@Landsteiner posted:The inability of Legacy to control DCS/PS2-PS3 locos in command mode is a legal obstacle, not a technical obstacle. Prior to licensing DCS to Atlas, MTH had refused to license it to anyone else, and indeed had threatened legal action to anyone who wanted to develop emulation software/hardware. Maybe things have changed.
I will not even address the parts of your post that are conjecture and potentially libelous in the company of model train enthusiasts.
That said, the inability is not merely legal. It is also technical and financial. Technically DCS is a TWO WAY communications protocol. Which is why MU consists and other positive ack commands work so well on it. Legacy is a one way protocol. It would likely take a lot of engineering on the part of Lionel to update their CAB-2 software (for a remote that is discontinued) to even deal with this, or potentially a separate module to communicate with the TIU properly. Also for Lionel, what is the financial benefit? Zero. If they would add this functionality, they would just have opened the door for all of their "Lionel Only" fans to start spending money elsewhere on engines. For MTH, what financial benefit could MTH receive from investing in creating a way to even control the TIU externally?
Lionel chose to open their system with the ability to control it via the serial port. This option, no matter what, still requires purchasing their command base. They also REVERSED that decision when they released Legacy, requiring MTH (or anyone else) that wanted to play in their sandbox to pay for a license.
