 module. The communication is one way from the TIU to the SER2.

 

This means that to control a switch via DCS handheld the switches are connected to an AIU; and to also control them from an IPad you would need a ASC2 connected to the same switch ( unless it is a TMCC switch). 

 

So what Z-Stuff would need to do is make TMCC connector to its switches. Is that the 

• DZ-2000 Switch Machine Controller
• DZ-2001 Data Wire Driver
• DZ-2500 Switch Machine??

any predictions or approximate dates for the release of the iCab app yet

The inability to control the switches from the DCS remote is one of the big disappointments in the TMCC control  With command switches you wouldn't have to have anything but the DCS and the TMCC command base if they added that.  Since it's part of the documented TMCC interface, I don't know why they don't do that.