Marklin Fans,
I was browsing a Marklin dealers website. And I found an item of my interest, which had Mfx+ decoder functions.
Are these locos backward compatible? What I mean to ask is, can these locos run on tracks operated by a Mobile station which has abilities handle Mfx, MM2 and DCC?

Most of the locos I have are Mfx and have kept me very happy. With this new decoder Mfx+ (new to me as I hadnt seen this before till today), I am a little worried that my locos may be outdated. And there may not be any support for Mfx locos in the future (say next 3-5 years)
Am I worrying without any reason? Please help.

I am okay learning new stuff. But the pace with which I have to keep up learning is the problem.

Thanks
Vijay

Hi Vijay,

Your Mobile Station 2 should be able to handle mfx+ locos with no problem as long as the software is V1.83 or higher. Earlier versions might still work but take longer to register an mfx+ loco and you may not get all the information displayed properly on the screen.

As for backward compatibility, earlier versions of digital locos should work on any new controller that is produced, though obviously they will be restricted to the functions (or lack of them) that were originally installed.

Marklin controllers still support MM (Marklin Motorola, the original protocol released in 1984/1985). Newer versions will always come out, but I don't think that instantly invalidates the previous version. Nobody knows the future, but I expect mfx will be supported by Marklin for the foreseeable future.

-Brandon

I do know that some Marklin Controllers (I am thinking MS1 here) do not support the earliest version of Digital fx decoder as found in the 49960 wagon.. So there is some degree of obsolescence in their product technology. At least it is not as bad as Apple, who expect you to fork out $1300 every 3 years for a new phone that was pretty much the same as the last one..

There are exceptions. I would hazard to say most general items are supported.

I don't really see mfx+ bringing so much more performance than mfx is outdated, unless one really like the cab control on CS2/3. Will the previous mld/msd decoders be outdated with the release of the Mld3/msd3? Marklin will stop selling the former. With the new ones perform better? Time will tell. But if you're happy with the performance of the current decoders, whatever they are, I would not worry.

I have some locomotives with C90 FX decoders, I am perfectly happy with how they run. I had one with a C80 MM decoder, I did not like the way it ran so I upgraded it. Others may prefer it one way or the other, but if you're ok with how they run how, I wouldn't worry about it overall.

-Brandon