MTH DCS Remote Commander 50-1033

It works well for what it is designed to do.  It is a good intermediate step, until you are ready to move up to the full DCS.  Also good for the small temporary layout.  G

On a scale of "lousy" to "outstanding" I would give the DCS Remote Commander an "okay" rating.  It definitely works as it's supposed to work, but it does have its share of limitations.

The most important of all if you are just getting started with this gizmo: 

If you're going to run your SD-50 with the Remote Commander, and unless the locomotive is truly new-in-box, the locomotive MUST be reset to factory default settings.  That will need to be done by someone with access to the full DCS system (your dealer or a nearby friend in the hobby).

Once the engine has been set to factory default, it should operate just fine with the DCS Remote Commander although you won't have access to all of the full-blown DCS and PS2/3 features.

Thanks Allan and GGG for your input and thanks for the advice Allan on the the engine has to be set at factory default the model railroad club that i belong to has a dcs i will make sure it is  

hello guys an gals........

I have one of those remote commander set, its a neat little device as i only have one challenger.  I used it few times and pretty cool for the budget wise.

the woman who loves toy trains

Tiffany

Thanks Tiffany

I have one of these, and after resetting the engines to factory default with the full DCS, all of the PS2 locomotives I have (5) work with it as you'd expect.  I'm guessing a large layout might have problems with it, but it does work as intended.

I use it in passive mode, I connect it directly to the track but do not run the transformer through the device, but connect it directly to the track.

I have a DCS Commander (not the remote) and it works great with all my Proto 2.0 Premier and Railking engines. It gives you more features than the Remote Commander.

The only thing I noticed it works "wierd" with Protosound 1 engines so I stick with the Protosound 2.0 ones. The controls don't seem to work right so I just don't run them.

You might consider a DCS Commander too.

I was just going to ask this question...

Can you define wierd?  Can I run DCRU/PS1 equipped units using the Remote Commander or DCS Commander or DCS? 

PS/1 engines seem a bit picky about the power they get.  I had a problem running two different PS/1 locomotives using the MTH IR Remote and a Z1000 brick.  The same locomotives worked fine using an old Lionel KW transformer.  I think many electronically regulated supplies cause some PS/1 electronics problems.

Can I run DCRU/PS1 equipped units using the Remote Commander or DCS Commander or DCS

The DCS REMOTE Commander (50-1033) will ONLY run PS2 engines.  DCS will run both DCRU and PS1 engines.  Not sure about the DCS Commander.

And, of course, PS3! 

Thanks for the input guys im not planning on running ps1 engine i have a MTH chessie f3 railking engine with ps1 im going to run my mth sd50 chessie ps2 engine only i like to get the full dcs set but im disabled and not getting much money coming in til get my disability so i been selling stuff off to get money to buy trains with now    

Good catch Allan

PS3 is so new to me I don't have anything with it (yet)

Chessie1971

 When you reset the engine with the DCS do not restart the engine. After the reset just turn off the power and take the engine off the track. If you restart it the remote comander won't find it.

 I have done a few for customers.

Apple has a funny idea of spelling.

I fixed a engine for a customer and forgot to reset the engine before returning.  Not happy when the engine doesn't run with the DCS commander because it was set as the wrong ID. 

I do wish MTH would have provided a method to reset any/all engines on the track with the DCS commander.

I'm sure this is one of the most common problem folks run into.

Also the commands don't seem to respond always as quick as one would expect.

Jim

I wonder if you could do an "all engines" for the reset.  I haven't looked, I've just reset individual engines.

John,

I wonder if you could do an "all engines" for the reset

What exactly do you mean by that?

I imagine the thinking was that if one changed the setting on a locomotive provided with a Remote Commander equipped starter set (for example), that person would have made the address change via a full DCS system (about the only way it could have been changed).  That being the case, one would assume that individual could/would be able to use that same "full" DCS system to once again set it to factory default for use with the Remote Commander.

Indeed, that's what I did since I have one layout equipped with full DCS (and Lionel Legacy) and another layout that is currently operating with the DCS Remote Commander.  That second layout will soon have the Remote Commander replaced by a full DCS system.

I was thinking of the way you startup all locomotives, or control throttle.

I didn't actually pick up the remote and navigate to the factory reset to see if I could select a single engine or all, that's why I said "I wonder". 

I suspect that probably isn't an option based on your response.

I agree with your thinking, when I first got the DCS Remote Commander it was frustrating that I couldn't use it for any of the MTH engines I had without finding someone with a full DCS system.  Obviously, now that I have the DCS system, this is a non-issue, but that would be a great option to have.

Yes, it certainly would be FAR more convenient for DCS Remote Commander users if there was a simple way to get to that factory default in the event someone else (dealer or a service technician, for example) tested it with the full system before the customer got it back home.  

I can imagine someone sending a locomotive in for some sort of repair, and then getting it back only to find that it's dead on the track.  I KNOW it can happen because it happened to me.  Fortunately I had the full DCS here at home to deal with it.

I think it's a ploy by MTH to get people to buy the full DCS.   I know that was one of the factors that made me decide to get it.  I had four PS2 locomotives, and I could only run one of them at first, I needed the others reset.  I decided that if I were going to have PS2, I might as well have the full system.

John,

I think it's a ploy by MTH to get people to buy the full DCS. 

Close. It's actually more of a "teaser" than a "ploy". Tat's why it accompanies the RTR sets.

Teaser, ploy, they're sisters.

Barry,

RTR locos also need occasional repairs, and can easily be shipped back to the owners not in their Factory Reset condition, unless those owners had the presence of mind to include a note to that effect.

The Remote Commander is also marketed as a stand-alone item by MTH, and should be able to reset to Factory Default on its own. It would be the right thing for MTH to correct, IMHO  

Cab

Cab,

RTR locos also need occasional repairs, and can easily be shipped back to the owners not in their Factory Reset condition, unless those owners had the presence of mind to include a note to that effect.

I agree. That's why I put a note to that effect on page 203 of The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition:

If the PS2 engine is sent to MTH or to an MTH authorized service center for repair, it would be prudent to request that the PS2 engine be factory reset by the service facility before it is returned.

The Remote Commander is also marketed as a stand-alone item by MTH, and should be able to reset to Factory Default on its own. It would be the right thing for MTH to correct

That would be nice, however, that would also entail building into the device a lot more expenses:

• The Factory Reset is a targeted command that needs to be pointed at a specific engine ID# in order to work. That circuitry would need to be included
• There would also need to be a means of entering the engine number to be reset
• There would need to be an LED window to see what has been entered.

That's not going to happen in a  device priced at $49.95.

Since it's assumed that the only PS2 locomotive active is the one you're resetting, I don't see why you'd have to have any entry or verification of the locomotive to be reset.  The reset could be a simple thing that just whacked anything it found.

I'm guessing the DCS Remote Commander doesn't have any read-back capability, which would probably make it hard to find what locomotives are on the track, perhaps that's the real stumbling block?

Barry, It has been well noted on this forum that the transformer reset does not reset the engin ID to factory default. Has MTH ever sent a notice to their authorized service stations to this effect? I ask because my local MTH service person always used the trainformer to reset the engine and objected the last time I asked him to use the TIU. He does not regularly check the forum and tole me that he had never heard anything from MTH. Thanks.

I can verify 100% that the transformer reset doesn't do it!   I tried that before getting the full DCS system, and it had no effect.  OTOH, the full DCS factory reset worked just fine.

Here's a link to the 50-1033 manual:

http://www.mthtrains.com/sites...ction/50as10109i.pdf

Show the LHS page 8 where it says:

Engine does nothing when Start-Up is pressed

or print it out

That should be good enough for him.

John,

I'm guessing the DCS Remote Commander doesn't have any read-back capability, which would probably make it hard to find what locomotives are on the track, perhaps that's the real stumbling block?

That's paret of the circuit to which I was referring. The DCSRC's receiver does not listen for acknowledgements. It's one-way communication.

Has MTH ever sent a notice to their authorized service stations to this effect? I ask because my local MTH service person always used the trainformer to reset the engine and objected the last time I asked him to use the TIU. He does not regularly check the forum and tole me that he had never heard anything from MTH. Thanks.

If your tech is MTH authorized, then he should have gone to MTH school. The curriculum covers the Z4000 transformer and discusses what is accomplished by a transformer reset.

Further, as Bob points out, it's on age 7 (not ) of there DCSRC's instruction manual, as well s address on pages 201 and 203 of The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition.

Maybe you should find a tech that knows how to listen in class and can also read.

Barry, that's kind of what I figured.

Sorry Barry, He last went to school before the DCS remote commander came out. Anyway I pushed him on this and he went back through his notices and sure enought he found it. Guess he just didn't remember.

Al

Al,

There's nothing new about the fact that the transformer reset is a Feature Reset. It's always been that way.

Not all car mechanics are good mechanics:-)  Same in trainland.

There are lots of small points that make a difference on how your train is repaired.  The more information you provide in a letter the better, especially if you are mailing it some where.

I routinely call my customers to get more details when doing a repair.  G