WELCOME TO THE 25th YORK DCS USER GROUP MEETING!
Wednesday October 17, 2018
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING VERY CAREFULLY!
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The previously scheduled DCS User Group Meeting in April of this year was cancelled due to a lack of participation. It is imperative that we have a sufficient turnout for the meeting to allow the caterer a decent event. Therefore, I’m asking that all of you who choose to attend the meeting post the following on this thread or, alternatively, send me an E-mail with the following information:
Your intention to attend.
How many will be attending with you.
Whether or not you will be joining us for dinner.
If, by October 1st, we don’t have a sufficient number of attendees that will be having dinner at the meeting, it will be necessary to cancel the meeting.
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We are meeting, once again, at the York Fairgrounds, at the Veranda Room restaurant (formerly the White Rose Restaurant).
The Veranda Room is located on the York Fairgrounds close to the entrance on Carlisle Avenue. If you’re unfamiliar with the location of the Veranda Room, refer to the map of the York Fairgrounds, below.
Make your plans now to attend the 25th York DCS User Group Meeting!
!!! WE WILL BE DOING COMPLIMENTARY UPGRADES TO THE LATEST DCS RELEASE RIGHT AT THE MEETING !!!
!!! WE WILL ALSO BE DOING COMPLIMENTARY DCS WIFI (WIU) and DCS EXPLORER FIRMWARE UPGRADES RIGHT AT THE MEETING!!!
The Veranda Room location allows over 150 attendees to be comfortable during dinner and presentations.
I’ll be your host for the meeting along with Marty Fitzhenry. Don Klose has, once again, graciously agreed to be our scribe for the evening.
Sensenig Catering will offer a cafeteria-style dinner. You will be able to purchase your dinner via a cafeteria line as you enter the meeting room. Entrees will include meat loaf, pulled pork and turkey, along with side items, a vegetarian entree, sandwiches, desserts, and soft drinks. All sales will be cash, no credit cards.
Whether you're contemplating installing MTH's DCS on your layout using the DCS Remote or DCS WiFi with any version of the DCS Application; recently acquired an MTH Ready to Run set with a DCS Explorer; or you are already a full-fledged DCS operator, this is your opportunity to meet with other DCS enthusiasts over dinner to swap ideas and discuss the absolute best way to run your model railroad!
This meeting is also an opportunity to get all of your DCS components, including DCS Remote, TIU, WIU, and DCS Explorer, updated to their latest software releases at no charge.
As in the past, MTH executive management will be in attendance to:
- Discuss the company’s plans for DCS
- Discuss details regarding the WIU and DCS Explorer WiFi units
- Conduct a survey to get all of our ideas for improving DCS, particularly as regards DCS App future development.
- Answer all your questions about DCS, DCS WiFi, PS2/PS3 engines, or anything else MTH.
- Also, MTH will be providing copies of their new 2019 Volume 1 O Gauge Catalog at the meeting. Be among the first to get your copy!
If you're already operating DCS and desire more information, or you're just interested in learning more about DCS from some of the OGR Forum's resident experts (mostly self-proclaimed!), this is the place to be.
We’ll also be discussing how to improve future meetings. Input from meeting attendees would be most appreciated!
If any of you were kind enough to donate to my retirement fund by purchasing a copy of The DCS Companion or The DCS WiFi Companion books, I’ll be available to autograph your printed copy of the book or any media that contains an eBook edition.
The Veranda Room is located on the York Fairgrounds, close to the entrance on Carlisle Avenue.
Directions:
From Interstate 83, take US 30 West (Lincoln Highway) to PA 74 (Carlisle Avenue). Go left on Carlisle past North Highland Avenue on the right. Continue a short distance to an entrance to the Fairgrounds on the right. Turn right into the entrance and follow the winding road to the Veranda Room on your left (red circle and arrow on the left side of the map). Please refer to the map below if you’re not familiar with the area.
If you're planning to attend, please be certain to post your intention on this thread so that we can provide the caterer with an accurate head count. Alternatively, you can instead E-mail me directly using the address in my forum profile. As mentioned above, if we don't meet the minimum required dinner attendees, its will be necessary to cancel the meeting.
Please note the following schedule of events:
- 5:30 – 7:00 Upgrading DCS sets, WIU and DFCS Explorer firmware, and cloning of DCS Remotes
DCS upgrades will be done by Marty Fitzhenry and Pat Marinari. Marty and I will also be updating WIUs and DCS Explorers to their latest firmware. There will be no charge for this service!
IMPORTANT: If you would like us to update your WIU or DCS Explorer, please be sure to bring the power adapter with you!
So, if you're a bit skittish about upgrading your own DCS software, cloning your remotes, or updating your WIU or DCCSExplorer firmware, this is a great opportunity to both get it done for you and to learn how easy it is to do it yourself in the future. Make sure that you have fresh batteries in your remotes!
- 5:45 – 7:15 Dinner will be available.
- 7:00 – 8:00 DCS Q & A
We’ll have several DCS beta testers and other DCS experts on hand who will endeavor to answer all of your DCS operational questions in a “town meeting” format. We can discuss anything relating to DCS, PS2, PS3, the DCS App, or any other topic regarding MTH’s product lines. Questions can include how a particular DCS feature or function works, how to do something in DCS, problem resolution, or anything else. The feedback we’ve gotten from past meetings was that this informal Q&A session is extremely well-received and is something that you won’t want to miss, so plan to be there and bring your questions!
Following the Q&A, Dave Hikel will be making a short presentation about best practices when using WiFi with the DCS WIU and DCS Explorer.
- 8:00 – ??? MTH Presentation
MTH will provide us with a look into their product roadmap and answer questions from the OGR Forum about DCS, PS2, PS3, and the company’s other products.
MTH will also be conducting a survey to learn what we think should be the future of DCS.
If you have any questions for MTH, please submit them in advance to make sure that they get asked and answered, and to allow time for MTH to conduct any necessary research. You may either post questions on this thread or E-mail them to the address in my forum profile. The cut-off date for questions is the end of the day Sunday, October 7th, so that MTH has enough time to prepare answers.
Again, if you're planning to attend and have dinner, please be certain to post your intention on this thread so that we can provide the caterer with an accurate head count. Alternatively, you can instead E-mail me directly using the address in my forum profile.
Note that it would be a good idea if everyone who attends wears their York Meet ID "badge" to introduce themselves.
I look forward to meeting with as many of you as can be there for an evening of camaraderie, great food, great conversation, great information, and lots of fun!
