Ps2 upgrade kit or wait for the Ps3 upgrade kits?

Just my opinion but, I think you are going to a LONG wait for ANY PS3 up-grade kits.

I would wait even if it was a long one. It is worth it to get a better set of boards.

Dale H

jdonald,

I'm in the same boat as you. I have a couple of PS1 Premier steamers I'd like to convert to PS3. It's news to me that PS2 kits might be available in March. My dealer said to not look for PS3 kits for over a year. Considering the backlog of steam PS3 boards is so big that the current and next MTH catalogs wont have any new steamers, I'm inclined to believe we are in for a long wait. If I can get a PS2 kit in the next 4 months I'll convert at least one of my engines.

As long as you utilize a BCR inplace of a battery, I would not wait for PS3 upgrade kits to upgrade a non proto2 engine. My upgrade of the SMR Wooten engine was made with the Proto 2 kit even though a Proto 3 kit would have been preferable. I decided not to wait.

The PS2 upgrades kits I have done are excellent.
I'm going to grad upgrade kits as they're available.

J,
I would up grade to P2 and not wait till P3 arrives, the P2 is cool stuff
that works well. Hopefully the P2 will be available soon.
PCRR

Of course you can delay, and lose the fun of running locos independently. I don't agree with winrose on the need for a BCR. As long as you run every month or so, expect 5 years from MTH NiCads.

I guess for me it would depend on how long I want to wait to run a particular engine. Of course I want everything "right the heck now" but in reality I can usually wait for it. It isn't as if there are no other engines or cars on may layout or that there is nothing else to do.

I agree with RJR on this one. BCR for PS2 not so much.
I have replaced ony one battery so far and I have engines over 5 yrs old.
The replacement went in a VERY old PS1 Galloping Goose.
I'd upgrade that to PS2 but I love the sounds in it, very accurate for the run the unit made. Perhaps I'll add a TMCC unit to it, perhaps not.

What is the cost for a conversion kit and where is a good place to purchase?

quote:

New

MTH recommends having a MTH repair person install kits.
Protosound 2 Upgrade Kits can be purchased from MTH. If you're a MTH club member the kits are about $25 cheaper (cost is probably $160 now).

From club website:
"Protosound 2.0 Steam Conversion Kit
Item Number:50-1901C

Upgrades kits are currently on back order. A deposit of $25.00 will be charged at the time of order. The remaining balance will be charged at time of shipment. The shipping, based on weight, will be charged at the time of shipment.
Upgrade your engine to Proto-Sound 2! The collectors asked for it, MTH delivers.

Each kit consists of a Proto-Sound 2.0 circuit board, a coil wound Proto-Coupler, various wire harnesses, new speaker, new rechargeable batteries, new mounting brackets, and headlight and backup light bulbs. The kits are warranted for 90 days when installed by a participating M.T.H. Authorized Service Center. Each kit will require programming of a sound set prior to operation. The sound sets can be downloaded from the M.T.H. website at no charge but will require the DCS system in order to be uploaded into the upgraded locomotive."

Thank you everyone for your opionions.
I'm still torn, but I think I leaning towards waiting for PS3. I am a sound guy. I love the whistles and the chuffs. MTH has made huge strides the last few years on making both of them better, and from what I gather the new PS3 boards will only provide deeper sounds and better "quillable" whistles. I have plenty of PS2 engines to run to keep me busy. I am thinking about long term too, upgrade to PS2 and then 9-12 months later the latest and greatest PS3 boards arrive, I might regret that.

I don't know...... SUCH A TOUGH DECISION !!!!! LOL

Jeff

The smaller size of the PS3 boards should in theory, allow for more room to mount a decent full range speaker. See this link on speaker replacement. The older stock PS2 speakers are a joke.

http://www.jcstudiosinc.com/Bl...d=621&categoryId=426

If you want better fidelity a good speaker is a must have.

Also the pS3 electronics should be more up to date,(the PS2 electronics are antiquated) with no battery needed. PS2 also does not really need a battery as a BCR will work in its place.

Dale H

Are there any PS2 Steam upgrade kits available?

"Monday, January 30, 2012 at 5:37pm">

 

• 

  MTH Electric Trains Not to my knowledge Mr Holbert. I will ask about them today and see what I can find out. Thank you for the question.

  Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 6:53am
• 

  MTH Electric Trains I was told February Mr Holbert.

  Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11:45am

I have enough PS2 engines to keep me entertained until the PS3 comes out.

I want to convert all my Williams Diesels to PS3.  It will be interesting to find out what the price of a PS3 upgrade will be when it is first offered?  I remember once someone telling me the PS3 board is cheaper to produce, but who knows since any new technology is usually priced higher for the first few years.

Well, I still have in hand one PS2 Steam upgrade kit.

I am waiting for the right engine to put it in.

Say a PS1 Premier steam engine I can get on the cheap...

But It's definitely going in something eventually.

There's a number of topics on this, I hope the admins can somehow combine or eliminate some of them so we can have one topic to post to.

 

From seeing a PS3 engine and talking to the LHS tech, it seems a PS3 kit isn't going to be the "drop-in" replacement we think it is.

 

The main thing, as far as steamers go, will be the cable/tether.  The PS3 has a completely different setup than PS2 or Locosound steamers (don't know about PS1).  There is no "tether" like in PS2 engines.  You have a swiveling connector assembly on the tender end, not sure what was on the engine side, but there was a drawbar that carried power to the engine.  Unless MTH comes up with an adapter/converter it's going to take more than simply dropping it in place.

 

Maybe the OGR admins can post a sticky at the top of the DCS sub-forum for all questions concerning PS3, until enough product gets out for folks to gain some experience.  Otherwise we'll likely be repeating ourselves with new topics.

I have decided that I would like to look into having a few engines upgraded from PS1 to PS2

 

MTH's own resources don't have very much in the way of Authorized Techs who have the kits on hand to do the work.

 

Any tips?

 

My decision is simple, driven by tried and true instead of trying to reach for PS3.

I have kits available and do the conversions.  You can contact me via my profile E-mail.  G