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Following are notes from the 23rd York DCS Users Group Meeting, conducted on October 18th. Many thanks to Don Klose for, once again, being our scribe and compiling the meeting summary. Any errors that you may find in the following information were more than likely introduced by me during the editing process.

24th DCS Users Group Meeting October18, 2017 at the York Fairgrounds

Barry began our meeting at 7:00 pm and welcomed everyone to the 24th DCS User Group Meeting. He thanked Marty Fitzhenry and Jim Osborne for providing DCS upgrades to those seeking them. He also thanked Sensenig Catering for providing our meal prior to the meeting.

Barry said that after the question and answer portion of the meeting Dave Hikel would provide insights into the best ways to connect and utilize the WIU. Following Dave’s presentation, Andy Edelman would discuss the latest product information from MTH, and entertain questions.

Q and A Session

One individual stated they were having signal issues in their yard area. In building the yard, he stated he used insulated track blocks, a Rev. L TIU, 14-16 gauge wiring with 12 ft runs, and used no filters on the TIU. It was suggested that he do a signal test of different engines in the yard and then on a separate track to compare signal strength. The problem could possibly be either the TIU channel used for the yard area, or the way that the yard itself was wired.

Another individual stated that he was having trouble with his WIU importing data for lashups and stated that the lashup’s soft keys were not appearing. Barry stated that there was a bug related to this and that it was corrected in the recent DCS App 2.0.x update.

The next question was related to a person having a PS3 engine that gets a DCS signal strength of 2,3,4 and a PS2 engine getting 8,9,10. It was suggested that the problem could be due to the wiring harnesses of the PS3 engines laying on top of a capacitor, which could be degrading their DCS signal.The solution is to relocate the harness. There is a thread on the O Gauge Railroading forum that addresses this issue and discusses the solution.

One person made the observation that it takes longer for a PS3 engine to be added to DCS than it does for a PS2 engine. It was pointed out DCS begins to look for a new engine at the highest possible DCS ID#. If the PS3 engine has a low address, it will take DCS longer to find and add it.

In building his layout, an individual used MTH RealTrax for the crossovers and his engines are hitting the switch machine’s motor housing when passing through the switch. He asked w-ill MTH modify the design in the future? The answer was that this is unlikely. In the mean time, the suggestion was made to carefully, surgically modify the machine box to solve the issue.

An individual asked can you use a resistor instead of the light bulb to clean up the DCS signal? The answer was no, you cannot.

The question was asked, what did the DCS 6.1 update do for the DCS Remote? The answer is that the DCS 6.1 code for the remote is essentially the same as the remote’s DCS 5.0 code. The remote’s code was renumbered to maintain the remote and TIU at the same level of DCS. The DCS 6.1 code for the  TIU was modified to support the DCS Explorer and to correct some bug in the DCS Apps. If you are not using the DCS App, you do not need to upgrade to DCS 6.1. However, it is almost always in your best interests to do so.

The question was asked, can a Rev. I TIU be upgraded to a Rev L TIU. The answer is no, they have a different motherboard with a different chipset. However, all TIUs and remotes can use the very latest DCS software.

Barry brought the Q&A session to a close and introduced Dave Hikel, of Hikel Layouts and Trains.

Dave Hikel

Dave introduced himself and said he had available to those interested his battery holder for the DCS Remote and his TIU screw-post repair kit. 

Dave made a presentation on how one could get the best performance out of the DCS WIFI App. He made the following observations for best performance:

  • Use the newest tablet or smart phone that you have available.
  • Update all of your device’s OS systems to the latest version of which they are capable of using.
  • When operating with one TIU, use MTH mode on your WIU for the best operating experience.
  • When using multiple TIU’s, utilize MTH mode if you don’t need Internet access while operating your trains.
  • If you prefer to utilize your home router, the best performance will be obtained by using wired Ethernet connections, if possible.
  • If one desires the best possible performance with multiple WIUs and the home network router is not in close enough proximity to the WIUs, then it’s possible to use a second router, located in the train layout room, to create a second network to which the WIUs may be connected using Ethernet cables.

Dave has promised an in depth look and discussion regarding these recommendations on the OGR forum.

Andy Edelman - VP of MTH Sales

Andy welcomed everyone and gave away a few WIU’s and other MTH products to the group. He asked, how many have done the latest update to DCS 6.1? Of those that did, he asked if they had any issues to date. He also asked those who have not started using the DCS App, what is holding them up?

Many at the meeting were very satisfied at how well Legacy operated on the DCS App. One person mentioned that he believed that there was issue that DCS 6.1 was causing TIU Variable Channel #1 on the TIU to burn out. Andy at this time did not believe that this was a wide spread problem.

The DCS Explorer will be in Ready to Run sets arriving in a few weeks and should be on dealer shelves by early November. The DCS Explorer will be available for separate-sale in early December and will be sold without a power supply. If you purchase the DCS Explorer and also have a TIU and WIU, the DCS App will determine if you are working with the TIU or the DCS Explorer.

Separate sale TIU’s and DCS Remotes, and DCS sets will be arriving in approx. three weeks. At present, this is the last batch of DCS Remotes that are scheduled to be manufactured.

The meeting concluded at 8:50 pm.

Last edited by Barry Broskowitz
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Ben,

This is a major problem on TIU Rev L's

Really?

I know that the Hi-Railers have had a number of Rev. L issues, as have I. I lost all 4 of my original Rev. L's to the early problems, one channel at at time. Regardless, this issue wasn't described as a Rev. L issue at all.

First, the issue was allegedly (no proof or documentation was offered and there was no "piling on" by other attendees) restricted to only Variable #1. For the record, I found something similar with variable #1 back in 2008 when DCS 4.0 or 4.02 was beta tested. It would manifest only with a Rev. G TIU and only I reported it during beta testing. I was ignored. However, while I was away in hospital MTH received other complaints and released a fix in DCS 4.0xx. So, yes, I know that something can be specific to a particular TIU model and/or DCS release.

Second, regardless, there was no mention of Rev. L's specifically.

Third, there was a specific mention of the problem manifesting only with the release of DCS 6.1, which had only been available for about a week or two at the time.

completely agree that at least some early Rev. L's had issues, however, my understanding is that those issues were resolved some years ago and the 5 Rev. L's that I've had for quite some time have been reliable through the last several beta test of new DCS releases.

As far as this issue is concerned, Jason was present at the meeting and was going to look into it. Ion any event, I don't believe that there's any reason to engage in any speculation at present, including whether or not there even is a new bug in town, let alone if it's specific to the Rev. L TIU.

Last edited by Barry Broskowitz

Let me correct my language...

WHAT?

I hadn't heard from Ben in some time. I was hoping their issue was resolved.

I also have not heard of this new issue. Well there has been posts about possible TIU failures. Maybe that's leading to the assumption that channel #1 is failing?

 My four TIU's are still working well so far. I can only use 2 channels with DC power on my G scale.

Last edited by Engineer-Joe

I downloaded the latest app Pro version in my phone. I still have 6.0 in the TIUs. My channel #1 is now locked up on my main TIU #1 for O scale. It will only respond to the phone. I tried turning the phone off and unplugging the wifi too. It still will only respond to the phone. The remote becomes useless.

 I would have never believed it!

Maybe the reason for the demand of using the latest 6.1 with the pro app? I will see.

Joe,

The problem is most likely a loose transceiver board in the TIU, remote or both. Only the remote talks to the TIU via the 900 MHz radio while the app talks 2.4 GHz via the WIU.

Connect a 4-conductor telephone  handset cable between the remote and the TIU's Remote Input port. If that works for the remote, proceed to reseat the errant transceiver board.

So now the power has been cycled on everything.I connected the remote with a cord!

The remote still won't operate the Z6 engine on channel one. However the phone does. Yet I forgot to add that the phone does not see the 2 engines on the other channels of the same TIU. Yet the remote does! ????

It's like something is stuck? I didn't know the software could effect the TIU channels like this?

What should I do next? Upgrade to 6.1 or reset the TIU?

Last edited by Engineer-Joe
Barry Broskowitz posted:

DCS Remotes are not expected to be manufactured after the last batch that were recently delivered.

Fortunately we have 8 dcs remote, about 30 engines . version 5 of the software, and the layout is running really well (except lash-ups)      It's' been a fun ride but  that's the end of MTH purchases  for us.

Barry I bought the WIFI system and a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8GB.  I also have a Apple I phone.  My TIU has been updated to 6.1.  When I try to use the WIFI WITH the tablet and, it is connected to the WIFI, I get no TIU found make sure you are connected to the WIFI.  I have a 1st run TIU so I was instructed to buy the correct USB cable.  The I phone seems to work better but it's hit and miss sometimes also.  Can you tell me what I need to do to correct this problem.  It would be greatly appreciated.

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