Eric, one of our members has produced an S88 with all its parts and instructions for a fraction of the money., he also got his own website, own computer program, operational arrival and departure sign. just can't think of his name, I think his first name was: got it: Dale Schultz

John

Edited by user 20 July 2016 17:45:26(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I highly recommend LDT.. If you are seriously considering computer control then get the HSI-88 as well.. This connects your s-88s directly to the computer driving the layout and can scan them far quicker than the eCOS or CS2.. It also keeps you immune from the s88 "bugs" that surface on both controllers from time to time..

Thanks for the responses guys and sharing other manufacturers.

There is also the RMD S88 decoder which comes already with the diode trick. That really got me interested but its not N standard so... ugh.

In any case I have already ordered the TAMS-3 for S88 detection, still yet to decide on solenoid decoder.

With all the various comparable options I am considered using 2 brands, one for points and one for signals to allow for easy identification in the case of fault finding.

I'll have to take another look at Dales layout too.



The HSI does sound pretty good but its also 120 euro that could go towards a CS2/3 which I need regardless

Hi Adrian,

I've been having some problems with my s88 communications, and I noticed you mentioned the HSI-88 unit, which I have interpreted as being a device which speeds up the communications of the s88 to the PC. Firstly, is this correct?

If so, here's my problem. I'm using TrainController and I have setup the program for trains to stop at certain locations. Most of the time they do this, but occasionally, they over run the stop mark. I'm using occupancy sensors in each block and I feel that when the train overruns, it's because the s88 sensor hasn't sent the information fast enough to the program for the train to slow down. Therefore, if I use an HSI-88, it might resolve my problem.

What do you think?

Regards
Greg

Thomas has it mostly correct.

When I had an Intellibox (pre 2007) I started to experience problems when 7 or 8 trains were running. The upshot, after many hours of diagnosis was that some of the s88s were not seen as triggered by the intellibox.. Part of the problem was that this was a small layout with short distances between the s88 segments = high frequency of s88 traffic to the Intellibox.. At the time, I tried all the suggested settings with only a slight improvement..

Then I bought the HSI-88.. The effect was immediate (actually it took ages to work out how to correctly configure this into WinDigiPet) and there were no more problems..

Aside from taking the processor load away from the controller (Intellibox at the time) the HSI-8 breaks up your long string of S88 modules (serial interface) into three parallel strings of s88s (see this for serial vs parallel http://www.bb-elec.com/Images/Whitepapers/comfig12.aspx ). This means that the computer is effectively able to poll three signals at once - add this to a fast PC (intel i5+) and your s88 problems are gone..

The other benefit is that you are immune to the s88 bugs that seem to come and ago with each new software upgrade on both the eCOS and the CS2. I don't know why this is happening, but I would not be surprised if the CPU in both the eCOS and CS2 is getting so busy doing the pretty things that it is starting to have trouble leaving enough processor cycles to poll each of the s88s - it could be why Marklin brought out the L88..

The HSI-88 is 9 years old. It is the original serial version now running through a serial to USB interface.. I assume that LDT have improved on the design over the years..

My view is that the s88 technology is past its use by date and needs to be replaced with a more efficient solution. Of course, the cost of migrating to a new solution will probably be a nighmare!

A reasonable assumption, but the other question is: what additional functionality is incorporated into the CS3 that might consume that additional processing power? Unfortunately, we won't know the answer until the CS3 is more widely available..

My understanding of Rcorail support for HSI-88 is that the serial version is fully supported in all client/server versions, but the HSI-88 USB is only supported in the Windows version.. See http://wiki.rocrail.net/doku.php?id=hsi88:hsi88usb-en

Perhaps someone from the Rocrail group can provide more information here??

Yes one of my criteria was S88-N standard. I plan to do the diode upgrade to my Tams-S88-3.
I will then connect them direct to the LDT HSI using the RJ45 (N standard) adaptor.

The limitation with the old style bus connector is simply the amount of interference over longer distance.
Having the first cable to the L-88 from CS2 as the old cable is not that big of deal, since all the other S88's would then use the cat5 RJ45 shielded cables.
There is definitely a benefit to using a standalone S88 controller though.

That's true, but I am more thinking about the long term problems that include cross-talk and the opportunities of better train identification.. While train identification is not strictly needed on a computerised layout there are benefits.. One example is where turnouts fail to operate and a train finds itself on the wrong line - train identification would help to detect the event and allow the computer to take corrective action..

All correct, except for the s88 part! I have mostly used the the Viessmann s88 modules.

The modules I built are the Viessman signal control modules bought as unassembled kits from Viessmann.