@turkey_hollow_rr posted:And this gets back to software. TMCC commands are open to the public. MTH was able to write software to issue TMCC commands to a Legacy base and have it transmit commands to Lionel engines.
DCS software is proprietary and protected. Not possible to write software to talk to a TIU without that knowledge so a Legacy base has no way to communicate with a TIU.
Ah, so that changes things bit. On one hand Lionel would have to do the engineering work in order to enable its CAB-3 to run SCS locomotives, BUT, while TMCC commands are open to the public, DCS commands are not, so if Lionel wanted to do the engineering work to run DCS with the CAB-3, MTH will not allow it for proprietary reasons.
IMO, while MTH has every right to keep their software proprietary. However, I think it it would be in their interest to make their DCS commands public. Just looking at the history of the software platforms: Open source rules the world, proprietary software withers on the vine. If would be a win for everyone if MTH would make their DCS commands open to the public like Lionel has with TMCC.
- The hobbyist wins because now they can run all brands of trains with either DCS or Legacy or both.
- MTH would win because they would sell more locomotives to people like me and DCS would likely come into wider use.
