Bill,
I’m so sorry. I totally forgot to come by on Tuesday. Just
slipped my mind. Just me and the daughter, and she can get me to forget
anything… I’ll call you to schedule a time to come by.
-Mike
From:
ttat-members-owner@aoot.com [mailto:ttat-members-owner@aoot.com] On Behalf
Of Bill Lohman
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 12:06 PM
To: ttat-members@aoot.com
Subject: Re: More from IHMD
Thanks Ricky,
If you look carefully at the
first picture of the MTH DCS TIU you will see examples of the RC
(resistor-capacitor) impedance matching circuits across the TIU outputs
that I told you about. The ones based on the Susan Deats "DCS
Fix" on the OGR Forum. They replace the Barry Broskowitcz "magic
lights" and go a step further as we discussed.
Looks like Dave Hikel used
the RC circuits to "fix" DCS on the HiRailers Midwest Division's
layout with some success.
As I mentioned I have
purchased 60 each of these resistors and capacitors to try and fix
DCS on my layout. (They're cheap, pennys each). Now that I have
removed DCS from my layout I have no use for them.
So,if the club leadership decides
to proceed with fixing DCS and wants to try the Susan Deats fix I will
donate them to the club.
In deciding what to do
suggest you keep in mind that MTH is supposedly coming out "very
soon" (within a year) with a completely new DCS Proto 3 system.
Completely new Remotes and TIU's. This is supposed to eliminate the
DCS problems and also provide an improved set of features much like Legacy does
over TMCC.
Also, MTH's engines are to be
equipped with a new generation of Proto 3 electronics. The DREADED
batteries in the engines will be eliminated. They will have more features
and supposedly will be more reliable.
I am taking a wait and see
attitude and will not be an early adopter of the new DCS.
Bill
On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:18 AM, rick <rbd1949@aol.com> wrote:
Here is more from the Independent HiRailers Midwest Division. I
like how they put legs on modules as soon as they come out of the trailer. That
may save us time and would definitely be safer as noone can trip, fall,
and get hurt on modules, etc which has happened in the past.
I really think we need to make a committee to study the MTH DCS
system and fix it using what the IHMD and others on the O Gauge Forum have
done. If we can't make it more reliable then it should be pulled out of
the layout because it seems to me that the DCS causes more frustration to us as
a whole than anything.
Ricky
From Dave Hikel:
(Here is the link in case it doesn't come thru in the message)
Hi all,
Between York and I-Hobby it's been a couple of VERY busy weeks. It was a real
pleasure to finally meet Jerry (gnnpnut), Sasquatch, Hot Water, Richtrow, Santa
Fe Jim, and all the other members of the Independent Hi-railers Midwest
Division in person. I want to especially thank Jerry for flying me out (the
exit row seats were great! ) and Jack W. and Jim R. for welcoming me into their homes. It was a
great trip!
This was the first time I had participated in the actual setup and operation of
a modular layout. Setting up the layout is quite an operation. The entire
layout fits into two cargo trailers. At I-Hobby, there's enough room indoors
that the trucks and trailers can pull right inside for the unloading process.
As the modules are pulled out of the trailers 2x2 legs are inserted so that
each is a free standing piece.
A couple teams start at one point and work around the layout in either
direction. In this photo, Richtrow is leveling a module and inserting track
pins while Jim R. hooks up the power wires to the adjoining section.
Once the layout was well along towards full assembly I started working on the
DCS setup.
Here's one of the standard TIU setups. There are four TIU's around the layout
with this same configuration. Each powers the three mainlines on a group of no
more than 14 modules. This helps the DCS signal by limiting the number of wire
connections and total length of wire run.
The TIU setups look a little Rube Goldberg but Sasquatch plans to make some
proper mounting brackets between now and Trainfest.
Right from the beginning there was a level of disbelief that DCS could actually
work in the layout. Is that GN R-2 really responding to the remote??? YES!!
Operations on Thursday were a bit choppy. Some problems were physical. Modules
need their legs adjusted, a couple modules were assembled out of order, a pin
or two was missed, etc. DCS was working on the mainlines but needed some
tweaking. One by one during the coarse of the day I also installed TIU's in the
engine terminal, staging yard, and wired up the passenger yard in passive mode.
By Friday mid day things were settling in pretty well. The guys were able to
run pretty much whatever they wanted at will. Here's some of the highlights
from Friday.
On Saturday several of the club members with "real jobs" were able to
join in the fun. Richtrow was like a kid on Christmas morning running his new
CN SD70-M's.
A modern train needs a proper FRED, so the guys from MTH loaned us one of the
cars from an SD70 starter set to put o the back of Rich's train.
One of the things that really sets this layout apart is the level of detail and
scenery. Many of the structures are stored off their modules for safety. It
takes extra time to set them up but the results are quite impressive.
With all the work involved with transporting and setting up the layout one
might wonder if it's worth the effort. Certainly there are benefits for the
members who get to run their trains on a layout far larger than most any of us
will ever have at home. But modular layouts also do service for the hobby at
large. They are one of the most public ways to spark interest within the next
generation of modelers.
Thanks again guys! It was a blast getting to see the operation. I hope all goes
well at Trainfest.
Dave