Making command control easier to use.

[jimhaleyscomet]

I run DCS and TMCC on my layout together. I like having separate controllers for each engine but I sometimes tend to misplace a controller. Then I thought, why not mount to a board so I do not have to carry them around.....then I thought...geeze I have come full circle to a control panel!

Jim H

[Anonymous]

This is why, money also , I run conventional. My layout is laid out so that everything is pretty much in front of you and I like the old fashion feel of the controld panel and throwing switches , powering blocks ect. I think I may have "control issues", my wife has said that for 40 yrs now. Bye. Ralph.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Jim, you need to change your mindset. I have 10 TMCC engines, and 5 of them are coupled to trains sitting on a single 600 foot loop of track. I have 4 cab-1's, which I have marked with colored electrical tape.

Since there is only one me, and I can't seem to run more than one train at a time without crashing them, I just grab the nearest cab-1 and keep using the engine command to change trains.

Now if you have a lot of independent loops, and crashing isn't an issue, I could see how it would be easy to fall back into that method of operation.

You could put some velcro on the backs of the remotes and either put them all in one place or spread them around. A place for everything, and everything in it's place.[;)]

[Roger Bielen]

Other than when one of the granddaughters is running a train with me I use 1 CAB-! by myself and run up to 3 trains/engines at a time. I'm usually working with one while the other two continue their merry way around their respective loops. One way of determining/confirming which engine your controlling is to hit the whistle/horn button. It's a good way to avoid a mishap.

[dougdagrump]

The only thing I don't like about the cab-1, whether one or multiple engines are in operation, is that stupid antenna. Why can't Lionel replace it with a "rubber duckey style" ? When we have the kids club running on the layout my biggest fear is not the train crashes but getting poked in the eye by that antenna. [|(]
We use velcro on the sides of the layout so you are normally only a few feet from away from a place where you can park your controller, MTH or Lionel, without worry of maybe knocking it off the layout as well as keeping it off of the layout ( less crunched scenery ).

[jimhaleyscomet]

Doug,

I find keeping the antenna tucked inside I still have enough range to communicate.

I think I will add velcro to my units.

Jim H

[Big_Boy_4005]

Doug, what I've noticed is that when I have fresh batteries in the cab-1, like Jim said, the antenna can be down. As the batteries get weaker, it becomes more important to have it extended in order to avoid communication errors.

Jim, I love velcro!!! [swg]

[Roger Bielen]

I find that when I'm in the center aisle of the layout, or in the rear access slit, I need to hold the CAB-1 below the plane of the layout. My receiver is under the layout and I guess at some areas the window screen I used for much of my mountain does a good job of blocking.