I am fairly new to MTH G gauge so if any O gauge guys know whats going on help me out. A MTH rep helped me solve some problems. I learned that the mth dcs signal fades over too long of wire or incorrect wiring practice and too long of a mainline. I divided the main into about 70’ sections and have just a single pair lead of wire to the middle of the section. I bridge the two channels of the track TIU together to run from a single transformer. I also connect an 18 volt bulb across the tiu terminals to clean up the signal. This cleared up constant “check track” messages and helps to obtain the strongest track signal quality. You can jump nearby sections so not to have to drive extra feed wires.
I also found a way to locate engines that won’t activate on dcs search. tip the engine and return to track with the power on. this will cause startup sequence and then helps dcs to locate train when an engine search is performed. Tip it twice and the engine goes to full throttle so be carefull. The engine must be pointed in the correct direction so the positive wire goes to the left wheels of the engine.
the dcs system might lock up if it gets a bad command that can’t be performed (like driving “all engines” after you removed one from the track). so be patient and think it through. It’s really a great system with a lot going on
original letter to GR:
I was intrigued the of the features of MTH G gauge equipment so I purchased their engines, cars, and control system. I run them on Aristocraft stainless track. I started with a room size oval to test these features and right away ran into some issues. When I tried to load the engines into their dcs system I got messages that “no mth engines were on the track”. I found that by tilting the engine and returning it quickly to the track the engine would automatically start up. This sometimes seemed to help the dcs control to locate the engine and load it. Sometimes I would repeatedly tip the e