Thank you Barry

Gilly,

You are most welcome!

Gilly, you are one of the minority who does thank Barry, who for years has tirelessly and patiently tried to explain DCS and solve problems.  I know him personally and we have visited each other.  The small revenue from his manual is nowhere near compensation for the time he spends.

You are correct in your observation regarding running conventional with DCS equipment.  A few daysafter DCS was initially released, my son showed up at my door with a complete outfit, including a Z4000 and Z4k receiver.  I had no PS2 locos, and for 6 months enjoyed immensely having walk around control of my trains.

I don't know Barry personally, but I will second RJR's comments. I believe I have thanked him before, but I thank him again. I have both copies of 'The Book' (digital and print) and it has helped me out a lot. I also recommend it to others with DCS systems quite frequently. It's an honest recommendation, it really is a lot of help. I also learn a lot from reading Barry's posts to others having problems and also appreciate the help he provides everyone, including me. I think he's a great asset to this forum, DCS and MTH. 

Oh, and to try to stay on topic here, I have also just recently tried running my daughter's old 1982 Lionel set in conventional mode with my DCS system. As Gilly said above, it worked great. Just swapped the inner loops wires to a variable input and output and away we went. Nothing else to purchase or add to the system to get going.

Gilly & rtr12,

    Now that you guys are using the TIU TR mode, there is another TR mode that runs thru the Z4K side receiver, this allows for even more conventional trains to be run at the same time, another cool way to run your older conventional trains from the DCS hand held remote control, and the old engines run smoother in this TR Z4K mode than they do from a standard conventional transformer.  You must have the side receiver hooked to your Z4K to run in this manner however.  If you have a Z4K invest in the side receiver, it opens up another cool running option.

PCRR/Dave

Barry is an asset to the forum. 

I have had one of the receivers of which Pine Creek Dave speaks, since they were first issued.  It has been totally trouble-free and has always worked perfectly.

RJR,

   Buy the way Barry was the person long ago, that educated me as to the Z4K side receiver, and its proper usage.  I agree with MartyE Barry is an a serious asset to the OGR forum and our hobby.

PCRR/Dave

Good thoughts PCRR/Dave, but I don't have a Z4000, I have Powerhouse 180's going through my TIU. I most likely won't be running anything conventional but my daughter's old train set and then only when she or my grandson want to see it run. My granddaughter used to also like trains when she was younger, but not so much anymore. 

My preference is definitely with the command control stuff, so I don't see any purchases of conventional equipment on the horizon. DCS, Legacy and the electronics projects are the main reason I got back into the hobby a few years ago. What a change from 35-40 years ago!

rtr12,

   I run both at the same time, some times on the same track, ya go to love it!

PCRR/Dave

I too appreciate what Barry has done.  The DCS Companion has been a lifesaver time after time.  I couldn't say how many times I have referred to it.

Also the threads on this forum and the replies from GRJ, GGG, and Marty E have been so informative and I have learned a lot!!  Couldn't imagine trying to run any of the current command systems without the tools identified above. 

Thanks