Hi everyone. I'm having a bit of a conundrum.

No dealers have the CS2 in stock. All the dealers I've contacted have recommended me to buy the ECOS. I don't know what to do.

For those of you who have the ECOS, is it far better than the CS2 and my 60212?

For those of you who have the CS2, is it better than the ECOS and my 60212?

And my last question, should I just stay with my 60212, or should I get a new controller?

Cheers!

Tadzio.

Tadzio,
It seems you already decided on the CS2. If you did the research, you should stay with your decision and order it.

I have the ECoS but have no experience with CS2 - I did research and and read reviews and bought it based on ESU's reputation for quality. I have not been disappointed.

Good luck,
Bruce

The way I see it, Marklin will always try to make their trains compatible with their own controllers. They will not feel compelled to make them also compatible with a third party controller. In theory you should get fewer problems running with Marklin.

Hi Tadzio,

We've got both a CS2 and a CS1u and I have not the slightest hesitation in recommending that you upgrade to the CS2. Having the "layout" view and a bright colour tough screen are quite nice and handy features.

I believe that I read earlier that you are an apple fan (like me) and another great thing is being able to use your iOS devices to run the trains. I use Main Station on my iPad 2 and it has the familiar CS 2 style interface and you can adjust what controllers (ie Keyboard or Memory etc.) that are on screen. It also allows another person to drive something (upto 8 on the same screen on the iPad) without them touching your precious CS2 - perfect for friends and siblings to use.

I'm not sure what you want to do with your CS1. Provided you have had the Märklin update installed (you can tell this if there is a plug for a s88 decoder) you can connect it to a router like I do and use a CS2 as the master and use the CS1 and iOS thing as additional controllers (better than getting a MS2 on the wallet anyway). I had the CS1 on a desk on the other side of the office which I was using to make a building so I could keep the trains running without leaving my seat!!

Perhaps I should get a connect 6021 as well . The 6021 seemed so impressive when we upgraded from an old blue transformer. (9 years ago now)

Regards,

Daniell

Hi Tadzio,

I very happy vith reloaded upgrade to the CS1, as described by Tom in the first reply. The CS2 is very nice, and the graphics much better, but I feel it a lot of money for something that does the same. With respect to Apple products, you should be able to run touchcab on your CS1, without any changes.

Hi!
Difficult decision it was for me too.

But, I have finally decided for the ECos 2.

There is no "right or "wrong" here just a set of criteria but here are the reasons that influenced my choice:

1° more "universal" than the CS2, and it has a great additional feature : Railcom! which automatically recognize Railcom equipped locos,(like MfX but much faster) *and* accessory decoders. I have a very diverse fleet: everything works!

I love the automatic detection of locos Marklin, DCC, Selectix, MfX, you name it, you've got it!

2° on top of the S88 bus, it has the ECOSlink bus, which gives you access to a whole lot of great accessories, like the ECosdetector that not only detects occupancy, but can be wired to also read the name of the loco on that section (via Railcom)

4° 4 amp booster in HO, works very welle and no welding of wheels so far!

5° Cheaper (or at least "less expensive" )

6° available

7° last but not least the information is "all there", in the same spot and "volunteered" by ESU (as opposed to Märklin where unfortunately, it's often a detective's "extraction" job to piece information together)

I am also monitoring closely the traffic on the ESU forum,. Although ESU personel doesn't intervene directly very often (long periods of silence on recognized problems like e.g.a former bug that was rendering one of the controllers inoperative after a long stand-by.
(The problemn has apparently been fixed in the meantime)



On the other hand ESU locos are apparently showing much more technical difficulties than Märklin productions.

To each his job!

Just the loco only? What about control Point/signals?

Yes I have just become aware of the Z21 earlier today.

From a Marklin viewpoint, it does not mention support for the M4 MfX protocol.

The virtual cab control looks very interesting though, with possible support for live video feeds from an inboard video camera.

The videos from the show seem to indicate that the software is in the early stages of development though.

One to watch....

Hi!
Difficult decision it was for me too.

But, I have finally decided for the ECos 2.

There is no "right or "wrong" here just a set of criteria but here are the reasons that influenced my choice:

1° more "universal" than the CS2, and it has a great additional feature : Railcom! which automatically recognize Railcom equipped locos,(like MfX but much faster) *and* accessory decoders. I have a very diverse fleet: everything works!

I love the automatic detection of locos Marklin, DCC, Selectix, MfX, you name it, you've got it!

2° on top of the S88 bus, it has the ECOSlink bus, which gives you access to a whole lot of great accessories, like the ECosdetector that not only detects occupancy, but can be wired to also read the name of the loco on that section (via Railcom)

4° 4 amp booster in HO, works very welle and no welding of wheels so far!

5° Cheaper (or at least "less expensive" )

6° available

7° last but not least the information is "all there", in the same spot and "volunteered" by ESU (as opposed to Märklin where unfortunately, it's often a detective's "extraction" job to piece information together)

I am also monitoring closely the traffic on the ESU forum,. Although ESU personel doesn't intervene directly very often (long periods of silence on recognized problems like e.g.a former bug that was rendering one of the controllers inoperative after a long stand-by.
(The problemn has apparently been fixed in the meantime)



On the other hand ESU locos are apparently showing much more technical difficulties than Märklin productions.

To each his job!

Tadzio,
I too have CS1-R and I can only totally agree with Tom, just get the CS Reload and save yourself heaps so you can spend it on more Trains or whatever

My choice was tyhe ECoS

I've waited several years and waited before I've decided which command station I'll buy.
Marklins system at the time CS 1 and than CS 2 did offer components, e.g. 6021 to be used but to me it was a spaghetti garden of wires and connecting gadgets for this to achieve.
with the ECoS you can also add 3 mobile stations and the 6020 or 6021.

There is also a whole range of light functions you can program, effects and for consists, so it doesn't just lie in which command station you buy it also was a deciding factor using ESU decoders and programming them via a lokprogrammer.
I can't see how you can compare the 2 when one is made for Maerklin & Trix products and the ECoS is made for a variety of other modeltrain manufacturers.
When I looked at the options, Maerklin and ECoS looked pretty much the same, offered pretty much the same functions but in the end it was a combination of factors.
Although I like Maerklin locos and of course the limited track system has to go with it whether you like it or not, the whole protocol system was or is untouchable, with mfx you can't select certain CV's or most of them and there are different perceptions out there what a loco and how it is used for, buy it off the shelf and play with it, don't want to program it and what ever sound is offered I'm happy with it, for me this wasn't enough.

I'm sure Maerklin will come up with something unique again in the future but it will not be a CS1, CS2 and the changing technology in the electronic business will show this.
I've drifted over the years to other modeltrain manufacturers and I'm not dissapointed with products such as Roco and ESU.
the price between the two station wasn't an issue but the price of decoders was.
Another point for me to lean towards the ECoS was the radio control unit, although I'm not completely happy with it it gives me the room to move around my layout and control locos and turnouts from this gadget.
RailComPlus decoders was introduced with the latest version 4 release and it was explained above the benefits they bring with them.

John

Looks like the Z21 is going to have Apple and Android market apps right off the bat.

I don't believe that there is any way Marklin would allow another competitive MRR Manufacturer to use the MFX protocol. The only reason ESU can, is that they wrote the code for it, and were allowed, as part of their's and Marklins "divorce" settlement. It would be patented for quite a while I would think

Z21 is the new Roco controller - they don't mention M4 or mfx in the brochure.
They mention it's prepared for CAN bus and LocoNet - but don't mention when this will be supported and what will work with it.

The Viessmann people said years ago that their Commander could support mfx one day - they just don't say when.

Besides ESU and Märklin, so far only Tams supports a sort of mfx (but only with manual registration).

I don't think we'll see mfx/M4 in the Z21 this year (probably it'll never come). They'd have to add an mfx receiver to their hardware to be able to fully support mfx later though software updates. I don't think they'll add that receiver (why should they if they target DC/DCC users?).

Railcom and mfx have nothing in common (except that they achieve the same goals). One receiver for Railcom, another receiver for mfx.
CS1 reloaded supports mfx, but not Railcom because it only has the receiver for mfx. You need an ECoS Booster to use Railcom with CS1 reloaded.

Is there a Railcom receiver in the CS2? I don't know - probably would help if they ever should target the DCC two-rail market with it.

Getting a CS1 and updating it with the Reloaded upgrade might be a bit cheaper, but unless your budget is really tight, I would suggest you go for the Ecos 2. If you did get a CS1, make sure that it has the v2.0 hardware upgrade, together with either software version 2.0.3 or 2.0.4. There are some CS1's out there with the older v1.3 hardware, which cannot be updated to the Reloaded version, without being updated to v2.0 first, for which you have to send the CS back to Marklin.

Thanks Nev and David

I suspected as much with regards to a CS1 reload.

Now I will have to decide b/t Ecos 2 or Cs2.

I do love apple products and the iPad app looks very cool.

Could you explain the part about the 4 amp vs 3 amp--does the CS2 require an additional booster?

Dole

Hi everyone, and thanks for your replies.

I am currently in contact with a few dealers about their availability with the CS2 and ECOS. Reynauld's told me that I should go for the ESU ECOS, and Euro Rail Hobbies told me that I should go for the CS2.

I'll let you guys know of my decision once I've finished being in contact with Micro Macro Mundo and Modellbahn Ott.

Cheers!

Tadzio.

Check out this link:
http://www.dermodellbahn...lokomotiven-maerklin.htm

If you click on the inside of each loco and check out the details of the inside,
you'll be able to see max consumption of power from each model.
The list is not complete - but gives quite a general idea for most available Marklin models.

Power consumption of loks may be quite dependant on its motor type and its relative weight.

Passenger train coaches fitted with lights will consume even more power - so LED boards are more recommended to save power.

The CS2 comes without power supply. Different power supplies for 230 V and 120 V available (100 W for 1 gauge, 60 W for H0 gauge).
ECoS or CS1 reloaded include a power supply (90 W, for 100 through 240 V input voltages).

I bought my ECOS 2 from AJCKids, really have had great service from them.

Chris