For about 100$ get the wifi explorer from evil bay . It has a power supply and run the engine from your phone or tablet.

ok.. do I still need a transformer like :  MTH Z-4000 ??

 I would go with the DCS system and power it with a Lionel 180 watt brick. You will be able to access all the features of your engine. The Lionel brick has plenty of power to run multiple engines and features a fast acting breaker. 

The wifi set should include the small power pack, look at the listings carefully.  Some sellers are breaking up the RTR sets. For a single PS 3.0 engine, that would be fine.  No need to speed 300$ or more for a  z4000 or lionel power supply.  The wifi app and explorer will let you control all of the PS3 features. Search for

MTH DCS EXPLORER WIFI TRACK INTERFACE UNIT digital command system 50-1035-Bulk

Ok ... will go with that.. 

Thank you so much for the replies and information.

If and I think you will,  get bitten by the DCS command control that MTH offers, then a long term strategy would be to invest in the WIFI module 50-1035 (or the hand-held controller which is being phased out ) ,  the  DCS  TIU 50-1003 and possibly an AIU unit 50-1004 for switches or accessories. You'll want a bigger power supply, so then a MTH brick like the Z-750 or Z-1000 or the Lionel PH180 would work great too.  You can use multiples of those with the DCS TIU, up to separate 4 lines.  The grand daddy of power is the Z4000 and Lionel ZW-L which can run multiples in a single unit. But you'll still need the DCS TIU and either the hand-held controller or the WIFI module and tablet setup to make use of all the great features PS 3.0 has.

An inexpensive alternative to control one PS3 locomotive is the DCS Remote Commander for about $60 new. It uses IR technology (think TV remote). Track power can be whatever transformer you currently have from 14VAC to 18VAC. I use the 14V accessory output from an MTH Z-1000 brick.

The Remote:

The receiver picks up the IR signal from the remote and outputs  DCS signal commands to the track, which the locomotive picks up and acts on.

geysergazer posted:

An inexpensive alternative to control one PS3 locomotive is the DCS Remote Commander for about $60 new. It uses IR technology (think TV remote). Track power can be whatever transformer you currently have from 14VAC to 18VAC. I use the 14V accessory output from an MTH Z-1000 brick.

The Remote:

                     

The receiver picks up the IR signal from the remote and outputs  DCS signal commands to the track, which the locomotive picks up and acts on.

                    

Forgot about that option. While you can't access all the features, like smoke control, lighting etc.  you have the basic ones there.  Still need a power supply. But since these have been out for quite awhile, the used market is probably saturated with these.

The MTH 50-1035 DCS WiFi Explorer separate sale package does NOT include a power supply.  The Z-4000 is massive overkill if you're using the WiFi Explorer, it handles a single power feed with a maximum current of 6 amps.  The Z-1000 brick is a good match if you're going that way.  Of course, personally I prefer the Lionel PowerHouse 180 as it has a much better circuit breaker.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The MTH 50-1035 DCS WiFi Explorer separate sale package does NOT include a power supply.  The Z-4000 is massive overkill if you're using the WiFi Explorer, it handles a single power feed with a maximum current of 6 amps.  The Z-1000 brick is a good match if you're going that way.  Of course, personally I prefer the Lionel PowerHouse 180 as it has a much better circuit breaker.

Would that be wise with a 6 amp limit?

The PH180 tips like lightning with an overload, I suspect it would be fine. 

Truthfully, I've found that it's virtually impossible to blow the 20A fuse in the TIU with the PH180 on a short circuit, but it's almost a certain if you have a direct short on the channel with the Z-1000 brick powering it.  Given that fact, I'd feel safer with the PH180 than the Z-1000 brick.  YMMV

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The PH180 tips like lightning with an overload, I suspect it would be fine. 

Truthfully, I've found that it's virtually impossible to blow the 20A fuse in the TIU with the PH180 on a short circuit, but it's almost a certain if you have a direct short on the channel with the Z-1000 brick powering it.  Given that fact, I'd feel safer with the PH180 than the Z-1000 brick.  YMMV

???

I thought you were saying to use it with the 6 amp explorer though?

(not the TIU)

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The MTH 50-1035 DCS WiFi Explorer separate sale package does NOT include a power supply.  The Z-4000 is massive overkill if you're using the WiFi Explorer, it handles a single power feed with a maximum current of 6 amps.  The Z-1000 brick is a good match if you're going that way.  Of course, personally I prefer the Lionel PowerHouse 180 as it has a much better circuit breaker.

I was Joe, I was just pointing out that the Z-1000 will supply more short circuit current than the PH180.  So, all things being equal, IMO the PH180 will be less likely to cause a problem with the WiFi Explorer than the Z-1000 brick.  The short circuit current of the Z-1000 brick easily exceeds 20 amps before the internal CB trips, not true with the PH180.

MDWAIT, looking back at your original question, to utilize all of the DCS features, you need more than a transformer.  You also need, between transformer and track, a device to generate the digital signals which trigger the various features.  This device would be a TIU, or the wifi explorer.  The Z4000 is overkill for one loco.  The Lionel PH180, which the gunrunner recommends, is excellent, but it must be paired with a TIU or equivalent.  If you are planning on having a larger layout, with several DCS locos, I would get a TIU & a PH180.  You would then either need the WIU wifi adapter and a smartphone or tablet, or you could get the DCS remote.  The forum has many threads in which the devotees of remote and wifi argue their respective positions. 

I do "plan" on having a larger layout.. but at the rate I am going.. new technology could arise before I get to a larger layout....
so 

a.) Lionel PH180
b.) TIU 
c.) Either a WIU wifi adapter -OR- a smartphone w/RCS remote.

 I would invest in the entire DCS setup to start with. TIU with remote. The remote is user friendly. Especially where this is all new to you. You can add WIFI later if you want to go that route. Keep it pretty basic to you get the feel of what you want. The Lionel 180 would simply go into Fix 1 of the TIU.  As your layout grows and you find the need to add another channel. You can split the 180 between the 2 channels or just simply add another. If you find out that this is not for you. These can readily be sold on the secondary market.

Clarification:  If you get the remote, you do not need a smartphone or a wifi.  Personally, I recommend that route over the smartphone/tablet & WIU, because it's simpler---one less thing for a newcomer to DCS to work out .  The PH180 can easily run 3 trains all in motion at once;  if you have smoke or many lighted cars, 2 may be the limit. 

MD Wait posted:

I do "plan" on having a larger layout.. but at the rate I am going.. new technology could arise before I get to a larger layout....
so 

a.) Lionel PH180
b.) TIU 
c.) Either a WIU wifi adapter -OR- a smartphone w/RCS remote.

Great point. Go slow. Get the DCS explorer and see where the hobby takes you. The DCS explorer will most likely have resale value, for a while or you’ll find someplace to use it. If you go with a lionel 180 for power, that will definitely be useful as you expand. 

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I was Joe, I was just pointing out that the Z-1000 will supply more short circuit current than the PH180.  So, all things being equal, IMO the PH180 will be less likely to cause a problem with the WiFi Explorer than the Z-1000 brick.  The short circuit current of the Z-1000 brick easily exceeds 20 amps before the internal CB trips, not true with the PH180.

Sorry John, I've been out all day now.

I did not realize that the Z1000 brick would put out so much. I've run them with my G scale back when I started and forced them to trip. I forget the exact number of engines, but I ran say 3 or 4 G scale diesels with smoke on and the brick would do what I'd describe as brown out and then trip. I was using the TIU and had no way at that time to measure amps. I did clearly get more power out of the PH180 when I compared them this way (5 engines w/ smoke?). So after that I bought another PH180 and saved the Z1000 for the grandkids. That's a whole nother story with theirs. 

 I do agree and like the way the PH180's breaker reacts to shorts and/or overloads. I now have 4 of them on my O scale 2 rail. I still use external fuses inline before the TIU for protection. I can't remember those blowing anytime recently before the PH180 breaker tripped.

 Now I guess we have to rely on the fuse blowing to protect the explorer. The speed? of the breaker in the PH180 leads me to ask, can we buy those and install them inline when using other supplies?

(specifically the Z1000 for this example)

Engineer-Joe posted:

The speed? of the breaker in the PH180 leads me to ask, can we buy those and install them inline when using other supplies?

Well, not really.  The reason the breaker for the PH180 is so good is it's a wee bit more complicated than the single thermal breaker of the Z-1000.   The transformer and pilot light is that little part in the upper left, the rest of the schematic is the circuit breaker logic.

It would be great if one of our gurus could produce a kit for that.😊

WOW!

The LM324AM is a high gain internally frequency compensated quad Operational Amplifier designed specifically to operate from a single power supply over a wide voltage range. Operation from split power supplies is also possible so long as the difference between the two supplies is 3 to 32V. Application areas include transducer amplifier, DC gain blocks and all the conventional OP amp circuits ...

Yeah, right. Ok then. 

To keep it simple you pick the size of the transformer no different than how you did for your current layout.  How much power you need for size of layout, multiple engines etc...

PS-3 is no special thing that takes anything exotic.  The caveats are:  Modern MTH engines like Normal AC wave, not a heavily chopped wave that Modern Lionel like.  Regardless though, if you had an Lionel transformer it would work.

Having bell and whistle button lets you access features besides sounds.

Having a more modern transformer with good circuit breaker and spike prevention is much safer for Modern Engines, MTH or Lionel, etc...

If you want to move into full command control, that is the TIU and remote or TIU and Wifi.  Or as other have shown some lesser models to let you ease in.  Just remember for any Command Controlled, Lionel or MTH you putting track voltage at 18V so conventional trains not really suitable to run on same track line together with Command control.

A 75 to 100W transformer is plenty for a small 4x8 layout and one engine.  Just like PW, Lionel, or MTH.  If you have a Modern ZW, that would work, a CW-80 would be ok, but the chopped wave doesn't work as well in conventional as it does in command with voltage on max.  G

FWIW, the PowerHouse 180 is, of course, a pure sine wave transformer.