MTH DCS REMOTE SYSTEM

[Anonymous]

FOR THE SMART TRAIN HOBBYIST
IF I PURCHASED THIS SYSTEM WITH THE 9 PIN CABLE TO ATTACH TO THE LIONEL COMMAND BASE,CAN I CONTROL ALL THE FUNCTIONS OF MY LIONEL TRAINS WITH SOUNDS AND RAILSOUNDS.THEY ARE EQUIPPED WITH COMMAND CONTROL.I REALLY NEED SOMEONE'S HELP ON THIS.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
DANNY

[garyseven]

I am just a big, dumb guy, but I can recommend the OGR DCS video. Watch it and make sure DCS fits your needs and budget. I believe it will answer your questions. At least, it will be a vaulable reference for DCS:
http://www.ogaugerr.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=V-DCS-01

[MartyE]

The short answer is no. You will be able to control most of the basic sounds and features of the Lionel engines. Some features that are currently unavailable is the momentum settings, the second set of crew talk (ie when you push Aux1 7 and then 7 again you get the second announcement) DCS uissues the Aux1 command everytime not allowing the toggle to the next phrase. I don't know how this effects RS5.0 engines. There are very few instances when you will need a Cab1.

[garyseven]

"momentum settings, the second set of crew talk"
Did they ever fix the lash-up setting?

[CSX FAN]

No they didn't Scott.

Danny

As noted above only the basic engine features are covered by the DCS remote. I keep the Cab one handy. If you have any of the IC control modules post back there is an alternate way to control them through a device made by Rob Nieser. It will save you some rewiring if you have alot of command stuff.

You will love DCS once you get it connected.

Jamie

[ChiefEagles]

Jamie is right. I run the MTH with the DCS control [it is slower responding than the Cab1] and run the TMCC with the Cab1. They do run together fine.

[RI Jim]

I'm with CSX and the Chief. I bought a TIU and connected my TMCC base to it with the cable. Although I can run both my PS2 and TMCC locos with my DCS remote, I keep the TMCC remote handy. In addition, I can also run my conventional locos with the DCS remote. Works for me! I also recommend you get OGR's video on DCS before you buy--I did, and I avoided a lot of frustration.

[MartyE]

The one thing and biggest advantage of running your trains using the DCS remote is you can repeatedly set the speed of TMCC engines based on TMCC speed steps. Obviously not as fine as the PS2s but it still works great. This is especially important to me on TMCC engines without cruise. I'll experiment and find a setting that will let the engine run the entire layout. I can then at a later session set the speed to the same setting and know it will transverse the entire layout just fine. Abig plus for a speed readout.

[Anonymous]

We run TMCC locomotive almost exclusively through the DCS Handheld. With apologies to Chief Eagles, I have never experienced a difference in response time with the DCS Handheld vs. the Cab-1, but I do get more positive control with TMCC locomotives when running them with the DCS Handheld.

As sited above, there are still things that you need the Cab-1 for.

[ChiefEagles]

RAK, you are the DCS expert [along with Tom and some others]. Hit the horn/whistle button rapidly and the same on CAB1. DCS hesitates. CAB1 will blow it three times before DCS can blow once. Hit the rev up or down button on the DCS remote. You have to wait for it to clear the screen before giving another command. Not so with the CAB1. I've also learned to feather the throttle on a CAB1 to get a smoother acceleration and de-acceleration to prevent the galloping Odyssey effect that Lionel TMCC is famous for. Now when running new conventional, I like the DCS remote. For beginners, I recommend the DCS system and then add the TMCC Command module. You can run everything then.

[Anonymous]

Chief,

I will do some comparison tests, but I have played with feathering the whistle from the DCS handheld in the past and found it to be more responsive than the Cab-1.

Did you try turning of the message responses in your DCS remote? I belive that his is a function of release 3.0 or 3.1 and, for some functions, it stops the remote from having to wait for messages to appear and clear.

I don't remember if it affects the whistl issue.

[ChiefEagles]

Nope, did not. That might work. Thanks [Like I said, he is a DCS expert]