A new range of GOLD decoders is coming with new features. http://www.mackaymodels.co.uk/nbg04.htm#LENZ%20DIGITAL
Give me the "condensed version"..... what exactly are the new features??? Are they included in PnP decoders?? Harold
I think this is the "dirty track proof" decoder. Supposed to remember what the input signal was, kind of like skip protection on portable CD players. Looks awesome!
Dunno but new docoder orders may be slowed quite a bit while MTH's patent infringement lawsuit is worked out.
Motor regulation Noise-reducing motor drive ABC – automatic stopping in front of signals USP - continuous data transfer to the decoder Push-pull train control Operating time counter RailCom Constant braking distance Shunting speed mode 2 or 4-digit addresses up to 128 running notches Function outputs can be freely allocated to the function keys of your digital system (function mapping acc. to NMRA) Short-circuit protection on all outputs Overload protection
I spent the weekend working in the Lenz booth at the Springfield MA show. The 'gold' decoder with USP got everyone's attention. I ran a loco back and forth over a sheet of paper. It not only keeps running, but one is also able to issue commands. The crowds were huge, the smart ones asked how it worked, the clueless just said 'oh thats nice'. Basicly, there is one capacitor that stores the power and as we all know a capacitor is made up of two pieces of metal with 'stuff' in between. Mr. Lenz creates a capacitor using the rail as one side, the loco wheel as the other, and whatever is insulating (paper, dirt etc.) them as the 'stuff'. Availablity should be in about 6 months.
I think in the long term, the new technology to get rid of dirty track is going to be one of the more "revolutionary" technologies to come along in our hobby. For N scale, I think it means the loss of fly wheels as Terry Thompson predicted in an MR editorial. In N scale, we need all the room we can get (sound) and with this new technology, fly wheels will become redundant. I don't think the loss of flywheels will occur over night, but will take at least a decade or more as the DC crowd will have a fit. Or there might be two offerings of an engine, USP equipped or fly wheel equipped.
James, Welcome to Trainboard if nobody has said it already! Quick question, what is meant by this feature? I had visions of a loco at one end of coaches able to move both ways, but that is already do-able in DC and DCC already, so the terminology has me confused! (Not difficult usually)
Hi Martyn I may be completely wrong here.. I often am, but I think this feature is linked to the new block controls with the new Bi-directional Signalling and feedback system also released in conjunction with the Gold decoders. As I am reading it, the push-pull feature means the trains that are pushing will also stop in the right place for the signals as well as those pulling as the Bi-directional feedback will know the length of the train and adjust appropriately. I kinda guess it may need resistance wheelsets, but it looks like Lenz are going wholesale competition with transponding from Digitrax but using the NMRA standard. Good or Bad, your choice Regards
I don't think so Rick! Look how fast technology is moving! Even the DC people can't stop it. Flywheels will be gone in a few years, and much improved, smaller electric motors will replace the ones we have now. P.S. For you people that also fly RC planes, have you noticed the new electric brushless motors in combination with lithium polymer batteries? Electric powered airplanes are now equal to gas powered ones, providing unlimited performance. These are the leaders of the field: www.hackerbrushless.com www.thunderpower-batteries.com
Yes, that's exactly what it means. Push-pull operations are fairly common in Europe where a train would consist of an engine on one end and a pilot car on the other. In traditional DC or DCC model railroad set-ups the train would come to a stop once the loco reaches the stop section. If the pilot car were at the front of the train, the train would drive past the signal light until again the loco drives into the stop section and stops the train. It doesn’t have much to do with bidirectional feedback though. It’s simply a matter of sending stop bits to the loco at the proper time. Something Zimo does with their signal controlled speed influence since 1980. BTW, Zimo has train number recognition since 1989, 12 years before anyone else had anything similar to offer, such as Digitrax with its own version called Transponding. Regards, Art http://www.mrsonline.net/
So you would effectively program that as if it were a loco with a 3 car long long hood? That's a very useful feature if you're doing "auto" trains. I can see it being of use to US modellers as well, most commuter ops seem to use push-pull, and there are even some nice models to represent them these days!
Yes, indeed, it is a very useful feature for automatic layout operation and not just for commuter trains. A consist (MU’ing) with one or more engines in the middle of a train is affected the same way because not all engines will enter the stop section at the same time. And it is just as much a useful feature to US modelers as it is to Europeans. Imagine being able to run your layout in automatic mode when you have visitors for example where you usually don't have your operating crew handy and would like to run more then one train at a time. Or when you are all by yourself. You can let the PC run all your other trains while you operate your own train from the cab. Of course, you would have to actually pay attention to what the signals tell you. And no, there isn’t anything to be programmed in the loco decoders. The command station sends special information bits to the stop section that every decoder understands. If a signal shows red, every decoder capable of this feature knows that it has to come to a stop, taking it’s own deceleration settings into consideration as well. In fact, you can even have slow-down sections before the stop section to let the train slowly decelerate before it starts its stopping sequence. You can also have special low speed sections, in a construction zone for instance, where every train reduces its speed automatically to a lower speed setting individually different for each engine. Or how about a train that drives in to a hidden station and then turns the power to this track section off to preserve power and to extend the live of the light bulbs, especially neat if you have lighted coaches. When this train gets the green light, power to the track is restored, lights come back on and the train slowly starts to accelerate. All of the above pertains to Zimo. Well, I better stop now and start playing with my trains Regards, Art http://www.mrsonline.net