Hi all
Some very basic questions about the mobile station (sorry).
It can run up to 10 trains all at the one time.
If say 10 trains running can you stop 1 reverse it and then travel in
the opposite direction,while the others carry on.
Can it run a mixture of track and overhead loco's at the same time.
Can they be isolated from each other using M track (say 4 stations)
Can they control points/signals.
Thanks for any help.
Ian

Hi Darrin
Not starting the layout for another couple of months,have not got any
digital equipment yet,unsure of what to buy.On my old anologue layout
(20 years ago)I could run up to 12 loco's at the one time,all of them
moving together.I used 5 old style transformers to do this.
I would like to duplicate this but using digital equipment but will stick with using M track....any ideas.
Thanks again
Ian

Ian:

You Asked:
Some very basic questions about the mobile station (sorry).

"It can run up to 10 trains all at the one time."

Yes... with the older Mobile station you can control up to 10 locomotives. This is due to the fact that the mobile station can only store up to 10 locomotive addresses in it's buffer. Apparently with the newer mobile station the buffer can be increased to 11 locomotives with the card reader option. But... as Darren said, this take a lot of power to do. More than a single Marklin Trafo can supply.

You asked:

"If say 10 trains running can you stop 1 reverse it and then travel in the opposite direction,while the others carry on."

Again, yes, in a digital environment power is now supplied continuously to the rails, which is why a greater amount of power is needed for your layout. Instead of a rehostat controller supplying power to the system in incrimental units (ie: the more you turn the knob, the more power you feed to the system) power is now continuously fed to the rails at a constant level. To test this, just place one of your older locomotives on the digital tracks and it will take off at a very fast speed and it will be uncontrollable. In order to control the locomotives the controller (mobile station/Central station) "communicates" by way of a decoder located in each locomotive which is designated by a specific address. The controller then "issues" commands for said locomotives/address (either foreward, reverse or stop). As was stated, the mobile station can store 10(11) locomotive addresses, while the Central station can store considerably more. While I'm not sure just how many it can store, I know that it can store up to at least 80 but I I've heard it can store more and I'm sure that someone on this list can tell you the exact amount, suffice to say, more than anyone could conceivably need or use

You asked:

"Can it run a mixture of track and overhead loco's at the same time."

I'm assumeing that by overhead loco's you mean Catanery, if so the answer is again, yes, although due to the "somewhat flimsy" connections between the Cat wires, Marklin doesn't recomend using this set-up to run locomotives as the connections cannot ensure the proper conduction of the digital signals to your locomotives. (Although, on an aside note, Catenary is the one instance that you can use your older "analogue locomotives" with a digital system. Due to Marklin's common ground system, you can supply an analogue signal to the Catenary wires and use the common ground as a return to your transformer.)

You asked

"Can they be isolated from each other using M track (say 4 stations)"

This one is difficult due to the fact that I'm not sure what you mean by "using M track". As far as using 4 stations, and again, I'm assuming that you mean 4 mobile stations, the answer is no.

Each mobile station requires a separate source for power, which would mean combining 4 separate transformers, something that is not recomended as it would cause a cumulative incriment in power to the layout which would cause at the very least a burn out of your system (damaging many expensive locomotives/solenoid equipment) or... at the worst... a serious overload of household electrical systems which could result in serious electrical shocks.

If you choose to go the route of a Central station (which I would recommend) extra Mobile stations can be connected to the system through connection on the Central station or through a special connection box (sorry, I don't have the part number at this time, but a dealer can tell you what the number is)

And lastly, you asked:

"Can they control points/signals."

The answer to this is yes and no. That is... with the older Mobile station, the control of the solenoid or control points was/is not possible (again, due to the buffer size). With the newer Mobile station the control of solenoids/control points is now possible.

If you are going with the older Mobile station for controlling your layout, you will still have to control your solenoids through the older (tried and true) control box set-up. The good news with this is that if you are using the control box system you can use any older "analogue" transformers to supply power (separately) to the control points.

That is, just don't ever...ever... ever hook up a "red" wire from your analogue transformers to the "red" wire of a digital transformer.

Hopefully... this helps. If you want more info, feel free to contact me offline anytime, and good luck!
Thanks for any help.

I would not recommend connecting any ground from the analog system to the digital system.

But.... I just had a thought of something that I never had thought of before.
****So hopefully some one else might be able to commit on this.****
The digital system puts out a constant 16-18 volts from the central or mobile station. and if you place a old analog Loco on the track it takes off at full speed.
So if this loco is run form the Catanery what would happen if you put a variable resistor between the power feed to the catanery. no way to reverse the old analog lok but I think it might work.
Could the variable resistor cause some feed back or damage the digital system?

Hi, Ian!

That's the standard in the digital word: a single digital central controls the whole layout (adding boosters if more power is needed).
But additional controllers can be connected to this central (a few Mobile Station or another Central Station).


Yes - but why should it if tracks are not connected?
Connecting centre rails could then kill the digital controller.


Sure - but a shortcut between catenary and centre rail could kill the digital controller.
How should such a shortcut occur: any piece of metal (e. g. a Märklin tin-plate coach) could do it. Modern plastic coaches are less risky.

James. Having used both I can confirm that C track does offer better electrical connection. If already using M track and happy then of course no need to change but if starting from scratch then C track is the way to go. (or K if you wish to ballast by hand)

Dave:

You're absolutely right.

My "Lorelie" layout is currently undergoing the change from M track (which I inherited from my Dad) to K and C track. I'm using K track (flex)for my mainline runs, and C track for seconday routes and yards. M track, which currently occupies my shadow yards, will eventually be replaced with 2 rail "flex track". I will run a third rail down the centre, not unlike the older M track sections.

I do sympathize with those members who are currently using M track and are thinking about changing to C track. It is very cost prohibitive, to say nothing of the labour required. My advice (for what it's worth) to those who are intending to go digital, but wish to remain with M track, would be to ensure that you increase the number of power leads to your trackage.

But I have digressed from the original topic and I apologize to Ian.[:I]

Hi John. Just a quick mention for the CS2 which I feel is a better bet than anything from ESU with regard to which firm will survive in the long term.
ESU is very small compared to Marklin and small is not always safe.
Hopefully there will be a new mobile station from Marklin (not made by ESU) which should be better than the orginal Mobile Station which was a disaster.
Both products are good but if and when Marklin gets going again then the CS2 should be the best bet for the future.
For Ian I still think a cheap starter set is the best way to get up and running. You can compare the track which comes free.

Easiest way is to use the 'ugly box' piece of C track. Connect your mobile station and transformer to that. Connect one red and one brown wire from underneath the 'ugly box' piece of C track to your M track feeder rail. Make sure that any capacitors in the M track feeder rail are removed, as they are not needed for digital operation, and can interfere with the digital signal.

The red wire goes to the 'B' terminal, and the brown wire to the 'O' terminal, underneath the piece of C track.

Thank you both for your help. I have two now working on digital, and love it.

In my catalogue 60115 shows for K track, no mention of M. I assume you mean it will work for K and M?

D