I know everyone here mostly uses DCC which I will too but for right now I have a couple of DCS Protosound 3 locomotives and a DCS commander hand held. I know HO runs on DC only but I was hoping someone could shed some light on a compatible power supply as the manual has no mention of it. Any help would be great thank you.
Kev
Can't stop working on the railroad!
Maybe,this will help;
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/MTH-HO-O-DCS-Commander-Controller-p/mth-50-1028.htm
Cheers,
Frank
Thank you, I have plenty of these but according to the service guy over at MTH these won't work for HO. If I am not mistaken though the DCS commander hand held and non portable convert the AC power to DC. I may have to call some one over at MTH just to make sure unless you are using one of these bricks with a DCS TIU.
Kev,
I'm assuming you didn't use the link,I provided to show you the other power supplies,,not just the two,on the front page,,scroll to the left where it says products,point to DCC systems,and another list will pop up,click on Power Supplies acc. and it will show at least ten different supplies,N,HO,O and G..I'm sure there must be one there for your use,,,why would they sell,all the MTH units,without the supply too? Knowing that it is needed,for what they are selling..
Is this what you have: http://www.mthtrains.com/content/50-1033 ? Toward the bottom it says: "The DCS Remote Commander can accept any power input (AC or DC) up to 20 volts and 8 amps".
MAXMAN,
That is the same set-up in the link,that I gave him,along with the power supplies,,but you have to go into the products to see it and the power supplies..They show two on the front page for O-Scale only..
zstripeThat is the same set-up in the link,that I gave him,along with the power supplies,,
When I looked at your link, it takes me to a $150 item. The item shown in my link has an MSRP of about $50. So they can't be the same item. Regardless, the info at the bottom of my link defines the range of acceptable power supplies. The OP should be able to find an acceptable item someplace. It just boggles my mind that he could not get a reasonable answer from the MTH rep he spoke with.
What I find confusing is that I can't seem to find any information on whether or not these controllers are for HO, O, or both, nor what the controller output is. Obviously that info is on a need to know basis, and I guess I don't need to know.
On the link I gave,,when the site comes up and shows that power pack,,,to the left of that,is a title,,products,look for,DCC,sound& power,a window will come up and click on power supplies,,it will show all kinds of power supplies,starting at 10.00 and up..
Hi all,
Kev, could you please confirm that the item you are using is the DCS Remote Commander (#50-1033)?
MTH has used some unfortunately similar nomenclature for their DCS products which makes it difficult to keep things straight. There are three DCS command control devices that have been produced to date. The DCS Remote Commander (above) is the simplest of the three devices and the newest. MTH has included the DCSRC in their O and HO starter sets with Protosound 2 (earlier O scale) and Protosound 3 (HO and newer O) decoders since 2010. The DCS RC works with just about any AC or DC power supply (12-20 volts). Whatever type of power you connect (AC or DC) will be passed through to the rails with the DCS signal added. The DCS RC is a VERY simple device that can only send command signals to the default DCS address (#0). It uses a wireless IR remote.
The mid level device is the DCS Commander (#50-1028 and #50-1029) .
The DCS Commander is a wired console controller that can control engines on the full DCS address range. You can connect the DCS Commander to almost any AC or DC power supply (12 to 22 volts). However, unlike the DCS RC, the Commander will rectify AC into DC and ONLY outputs DC to the track. The Commander not only adds the DCS signal to the track power, but it also contains a very good quality DC throttle. That allows you to run a conventional DC engines (or dual mode DCC engines in conventional) as well as your PS3 engines. Because it only outputs DC power, the DCS Commander is mainly intended for conventional DC HO operators who are taking their first step into command control. However, MTH's PS2 and PS3 engines in O and G will run on either AC or DC in either command or conventional, so the Commander has found a home on some smaller O and G layouts built on a budget.
The full featured DCS Remote Control Set (#50-1001) includes a 900MHz wireless remote and a Track Interface Unit (think DCC command station with booster) that can handle up to 40 amps of track power.
The DCS Set will pass through either AC or DC (on two channels) and can be connected to most power supplies in the 12 to 22 volt range. There are a few AC transformers with very poor quality chopped sign wave voltage control (Lionel CW-80) that do not work well with the DCS set. There are also some un-filtered DC power supplies that don't work well with the DCS Set. All the MRC transformers work just fine. As you can see in the above photo, the Track Interface Unit (TIU) has four independent 10 amps channels (analogous to 4 ten amp boosters in one box). Two of the channels pass through the current and voltage unaltered from the power supply. The other two channels include AC throttles and will only function with AC current. The DCS Set also has the option of connecting to an Accessory Interface Unit (#50-1004) for turnout and accessory control.
I guess I should have put this link in before. http://www.mthtrains.com/content/50-1001 but this is what I have.
Ok so I have the DCS set and a Tech 2 HO transformer. If I understand correctly I can just plug it in to the fixed voltage channel and power it up, Similiar to what I do when I plug the Z 4000 in or can I plug one of the MTH power bricks in and have it come out as DC to the track? I was hoping they made a DC power brick but I have yet to see one. Thanks
If you had that link before,,then you should have looked at it more closely,,for it does state the power inputs..And if you spoke to someone at MTH,why did you not ask him what you should use??Anyway,DAVE,gave you the answer..But for 326.00,,I believe you should have got some kind of help..
I asked them what I should use for power and all they could tell me was that I needed a DC power supply and that they didn't make power supply bricks that were DC. You are right for over 300 bucks they should know what they are selling. I now know why no one uses DCS for HO, the owners manual is no help at all even for the DCS commander unit. I have come to find out that a lot of their manuals are vague about certain things going all the way back to Protosoun 1. Thanks I think everyone has given what I need to know.
RRaddict Ok so I have the DCS set and a Tech 2 HO transformer. If I understand correctly I can just plug it in to the fixed voltage channel and power it up, Similiar to what I do when I plug the Z 4000 in... Correct. ...can I plug one of the MTH power bricks in and have it come out as DC to the track? No. I was hoping they made a DC power brick but I have yet to see one. They have offered the ZDC-1 and Z-DC24. They have also cataloged, but not yet shipped, the Z-DC300. The rest of their power supplies have all been AC.
Ok so I have the DCS set and a Tech 2 HO transformer. If I understand correctly I can just plug it in to the fixed voltage channel and power it up, Similiar to what I do when I plug the Z 4000 in...
Correct.
...can I plug one of the MTH power bricks in and have it come out as DC to the track?
No.
I was hoping they made a DC power brick but I have yet to see one.
They have offered the ZDC-1 and Z-DC24. They have also cataloged, but not yet shipped, the Z-DC300. The rest of their power supplies have all been AC.
Thanks Dave so I am on the right track now no pun intended.