Hi all

'Mum' informs that a 'new' starter set will be on the way. However, this will be a single digital installed loco, a class 18 as I understand.

At this stage this ss will come with transformer/controller and tracks.

Time will tell


Cheers for now
Noel

http://www.modellcentrum.de/imaerklin.htm
2003-10-25.

/lw

nyone knows the price of that set?

It's not the 18.4 they want to get rid of, it's the 6021...
IMHO
Lars

P.S.
It might also be that they just want some new customers. I guess it's the best starter set I've seen so far. But they should have include Uhlenbrock Daisy instead of the 6021 :-)
L.W:

Hi all

I agree with Lars about the 6021....I've heard that Marklin are busy redesigning their digital controllers.

Well,
it's worth it's price but no, not a bargain IMHO. You get an obsolete controller, you have to add a keyboard or more, and you can't use the cheaper and sometimes better DCC-decoders. Rumour says that Märklin will release a new controller which allows for DCC and Selectrix as well (like the IB); perhaps just a rumour as it has proven up to now; but if... Both the IB and Daisy may be upgraded...

/Lars

I sais "sometimes better DCC-decoders". For me the best thing is to have the choice; what decoders are best have varied over the years and depends on the purpose. I've had very good use of DCC decoders when retrofitting odd motor locos, with somewhat unknown characteristics. Then it's very good with a programmable decoder. And I have one Märklin 34121, with a very little space where a Märklindecoder didn't fit. Light effects light blink and dim are missing in Märklin. ESU sound decoders are much easier to program in DCC even if you want to run them in Motorola.

But with a standard DCM motor I use a 60901, even if it's expensive.

/Lars

They already changed the standard once, from "Old M/M" to "New M/M" with added functions F1-F4 and a few other improvements. The old decoders are still fully functional with new digital equipment, and the new decoders understand the old protocol. So if we look back in time and try to see the future I think Märklin will be improving the system further while keeping backwards compatibility.

Support for DCC decoders may be a dangerous strategic move, though. Märklin wants to keep it's customers within the brand. I think it's more likely that we will see a new central unit with a few extra buttons for accessories and maybe a built-in computer interface. If anything is going to change in the digital system setup it would be perhaps support for 256 loco adresses and 8 functions. Programming the decoders from the central unit would also be a step forward...

But the big question is what the price would be for a gem like this. If the interface and keyboard are integrated, this means many customers won't buy these. So the prophit will have to be taken from the central unit and possibly extra units like memory... On the same time the price can't be too much higher than the IB. In that case the choice will be easy for most customers.

I guess a price ~500€ would be expected for a central unit with computer interface and a few extra buttons (Maybe for the first 4 or 8 accessories).

I would not be supprised to see an update to the NEM standard socket, from 8 pin to 12. (backward compatible to the current socket.)

It will be interesting how many common features the new controler has with the IB.

McLae (Busy digesting turkey)

February 2004, at the Nürnberg fair will see the announcements, I guess. With the signals one had to wait 10 months for delivery; planned was 4 months or something. In this case it would be bad for the business to wait for so long IMHO, as probably noone would buy the 6021 when the new announcement is done... Just speculations from my side, based upon rumours.

BTW, I got a new idea about what it could look like. It would be wise to allow download of new software like the IB does, or at least, at a "authorized service place". That would also allow for different software versions depending on what you pay for it, and wether you use it with Trix (Selectrix+DCC) or Märklin. It's not necessarily so that several protocols as the rumour says, means multirprotocol mixed at a time as Uhlenbrock does...

/Lars

The references to the turkey (big and dry version of a chicken ) that I fried above, and Mclae ate, had to do with Thanksgiving, a US holiday where most folks prepare a family meal with Turkey.