Hi All

Christmas is coming . I am thinking about asking Santa (my wife) for a CS3 or CS3 plus. I have a CS2 and would like to link it to
the new CS3. So :-

1) Is it possible - with CS3 and CS3+ to link to my CS2 ?
2) What functionality will I gain ?
3) Can I control the points and locos from both - is CS3+ better than CS3 to do this ?
4) what is the differences between CS3 and CS3+

Thanks

Tim

Any CS2(60213/60214/60215) may connect to Any CS3-(60226)/CS3+(60216) with the 60123 cable.

IF you are wishing to use both track outputs on the layout in such a way that trains may cross from one controller to another THEN and only then, you may need to take into account the generation and model variants and their "Galvanic isolation" needs/limitations.

In the description described, I would recommend
- Not using the CS2 for "trains on track" use, and dedicate it to your accessory control bus (while continuing to use the throttles and other operator bits)
- Only concern yourself with a CS3 , i.e. do not bother with a CS3+

An amount of elaboration is needed to fully answer your question
- what exactly is the connection - physical (cabling) and logical (configuration)
- What criteria are you using to identify "it is not transferred to my cs2."
- What is you big picture - operation wise.


If there is a quick answer , I would be making a lot of assumption and guess... , then it pivots of whether you have your CS2 configured to sync Locomotives(control) or not.

If you have "sync" enabled, then the item discovered on the CS3 will appear on the CS2, if it is on at the time or at the next reboot

If you have "sync" disabled, then you need to manually copy or redefine an equivalent loco with a matching address.
- A quick way to do this is with a LocoCard

I am not sure this is really worth debating.

To me it is more a matter of if you have a CS2 and a CS3 why not use the 4 native throttles provided.

Hi
I have a cs2 60215 and a new cs3 standard 60226. Regarding your questions:

1) yes it’s possible. Use a 60123 2m cable as been said and it links. Use a 60126 2m extension if you need more length. In this configuration I use the cs3 as master and the cs2 as secondary. You cannot configure a cs3 as a slave (only a cs3+ 60216). Important note: you can connect a cs3 to a cs2 hw 4.x or higher. This probably means the 60215 model and maybe some late 60214. If you have a cs2 hw 3.x or lower - 60213 or 60214 - you have to add a cs3+, the cs3 is not fully compatible. This info is on the marklin new digital book 03092. Update 2.jan.18 - Note that this hw limtation should only apply when using cs2 as a booster (track output). If using only as a secondary controller any cs2 should work with any cs3.

2) with the cs3 you have basically a much faster controller, specially on boot. The screen is a little bigger, has better resolution and is better responsive to touch by fingers. You also have a much better control for layout setup and visualization/operation. In addition you can also control more than 2 locomotives at the same time. You can connect the iPad App in both cs2 and cs3 to have the same functionality of controlling multiple locos. The iPad app is the same for both cs2 and cs3. The cs3 launched with 32 functions for newer decoders you can also have it on cs2 with the latest 4.2 update. That may also be the last major sw update for the cs2 and further evolutions in sw may be dedicated to cs3, which has a faster processor and memory, so cs3 may be more future proof. The cs3 is also compatible with all connections of cs2 and you can copy your database so migration is very easy.
You can also use in this setup the cs2 as a booster if you have a large layout. You need to isolate only the central rail between the two controllers, like a booster setup.
Note that coming from a cs2 there is no significant new functionalities in cs3. It’s the same kind of feeling as upgrading from an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 7 - it’s faster but you keep doing the same calls, sms, Internet, emails - you don’t feel a real upgrade like I felt from an old Nokia 5800 to an iPhone 4! So be aware of this not to create big expectations in cs2 to cs3 upgrade!

3) yes when you configure the cs2 as secondary it boots with no locos and imports the locos and pictures from cs3. You can control the locos with both controlers - eg selecting the same loco on both controllers you view the changes in one controller reflected in the other; you press stop and both display stop. Some hiresolution locomotive pics from cs3 are displayed with grain in cs2, probably due to lower resolution/colors. In my configuration the layout with points from cs3 is not available in cs2 screen, and also not available in the iPad app. I didn’t investigate this further but I suspect that because cs3 layout is tool is newer (with curves and new icons/connecting tools) it may not be compatible with older versions. There may be a solution to this and/or a future sw update may resolve this issue.. if you want to have control of layout points I suggest getting a cs3 and a cs3+ to ensure layout view compatibility.

4) the cs3+ adds the function of being a slave in multiple controllers setup. It has an additional port for this, the same as cs2 has. All cs2 and cs3 /cs3+ can be master. Cs3 standard can only be master while cs3+ and cs2 can be slave.
This means if you only want 2 controllers in your system the cs3 standard is enough if you configure it to be master.
There can only be one cs3 in a system with multiple controllers but you can add multiple cs3+ If needed.
This is odd because you assume (wrongly) that cs3 can only be slave, which is the opposite!
The cs3+ also has the l88 link incorporated and has a s88 bus rj45 plug. With cs3+ you save the $$$ diference between S88 Link 60883 + power supply 66361/66365 vs s88 60881 module price.
You also need the cs3+ if you want to connect to a cs2 hw 3.x or lower (probably 60213 and 60214).

In the end I bought the cs3 because I’m building a larger layout where It is “nice to have” a second controller. You can also add a ms2 to the cs2 for that effect if you want basic controller but I recommend using the iPad or iPhone app instead. All you need is to connect the cs2 or cs3 to your WiFi / Ethernet network (I use a tplink nano powered by the cs2 USB port) and the iPad app is very fast and responsive, having the ability to control multiples trains and your layout switches freely in the room. The only thing missing are the speed knobes, which imho takes away the “feeling of driving the train” and the main reason why I bought the cs3 over the cs2+iPad config.

If you want to upgrade to a cs3 and sell your cs2 this may be a good time because cs3 are priced lower than in the introduction and cs2 still retains value - probably because it’s more stable. I’ve been working with cs3 for 1 or 2 months with rocrail in pc for testing and it still hasn’t crashed :)

Hope this helps to clarify some doubts that I also had previously of buying the cs3 regarding interoperability with Cs2+cs3.

Regards
John

Edited by user 02 January 2018 04:13:08(UTC)  | Reason: Added info on cs2 hw limitations for track booster only

Hi John JeanB,

You can use the cs3 has a master you don’t need a cs3+ for that. You need a cs3+ if you want a slave in a system. This is not very intuitive.

I agree with the rest of your post that the cs3 doesn’t bring new functionalities from a cs2.

Regards
John

Information from Märklin is clear as mud in this case.
You have to buy an extra book to get safety advice?

Limitations may only apply when the CS2s are used as track boosters. I assume there are no limitations for CS2s used as controllers or solenoid boosters only.

Some 60214 have the "good" hardware, some have the "bad" hardware. This adds to the confusion as you cannot tell from the ref. number if there is galvanic insulation.

Bit hard, because it is upside down!

Hi John
Thanks for the detailed response to my questions, you have confirmed what I thought with valuable extra info. I can now go forward and buy the CS3.
Tim

Hi
Post corrected
Regards
J