The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition Has Been Revised

Got the new version update - easy as 1-2-3.  Thanks!

Barry,

Thanks for the update.

I am right in the middle of some TMCC issues and are researching the 22uh choke coil mentioned on bottom of P 152. Do you happen to know the amperage rating I should be looking for?

Got it.  The system worked.  Thanks, Barry.  Many changes?

Hugh,

You need a choke that can handle whatever amps your engine can draw, normally somewhere up to 3 or 4 amps. However, I went for something that could handle 15 or 20 amps, just in case of a short-circuit.

Robert,

Many changes?

Lots of small changes. Check out the Revision document.

Thanks Barry...as much as I like the electronic version I believe I will be buying the print also. NEVED thought I would by 2 books of any sort. Each has their place that fits into my routine. I like print copy for notes and crawling under layout and such. Electronic for couch and car and hotels etc...hmmmm my world changes yet again....

Downloaded the update last night, thanks.

Thanks Barry

Thanks Barry, just got it. 

Will the printed version be available at York?

Downloaded without any problems.  I have PDF Complete that opened the previous version, but won't open this one.  Information screen states it requires security features that are limited in this version of PDF Complete   Anyone else having this problem?

Brian

Brian,

I have no knowledge of PDF Complete, however, Acrobat Reader is a free download from Adobe and opens this version of the book just fine.

I also am not familiar with PDF Complete.  But I do beleive that there are some security limitaions in the book in adition to the password, such as to preclude alteration.

PDF Complete came with my new HP Windows 7 computer as the primary PDF viewer.  Why it worked with the previous version and not this one I don't understand.  Took your advice Barry and downloaded the Acrobat Reader.  Opened the new version without any problems.  Thanks everyone!

Brian

Thanks Barry!  Looking forward to reading.

Barry,

I am having a problem with the shopatron site.   Its asking for the email and password I used when I ordered the e-book.  Its been a while since I ordered it and I don't remember the process or email address I used.  I have 2 emails that I use and I tried both and shopatron says they have neither on file.  I don't remember going thru shoatron when I ordered the e-book version on the MTH site. 

Any help on what I might be doing wrong ?

Thanks,

Ed

Ed,

When you purchased the eBook you absolutely went through the Shopatron site. There was, and still is, no other way to obtain the eBook.

If you can determine the E-mall address that you originally used to purchase the eBook, you can click on the link "Forgot Your password? Click here" under the login block. If you have two possible E-mail addresses, try both, one at a time.

If that doesn't work, contact them by telephone:

• Call (877) 412-7467, Choose option 1 in the main menu.

Got it.  It helps to remember the correct password.

Thank you for the update.

Ed

Barry,

  Once the new apps are up and running, will you be adding instructions to the companion, for us computer dummies?

Dave,

Once the new apps are up and running, will you be adding instructions to the companion

I've discussed this with Dave and the plan is for me to update the book to include Dave's initial app, planned for April of next year. I'm also planning to include how to setup and connect your layout to your home's wireless network (LAN), and how to setup your layout to use all of the app's features.

As you may imagine, this will most likely not be a small update, and I expect that it could push the book into a 3rd edition.

However, nothing's cast in concrete at this time.

Barry

Where can I buy a couple of your updated books

Horace

Horace,

Where can I buy a couple of your updated books

Follow this link:

http://www.mthtrains.com/content/60-1279

Both the eBook and the print book have been updated.

Barry, 

I downloaded the book and was able to open it, but unable to save it to my puter??

The save button it not highlighted???

Ray Zaccard

Ray,

If you downloaded it, it's already on your computer. The "Save" button is not active because you didn't cange anything in the file (because you can't). However, if what you want to do is to save a second copy somewhere else on your computer, you have two ways to do so, just like any other file.

One way is to use "Save As" instead of save. The other is to just move or copy the file, just like any other file.

Got it , Barry! Works great, Thanks for a great book.

Ray

I am going to go and order the printed book so I can use it on site (right at the layout) rather than printing up pages. 

Barry - I went to the MTH site you gave to Horace - my question is - Is that the revised book they are showing?

Paul,

Yes. The latest revised book is the only one that's currently available online.

Barry, Thanks.

Barry, from which site or sites should I order my print copy to be certaint it's the latest and greatest update currently available in printed book form? Also will that newest available print copy be as up to date as the most recent e-book version?

Kenn

Ken,

The only way that you could purchase an older copy is if you purchased it from a dealer that had old stock.

If you purchase it at the MTH site (which directs you to CreateSpace, the publisher) you are guaranteed to get the most recently revised copy.

The print book and the eBook are identical in content. They are both available at this link:

http://www.mthtrains.com/content/60-1279

Just curious. The download is $13. The soft cover version is $30. $17 more. (I was a math major!)

I know some of you took the file to some store (Staples and others) to have it printed and bound. Could a few share the expense of doing that?

I did a search....but came up with 2.1 million posts that mention the DCS companion and printing cost. Oh, and they all had, "this and a whole lot more......" (Just kidding Barry!)

If it is just a little less, it seems to me it would suit just as well, if one wanted the whole thing in print form, to buy the soft cover for the $17 extra and have a nice, professional looking book.

Thanks for the input. Greg

(Who knows Barry, maybe by my next Christmas train garden/layout, I will be ready to buy Version 3 that will be out by then!)

Greg,

The print book is a bargain at $29.95 vs. getting the eBook commercially printed. When the 1st edition was first released as an eBook (168 pages vs, 215 for the 2nd edition), I had several B&W copies of it printed at OfficeMax, as follows:

• 8.5 X 11, double-sided
• Clear plastic front cover over a color front cover printed on card stock-weight paper
• Solid color plastic back cover
• Insert to hold the eBook on CD
• Spiral bound.

The volume price for 6 copies was around $20 each. Color was quoted at around $70 each. That's for 168 pages, not 215.

I recently saw a "sale" at Kinko's that touted $0.29/page for color printing. That would be $62.35 plus tax for a 215 page book. Now, add another 6 bucks or so for spiral binding. That's $68 or more.

An eBook plus printed copy costs $42.90 plus a few bucks for shipping.

Do the math.

"Do the math"  Thanks for the quick response.

I did the math, remember..."math major" above? And even w/o the figures you and others provided, my common sense told me the printed version, for only the $17 more, was a better value if a purchaser wanted a hard copy. You confirmed that, unless someone else chimes is with an even better deal. But I would think that would not be what is found here. 

I would think, even running it through one's own laser printer...while perhaps a few cents per page cheaper....would not be that much of a cost saver, by the time one figures toner, printer wear and tear, collating and hole punching time, if you "bind" it.

Others can now see the figures and make up their own minds using the info you, and perhaps another poster or two will give. If/when I buy, I already know what would be the best deal for me. I just wish I had more use for it...more train time IOW.

Thanks again, Greg

Kenn,

First and foremost, under copyright laws is copying pages of the ebook version for personal use legal?

Page 2 of the eBook has the following statement:

The purchaser of this book is permitted 

to print copies of this book only 

for personal use solely by the purchaser

Greg,

I agree totally.  While obviously there is a place for the e-books and such I will always go with a hard copy of any material if I can.  For some reason I'd rather pickup a book than thumb thru an electronic version.  But I can see where the electronic versions work better for some folks.

Thanks,

Ed