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DCS Remote Batteries

Bobby OgageBobby OgageOGR Forum Member

On more than one occasion, the rechargeable Nimh batteries I use in my DCS Remote have given me heart palpitations as they run down.

I was running my Rail King EP5 (PS2) with a string of passenger cars yesterday, and I remembered that this locomotive has Freight Yard Sounds. So I used the "Mic" function on the Remote to make a passenger train arrival announcement.

The EP5 abruptly stopped and the speaker made a horrible loud buzzing sound. The Remote lost all control of the EP5 which went dead, and the Remote gave a "Engine Not On Track" alert. However, the Remote still had a display so the batteries were not immediately suspect. I thought that I fried a circuit board. After my heart recovered, I noticed that the Remote could not startup another locomotive, so ah-ha it must be the batteries.

Yes, it was the batteries, but they still had enough energy to operate the Remote's display. I am guessing that the "Mic" function uses a significant amount of battery energy, in this case enough energy drain to bring the batteries down quickly.

On other occasions I have experienced the Remote going OFF without warning causing a train wreck or two. Does the DCS Remote have a low battery warning?

 

 

 

Last edited by Bobby Ogage
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Barry BroskowitzBarry BroskowitzOGR Forum Member MEMORIALIZED MEMBER

Bobby,

Yes, it was the batteries, but they still had enough energy to operate the Remote's display.

No, it was not the batteries. What is was, was a "feature" that's been in DCS since the very beginning. This feature has 2 parts.

The first part is that whenever the Mic on the remote is held down, or when the External Microphone feature is turned on, all remotes lose the ability to send DCS commands to all engines.

The second part of the feature is that sometimes, when the remote's Mic button is released, the Mic doesn't turn off. Usually, simply presting and releasing the button again will turn off the Mic.

The combination of these two parts of this "feature" is what caused your problem. The batteries had nothing to do with anything. If the remote's batteries fail, the display always goes blank. Typically (but not always), when the batteries start to go low, a (BAT) appears in the display. Eventually, the display just fades out.

DCS Book CoverThis and a whole lot more about DCS is all in MTH’s “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition!"

This book is available from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!
Last edited by Barry Broskowitz
clem kclem kOGR Forum Member
Barry Broskowitz posted:

Bobby,

Yes, it was the batteries, but they still had enough energy to operate the Remote's display.

No, it was not the batteries. What is was, was a "feature" that's been in DCS since the very beginning. This feature has 2 parts.

The first part is that whenever the Mic on the remote is held down, or when the External Microphone feature is turned on, all remotes lose the ability to send DCS commands to all engines.

The second part of the feature is that sometimes, when the remote's Mic button is released, the Mic doesn't turn off. Usually, simply presting and releasing the button again will turn off the Mic.

The combination of these two parts of this "feature" is what caused your problem. The batteries had nothing to do with anything. If the remote's batteries fail, the display always goes blank. Typically (but not always), when the batteries start to go low, a (BAT) appears in the display. Eventually, the display just fades out.

DCS Book CoverThis and a whole lot more about DCS is all in MTH’s “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition!"

This book is available from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

This doesn't sound like a feature, I think I better disable that button before the next meet at my place.  

Clem  

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