I just watched the online video review of the Bachman RS-3 that is equipped with what they refer to as Easy Ap to run their trains that are so equipped.
It is running off Bluetooth and not Wifi and from what I saw I’m wondering if it will obsolete DCC for those wanting simplier operation.
For starters you can get rid of power boosters and all the associated wiring of a layout for DCC. Of course you will still have have to consider your turnouts in your plan, but could ez app switches be that far behind?
The train was demonstrated with an Ipad and it was simply touch screen.
For those that delight in technology this is currently behind what a dcc controller can do, but for us Luddites it may be just the ticket.
It does seem to be sensistive to electrical drops due to dirty or inadequate feeders being run.
Whats the general consensus? Will DCC start to be obsoleted as this technology is developed and improved?
I really haven’t looked into the Bachmann system. I’ve been using Digitrax for about twelve years now and theirs, like some others, too, can be upgraded as new technology allows.
My sister gave me her old Android Kindle Fire and it sat on a shelf for almost a year until I decided to try the Engine Driver app that’s available for free.
So just last night I tried it out and in a few simple steps I had trains running through Digitrax > JMRI Decoder Pro and this Kindle Engine Driver app.
It was pretty amazing! And a neat feature was that all of the functions were easily viewable and all I had to do was tap the screen with the stylus to activate it.
It just adds another dimension to operations that I didn’t have before and it is running on a system I first installed back in 2003. (plus I have another throttle now [Y] )
I believe the DCC protocall is here to stay. It was designed to be versitale and upgradeable and, for me, it does everything I can imagine that I would want to do in the forseeable future and is still backward compatible for engines that I installed simple decoders in so many years ago.
EasyApp is another system that works only with the manufacturer’s products, and therefore has limited use. You can not run an NCE or TCS WOW equipped locomotive with that system. Can you run an EasyApp locomotive on DCC? I doubt it.
That is why systems like CTC-16 and a few other ones no longer exhist. NMRA did a good job requiring cross platform compatibility for all compliant decoders; that is why it is going strong for over 20 years; and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Gee,that method can be used in DC? At 16 volts wouldn’t that smoke a DC motor unless there is a decoder to reduce that voltage? I know straight DCC powered track can smoke a nondecoder DC motor since DCC is a form of AC.
Unless its an MTH locomotive… oh yeah, THAT’S yet another proprietary system [banghead]
[edit]
Whoah! Hold the (i)phone!
I just read a paragraph in the review on Pg. 63 of the April, MR, and it says in part:
“The sound effects play through the device speaker” (NO speaker in the locomotive!) “The sounds are generic rather than protoype specific. This was disappointing, as I would have liked to hear the distinctive growl of the Alco 244 prime mover.”
And for the best part…
It will play Jingle Bells and the headlight will flash in time with the music!!!
DCC will perist because it’s open source eh as other have pointed out. Right now other manufacturers would have to license Bachmann’s technology. That’s the reason Blu Ray won out over HD DVD, USB won out over Fire Wire and VHS beat Betamax. However, I do believe DCC will continue to become more advanced and yet remain backward compatible with older decoders, much like USB 3 which can read USB 1 devices.
No consisting, so no way it’s even close to DCC user needs.
And why, pray tell, is there this passion for replacing DCC? That’s a mountain so tall to climb in terms of the installed user base that it’s simply implausible. In fact, for any proprietary system to be “successful” in whatever niche it serves, it has to be compatible with DCC – unless the “new” is intended to be a technological dead end. In which case, the goal was never to “replace DCC” to begin with. In time, there COULD be something that replaces DCC, but ONLY if it’s backwards compatible with it.
The chip is not owned by Bachmann but Bluerail Trains. It is compatable with what you run now, and will soon be availible in chip form with dead rail compatability. You can get onboard sound for as little as $10 in larger scales (soon in smaller) and the chip (first one being 17mmx17mm) is becoming available soon, if not now. Android app on the way and as far as consisting, just an app away. Me, I am awaiting the dead rail with new batteries like the Alfa ( 40x lithium-iro capasity) and Prieto coming out later this year, I hope you didn’t think Musk’s battery factory was going to manufacture old time batteries. Many other batteries in the works, you may want to get rid of your oil stocks as one recharges on water, sci-fi meets reality.
Other optiosn that effectively do the same as this Bachmann thing already offer more DCC liek features such as consisting. They just use a different wireless technology, not bluetooth.
Bluetooth is by design limited in range. For a home user this may not be an issue. For a large club that operates purely walkaround, so you can be near your train, it may be ok. But if you need to be a significant distance from your train, now what?
Like the other options for direct control (no signal over the track), this remains a one manufacturer proprietary system. Until there is some standard, either through a body like the NMRA, or else a defacto standard because 4 out of 5 manufacturers implement the same system, these systems will not overtake DCC.
The arguments about makign it simpler - how? Because only 1 train is running? You only need extra boosters and related wiring in DCC if you have lots of trains runnign and need more power. This won;t change just because the control signal uses radio waves direct to the locos. They still draw power from the rails. That doesn;t change the need for additional power, or even feeders. Sorry, even DC locos runnign with just one pair of wires to the rails and unsoldered rail joints don;t work very well and slow down. Transmission line losses are transmission line losses regardless if the line is transmitting DCC, DC, or sine wave AC. Battery on board is the only thing that will reduce or eliminate the need for any track wiring. Current state of the art will easily fit inside HO or larger locos, but what sort of run time? 15-20 minutes before a recharge is about the best you can get. ANd what about when you want to add signals? You still need some sort of track detection circuit, and that needs power and something to draw it.
WHat about powered turnouts? Remote control of them via radio is goign to be every bit as awkward and operating them from DCC. Switch away from loco control, select the ID (address) of the turnout, ope
