THE 18TH YORK DCS USER GROUP MEETING!!

Hello Barry,

Thanks so much for your efforts to host this informative event. Would you have room for myself and wife Lyn? If so would love to attend.

Sincerely,

Bob Bradley

Bob,

 

We;'ll look forward to seeking you and Lyn at the meeting.

Barry,

  roughly how much $ is dinner?

 

John Z

John,

 

It's cafeteria style, just like it is at the White Rose Restaurant at the Fairgrounds. It's reasonably inexpensive, with entrees around $10 or so. Desserts and drinks would be additional.

Has the DCS Software Version changed since spring this year?  I got my system updated then, but I'm not sure if that's still the latest.

DCS 4.30 was released March 25, 2014, so it's what we'd have used when upgrading at York.

I plan to attend. Many thanks.

Will Garvey

Will,

 

See you at the meeting!

Wife and I plant to attend.  Tony Tate

Tony,

 

Welcome!

Barry,

I will be there.

Thank You

Le,

 

Welcome to our meeting!

Barry & Marty,  I changed my plans and am looking forward to this great meeting.   Me plus 3 orhers

Rich Roman

Rich,

 

You and your "posse" area welcome!

Barry,   Add one more to the dinner count.  Also interested in TIU upgrade.

 

Tnx,   Jim 

Jim,

 

Upgrades start at 6:00 pm and, while we won't turn anyone away. However, we have several people doing upgrades and it would be good if they could also eat dinner and attend some of the meeting. So please try to be there at 6:00 if possible to get in line for the upgrades.

 

Thanks!

Have fun guys, I hope to attend for the first time in April and bring my DCS for upgrade.  Look forward to reading the minutes from the event.

 

Barry,

Can you count me in on the meeting,dinner and upgrading.

Thanks, Mike Morris

Mike,

 

We'll be expecting you!

I have decided to come also, hope it is not too late.  Was just reviewing your DCS O gauge companion book and am amazed at the great and detailed information you have provided.  Thanks for all you do for the DCS crowd!

 

I do my own upgrades but what a great service to provide to others less comfortable with the little neutrons and electrons!

Dave,

 

Thanks off the kind words - they're appreciated!

Finally cleared my schedule and made my reservations.  I will be there.

Dan

Dan,

We'll see you at the meeting!

Barry count me in.  See you Wed.  Thanks Bruce

Bruce,

Welcome!

Barry,

 Just cleared my day and arranged a night at the Bridgeview too. Hope its not too late to RSVP. heading out the door now. if possible could you txt a confirmation  to 732-236-9807.

Thanks,

 Doug Burrell, Independent HiRailers

Barry, Marty, and all DCS Users

 

I hope you all have a great time.  I know I keep saying I'm going to get there again some day.  I will.  I appreciate all the efforts of getting us the information.

 

Have a good evening!

Great DCS meeting Barry. It really covered a lot and was very informative.I'll be waiting for the PS3 upgrade kits.

 

Dave, the app to run DCS looked great. I can't wait to give that a try. It was amazing the way the engine ran and the quillable whistle worked.

 

There were a lot of people there, and even though we were in a different room, the space was great.

 

Gerry

 

I agree, Gerry.  Barry & Dave did well.  That meeting is really the only reason I have to come to York

Thanks for hosting the meeting and being so generous with your time, and the same goes to the others that were helping out.

 

I would recommend this meeting to others in the future- you can't beat getting free help with an upgrade and a demo of the next thing coming at the same time!

 

The current beta of the dcs control app looks really nice.  Dave was sure to point out that the latest version is set up so by using two or three fingers you can control things without looking at the screen, additionally the final box will be set up so it auto-configures as soon as it plugs in, streamlining the process greatly.

 

Overall the I think the confidence he has in the control system was best demo'd by one very subtle fact.  The demo track was on a table with the rail running straight to edge, with no bumpers!  If there was any chance of things going wrong a beautiful nyc steamer would have been in a heap on the floor.  There was even some take home demo models for a few more beta testers.  The take home system was $100 and required a wireless modem to be hooked into the box, which was then hooked into the tiu.  MTH's final version will be wireless.  No internet connection needed in either case.  Current beta version is apple product capable only. 

 

Everyone wanted to know the timing of availability for the dcs app.  The best answer was some time in the first half of 2015. The apple version will be available first, followed by android versison 6 to 8 weeks after.

 

And oh-yeah there was lots of talk about other things as well, but the app had my most attention.

 

An important note was that some newer ps3 engines, when receiving a dcs factory reset, are locking into direction in conventional mode.  Of course sometimes that direction is neutral so it appears unresponsive in conventional.  At that point there is a transformer reset that can be down with a series of half second bell/horn button pushes.  I don't remember the sequence - sorry.

 

Also In early next year Barry will have a new version of the dcs companion e-book available that will go a little more into ps3.

 

Overall a very good experience.  thank you again to Barry and everyone that helped put this together.  And sorry if I butchered any notes!

Any word on the next DCS software upgrade yet?

Thanks

4.31 probably sometime first quarter or first half of 2015 if I remember correctly.  Biggest glitch with 4.3 was something about using lash-ups in super tiu mode, which is quite rare.  Other things had to with mu-light configurations and lights turning off when smoke is turned off.  these are things Barry considered rather minor.  the main emphasis from a controls stand point has apparently been on getting the app worked out.  Once the app is ready to go commercial then there will likely be resources devoted to 4.31 version of dcs.

Barry - I forgot to ask a question, kind of a newbie thing.  Is it possible to change the way the description of a loco appears in the remote.  As an example if I repaint an engine to a different road name and cab number, can I change the way the description shows up in the remote for the engine?

 

An important note was that some newer ps3 engines, when receiving a dcs factory reset, are locking into direction in conventional mode.  Of course sometimes that direction is neutral so it appears unresponsive in conventional.  At that point there is a transformer reset that can be down with a series of half second bell/horn button pushes.  I don't remember the sequence - sorry.

This is called by MTH a "conventional reset."  To perform it, the TIU must be out of the circuit with a transformer feeding the track directly. Apply power to the track* and then press the whistle button o0nce, followed by 5 presses of the bell button at 1/2 second intervals.  If successful, the loco will give 2 toots.

 

This differs from a factory reset and a feature reset, neither of which will do the job.  This cannot be done from the DCS remote.

 

*If the loco is taking off when power is applied (as did mine), apply power gradually and be prepared to hold the loco.  Getting above 10 volts should be adequate.