Following is a summary of the 14th York DCS Users Group Meeting, from notes prepared by Ben Fioriello, aka "Bluelinec4". Many thanks to Ben for a great job capturing the essence and detail of the meeting¡ His reporting was terrific. Any errors are due, I'm sure, to my editing.
14th DCS Users Group Meeting
Wednesday October 17, 2012
Barry Broskowitz opened the meeting at 7:00 pm and began conducting a technical Q&A session. The audience was a little shy and did not pose any questions at first. Barry asked new users to raise their hands and began a by asking them what were the most difficult things they had experienced in implementing DCS. That got things started.
Q.- Where have my engines gone when I turn on my remote and they have disappeared? I have to re-add these engines to my DCS Remote.
A.- Barry asked the user if he meant that these engines are going into the Inactive list or totally out of the remote. The user indicated they are disappearing completely. Barry explained that early versions of DCS ( Versions 2 & 3 ) had a bug that may cause this problem. Since the user did not know which version he was running Barry suggested loading the latest DCS version 4.2 on the TIU and remote. He also explained that there is a chance of the remotes memory being full that might have an effect on saved items in the remote. The remote has not changed but many new features have been added that use the existing memory. He directed the questioner to the Troubleshooting – Missing Engines section of his book.
Q.- Is remote memory expandable?
A.- The remote memory is fixed and can not be increased All remotes have the same amount of memory and that will only change if and when a new remote is released..
Q.- Is there a new version of DCS software in the works?
A.- There is currently a new version of software in the works and should be released by the end of the year. This version should correct the lashup bug as well as the handful of others that have been identified.
Q.- Is it possible to have a bad DCS Fixed channel while the rest of the TIU is operational?
A.- The TIU contains four signal generators, one for each output channel. The DCS user can turn any of these off or on with selections in the remote. The user can also set either of the Variable channels to Fixed voltage. There really isn’t any way of measuring the DCS signal at the output other than using the DCS signal strength test command with a PS2 or PS3 locomotive. There are possibilities that a signal generator in the TIU could fail. The questioner had described a symptom on his layout that the signal was missing on his fixed output. It was suggested to swap the problem channel for another channel on the TIU to determine if the problem was in the TIU channel or in the layout’s tracks or wiring. A defective signal generator can generally be repaired by MTH or an authorized MTH service center.
Q.- When going from one loop which is controlled by one channel to another loop controlled by another channel the engine stops dead. Why?
A.- This is not due to a missing DCS signal but rather is a power problem. DCS is designed to have the engine keep running even though it does not sense the DCS signal. Dirty track, missing power drops or loose connections are likely possible causes of this problem.
Q.- What is the function of Recover Engine?
A.- This function recovers an engine when its DCS ID# has somehow gotten out of the normal range. When you set an engine ID in your remote to 1 it is not the same in the engine. The engines internal ID# is actually 2. When setting remote address to 2 the engines internal ID# is 3, and so forth. The valid range for engine ID#s is 1 through 100, where 1 is the factory default and 2-100 in the engine correspond to 1-99 in the DCS Remote. If that engine’s ID# is somehow changed to anything outside of 1-100 the, Recover Engine function will return it to a value of 1.
Q.- Why do lashups have different soft keys in the remote than do my engines?
A.- A lashup contains many engines. Each of those engines have their own functions that may be different, one from another. When engines are combined into a lashup, the lashup is assigned a set of basic soft keys.
Q.- What is the advantage of Passive TIU Mode?
A.- Passive Mode is when a TIU has only its channel outputs connected to tracks without any power actually passing through its channels. The only real advantage to this is to be able to supply more than 10 amps to the track without damaging the TIU. There may be a very slight signal degradation (from a 10 to a 9, perhaps) when operating in Passive Mode.
Q.- How do I lashup non-powered units?
A.- There isn’t such a thing as lashing non-powered units up. Most Non-Powered units have mechanical couplers and no electronics at all. The only exception to this is the few units that have a tether to plug into a lead unit. An example of this would be the auxiliary water tender. The tether allows the non-powered units Protocoupler to be fired from the main unit. The newer Premier diesel units have lights only.
Q.- Why do engines repeat certain commands?
A.- The three things that can cause this are low DCS signal strength, multiple feeds to the same block or lack of acknowledgement by the engine. Low DCS signal strength and a lack of acknowledgment of commands can be caused by dirty track, wheels or pickup rollers.
Q.- What is Super TIU Mode?
A.- When a PS2 or PS3 engine is added to a DCS Remote, it is associated with the TIU whose tracks it was on when it was added. Under Normal TIU Mode, if that engine passes to a track controlled by another TIU the DCS Remote can no longer control it. 10:47 PMhis is because the DCS Remote only sends commands for an engine to the TIU with which it is associated. When operating under Super TIU Mode, the DCS Remote will broadcast commands for all PS2 or PS# engines to all TIUs. While this increases the amount of data packet traffic being sent and received, it typically will not perceptibly degrade DCS performance. Super TIU is actually set in the DCS Remote, not the TIU. Every DCS Remote on the layout must be set to Super TIU Mode for all TIUs.
Q.- How do you know how many TIU’s you need?
A.- This really isn’t set in stone, however, a useful “rule of thumb” would be to assign track to TIU channels as follows:
- Use up to 11 track sections per track block to construct track blocks that are between 20-33 feet each
- Use up to 10-12 track blocks per channel
- This allows between 200 and 396 linear feet of track per TIU channel or 800-1584 linear feet of track for TIU models earlier than the Rev. L. The Rev. L TIU could increase this number significantly.
Q.- Why can’t I change my PS2 engine’s DCS ID# from 18?
A.-After considerable discussion, including many corrective methods that had been tried without any success, it was determined that this engine is most likely defective and should be sent for repair.
At this point Andy Edelman, Vice President of Marketing and Rich Foster, Vice President of Sales arrived from MTH. Barry turned the meeting over to MTH.
At 8:05 pm Rich Foster took the floor and told the group about MTH’s display booths different look. He explained to all how their truck containing their display along with all the new production samples was stolen outside of Cleveland after a show the previous week. He told of the scrambling around to deliver a usable booth to York and apologized if anybody was looking for anything different.
At 8:15 pm Andy Edelman addressed the group. He talked of some things that are happening at MTH.
1- The recent acquisition of S Helper Service is moving along and a separate S Scale catalog will be offered by this December. Product should start to arrive by second Quarter of 2013. The first engines will be the F Units.
2- A new G Gauge line will be announced in 1st quarter of 2013. MTH saw the most detrimental effects of the recession in the G Gauge market.
3- All previously announced Premier steam engines will be delivered by July 2013.
4- The new catalog contains a GS4 Premier steam engine
Andy then began to address those questions submitted in advance via the O Gauge Railroading Forum:
Q.- What is the delivery schedule for the new “DCS 2” hardware and software announced at the last York DCS Users Group Meeting?
A. – MTH has taken the results from the survey at the last meeting and is trying to incorporate as many of these suggestions as is economically feasible. These include one-hand operation, color screen, rechargeable remote, and features similar to Lionel’s Legacy. MTH does not have a delivery schedule as of yet.
Q.- Will we be able to edit sound files?
A. – There really isn’t any plan to do this. The sound files are supplied in one file and control a number of other things besides sound. To edit these files might mess something else up. If it is ever done this may be a very expensive option. Premier sound files are much more complex than Rail King sound files.
Q.- When will the current DCS bug fixes be delivered?
A. – The Super Mode speed scrolling bug, lashup bug and the handful of other bugs will be addressed in the latest software release, which should be delivered before the end of the year.
Q.- When will we see some new G Gauge engines?
A. – As previously stated these should start showing up next year. MTH does have a modern diesel design and a new steamer but it will not go into production yet because of the decline in this market. None of the G scale manufacturers are seeing decent sales.
Q.- When will we see more operating cars?
A. – There are plans to expand this market which has actually been enhanced by the S Helper acquisition. Many new items will need to be developed for the S scale product line. New receiver boards, operating scale couplers and others are in the works, and these will migrate to the O gauge product line.
Q.- Will there be PS3 upgrade kits?
A.- There will be PS 3 upgrade kits. Things like the wireless drawbar will not be included because of the complexity of installing it. The wired tether will be redesigned to go straight instead of the big loop you see now. PS3 will require all lights to be changed to LEDs which will raise the cost of the kit. We will probably see these kits in third quarter of 2013. The prerequisites for a PS3 upgrade will be the same as PS2, which basically is a motor with a flywheel.
Q. – Will Bluetooth ever replace the tether?
A. – MTH has looked into this but it is not economically feasible.
Andy then started explaining that it takes a long time to catch up with the ever-changing technology available. It took MTH 8 years to get a TIU with a USB port. MTH has been looking into the often requested computer control of its trains. He explained that it would be a user support nightmare to introduce this and that MTH wasn’t willing to take on this additional load. He was always looking for a 3rd party to introduce it and support it, and was pleased to say that MTH had found such a 3rd party.
Andy then introduced Dave Hikel of Hikel Trains, who has developed and implemented a computer control system for DCS.
Dave explained that he was contracted by a customer to install a large model railroad using DCS. The customer insisted that it be computer controlled and funded the development to do this. Dave related that he has it working on the layout at the MTH booth that and anyone can run the trains using a smartphone or iPad.
Dave explained that the current installation at the MTH booth utilized Wi-Fi and, at present, allowed operation via a web browser on a smart device (or a laptop, as I learned the next day at the MTH booth. BB).
By next April’s York Dave expects to have a free iPhone/iPad app available to replace the web browser interface. This app will have functionality similar to that of the current DCS Remote Commander. By the following October York, Dave expects to have a paid-for iPhone/iPod app that will be full-featured and provide total control of a railroad, including train location and route selections. This will not replace the MTH DCS remote but be an additional feature that will enhance layout operation.
Andy then fielded a few final questions from the audience and adjourned the meeting. Meeting attendees picked up MTH’s new Vol. I 2013 O Gauge Catalog as they left the meeting.
