Voice Streaming and Recording (VSR)

DO NOT REPLACE THE BT BOARD IN THE ENGINE. Do not send the engine back to Lionel for repair as this is not indicative of a problem on the Locomotive side of the equation. VSR is an advanced function within the Bluetooth 5.0 specification and requires that both sides of this- Your phone or tablet and the engine to be compatible while using the app. Absolutely- call Lionel support on the issue- but the answer is, they should be telling you to ensure you are using a compatible (BT 5.0) 3rd party device with the app loaded.

Let's go back to a conversation with Dave and this is my key complaint on this feature- you are NOT as a customer properly told the hardware and software requirements YOU have to provide in your 3rd party device- to fully use this feature.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...2#172611907079938312

@Dave Olson posted:

We put quite a bit of work into getting this feature into our LC engines. What we found is that performance is very closely tied to the device being used. Especially on the Android side.

Let me elaborate. We ran into an issue with many Samsung phones. The Bluetooth streaming for voice requires we (the APP) set a specific baud rate. On many Android phones (namely Samsung made in the last 3 years), the baud rate cannot be set by the APP. Rather it is artificially throttled by the smart device.

This applies to many other Android phones as well, especially tracphones and other more bargain priced phones. You also have to make sure the device you're using has Bluetooth 5.0; older phones and even some newer lower-priced devices still use Bluetooth 4.0, which is not meant for voice streaming.

We have found that iOS devices operate the feature very well, especially if they're from 2019 and newer. If you are experiencing an issue with the feature on an iOS device, I would recommend emailing me and we can get to the bottom of it.

So bottom line- what exact model of phone or tablet are you using and have you confirmed it is in fact Bluetooth 5.0?

Here is a perfect example of the issue relying on 3rd party devices for controlling your trains.

Thank you for your reply. This clearly is the issue because my cell phone is Bluetooth 4.0. In the video that Dave posted on YouTube it states that it will work with Android 4.0 but again that clearly is not the case. Yes, I agree they should make more of an effort to get the correct information out there so thank you again for setting me straight on this. I'll live with it for now until I upgrade my phone.

Here is the original VSR YouTube video that Dave posted. It has no mention or disclaimer of the fact you should have a Bluetooth 5.0 phone, so it's a little misleading all though I don't think intentionally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f1f1UCAA4Q