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I've got my layout setup with the new Command/Control switches and am enjoying primary operation via the LCS App on my iPad. 

However, when a train runs over a switch - causing the switch to change position - the layout screen in the LCS app isn't updated. The switch, for example, will still show as straight even though it just auto-switched over to curved due to a train passing over it. This means that I have to click the switch icon a minimum of 3 times, and often 4 times, to get it the switch correct position. 

As far as I can tell, everything is setup and working correctly, but the behavior is so unexpected based on decades of use of Lionel switches, that I'm at a loss as how to correctly operate my layout. For example, imaging the old switches not updating the red/green bulbs on the control panel remote when a train rain over them - that's the basic position I'm in now. 

Is this an LCS limitation, in that the switches aren't sending feedback to the app? It doesn't seem so, in that the app is able to sync to the switch if I click it enough times. Is this an app limitation that'll be fixed soon? I'm hoping this is User Error and there's something simple I can do to fix things. 

Cheers,
Chris

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That page exactly describes the problem that I'm having, which is nice. Thanks for the link. 

However, that page is disheartening:

  • "Wired to each switch". Wires? The whole point of Command/Control switches is "No Wires"! 
  • "If your track switches have built-in command control capability, [...] connect one wire from the STM2 module to the RSC Lights terminal on the switch." Even Command/Control Switches! 
  • "With LCS WiFi and the iPad-based Lionel LCS App, you can see the position of your command controlled track switches at a glance." Except that you really can't, which is the whole point of that page. 
  • "With the STM2 installed on your layout, you’ll always know what your switches are doing!" The way it's been in the Lionel World for 50+ years. Sigh. 

The *entire* reason I've spent thousands (!) of dollars on Command/Control switches is to avoid running wires. As it sits now, there's not a single wire running to any of my switches and it's beautiful. Setup and teardown is a breeze; power is pulled from the track, control is via LCS, and all the complexities of wiring are gone. Now I need to run wires again? WTF. 

Grrrrrrrrrrrr,
Chris

Actually, the reason it does not display is because it only recognizes legacy commands through the LCS system and apps.  When using the remote switch or the anti derailing feature you are not actually sending a legacy command so the app does not display that change.  That's why the stm2 module was created.  Hopefully you left your remote controls attached to the switches, because the stm requires a wired connection to one of the terminals the switch controller connects to under the base of the switch and then back to the stm.  You can splice into the remote switch control cable if you left them attached.  If not you'll have to pull up all your switches to connect the wire.  Also if you get into other LCS components like the ASC2 or BPC2, they all require wiring.  LCS does not mean everything is wireless, but it does mean most everything can be controlled by the Cab 2 Remote or apps. 

Last edited by Sean's Train Depot

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