SoundTraxx is unveiling a new DCC product this week at a facebook live stream on Tues Aug 2 at 10AM MST. https://www.facebook.com/events/429559812548640/ Its being characterized as a major product announcement.
As long as you don't want to run more than 7 locos at once (BT limit). But you still need track power controllers for reverse loops, etc.
You could certainly run more than 7 at a time, but you would only be able to run 7 from one controller (phone or tablet). While there are certainly exceptions, I suspect most people wouldn't want to run more than 7 from one controller at one time anyway.
Just running two trains with consists of 3 and 4 engines each would max out one BT controller. There is no ability to dynamically re-address BT devices to have multiple engines respond to one address as a consist, like DCC does. For operational context, here in DFW, UP runs short, local freights with 3 4-axle engines every day. I have no idea why they need that much power for these trains, but they run them... So under these conditions, running one 3-engine local switching industries, dodging a 4-engine through-freight orbiting the layout, is the max you could do with BT. And we haven't even talked about stationary BT decoders for throwing track switches, etc. yet. And it's not like BT relieves you of the need for reliable track power wiring, and auto-reversing controls for reverse loops, etc. You still need all that, plus the BT decoders for each engine in your stable. No thanks... I'll keep DCC, with all its warts, over this hare-brained, shiny, sparkling new idea any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.
The limit you are listing here is for classic bluetooth. Bluetooth Low Energy (which is used in this product) does not have a defined maximum limit on simultaneous connections. Once you exceed 40 simultaneous connections from one smart device, bluetooth low energy begins "channel hopping" which would result in a slight latency on the 41st decoder (which would be on the order of milliseconds based on the tiny size of each packet command). In practical use I have never heard of anyone controlling more than 20 locos from a single device.
After watching the introductory video I think it is a really innovative product. It will run along side any existing system so you could have your DCC system and decide to buy a few decoders for special engines like we tend to do now where we buy a few sound decoders but most might not be. Great product for 'dead rail', a direction a number of modelers are headed in and this will make it much simpler to do that vs. what is available now. Since there is constant voltage to work with on a DCC system and with dead rail I can see how it works but don't see how it can work on DC unless you turn the power supply up and the only locos on the layout are equipped with their decoder. Will I use it? Not now as it won't fit a N scale loco and too expensive for me if it did but like a lot of technology it starts off expensive and gets much cheaper over time so can see this or something similar gaining popularity as time goes on. There might be the problem of wanting to maybe run locos on say EngineDriver and others on their app at the same time if you were running both systems at once. Used phones are cheap though so having multiple throttles isn't that expensive like it is with system dedicated throttles. I don't have the experience yet but hope to run multiple trains at once but see it as get a train or two running on a mainline where I'm not really doing anything with them once they are moving and having one engine that I'm switching with or dropping cars with at industries while the others run pretty much unattended. In a case like that I only need to be attentive to one of the throttles at once, either moving from one app on the phone to the other or maybe needing two phones. Nice that having so many options is a problem Sumner
Thank you for the clarification! That changes the calculus... Correct me if I'm wrong, but exceeding 40 simultaneous connections would increase latency for all decoders, not just those beyond the first 40. Obviously not very likely for all but very large club/show layouts, but... Are the loco/throttle comms functionally bidirectional, beyond simple command acknowledgments? If so, what kind of information is sent back to the controller from the train? Would the throttle have a connection to the track power system to shut off power in the event of a run-a-way? How would this system provide position (at least block level) feedback to the user or control system? Since the locos still draw track power (at least for smaller scales) block occupancy detection is still possible, but determining which block(s) a specific train occupies would still need a rail-based transponder (unless we have a highly directional BLE receiving system, etc.) While most DCC users do not need/use these features, they are relatively easy extensions provided within the DCC specification, and are already provided with some DCC systems, for easy growth. Would a BLE system have a low ceiling, having to revert to DCC (or similar) for these features anyway? Finally, are these decoders available in N scale, in drop-in form-factors (not including sound) for most current-production models? There is quite an established industry and market to be displaced if this will become anywhere nearly as well-supported as DCC. I would hope that SoundTrax would be working with the NMRA to establish standards that can be open for other participants. Otherwise this will be just another flash in the pan, limited to only specific products. However, it is useful to note that DCC is based on an existing, proprietary system that the developer decided to share with other manufacturers, understanding their share of the expanded market would be bigger than all of their proprietary market (at least for a while...)
