I'm not trying to write a manual. A manual is available from Märklin:
http://medienpdb.maerkli.../1/pdf/60653_betrieb.pdf
Copy URL to address bar. English version in the second half (use Adobe Reader to turn pages around).

The Mobile Stations from TRIX and Märklin are identical except for printing and colours.
The TRIX version also shows the Märklin logo when it's turned on:


Default language is German:


Open the options and select "Sprache" to change this:

Press SHIFT and TURNOUT to open this menue, then press the key to the left of "Sprache" to select this entry.

"Deutsch" is selected, but "Englisch" is the second entry in the list:


There we are in English:


Trying to add a new loco leads to this menue:

The menue has three items, but only two are visible. Two keys to the right of the screen are used to scroll up and down, two keys on the left are used to select an entry.

"Find" will try to find the address of an MM loco on the track (must be the only loco on the track). Locos with LEDs as lights are normally not detected (probably they don't draw enough current).


"Enter Manually" can be used if you quickly want to test a loco or if you know the loco is not in the database.
For digital Märklin locos, "From Database" normally is the best choice.


The product database also shows two items at a time (sigh).


Good news: if you press SHIFT, you can use the knob to scroll quickly through the list.
With MS2, the list is sorted by string, meaning that 37xx and 37xxx are mixed in one section (with MS1 they were sorted by number).

The 39xxx numbers are a long way down the road:

The name "BR 152 902-3" is another Märklinism: writing BR (short for Baureihe or class) only makes sense when referring to the whole class (as in "BR 152") but is not used when referring to a single loco of that class (as in "152 902-3").
Editing loco names is not shown in this review, but it is a time-consuming process: you use keys to select the character position to modify, then use the knob to select the character you want.
With MS1 it was just a matter of turning an clicking the knob and could normally be done faster (but OTOH there were no lower case characters).

Here's the loco created from database (with unchanged name):


Pressing the loco key selects the next loco slot:

"+" indicates free permanent slots, "o" is the volatile slot (the eleventh loco will not be remembered when power is turned off).

I put an mfx loco on the track and pressed the STOP key. After a few seconds, the "mfx" symbol starts flashing:


Here's the mfx loco (with functions F0 through F7):


When SHIFT is held, you can access F8 through F15. The grown loco symbol indicates that you can use the knob to select a different loco (the loco key will always take you to the next slot so you have to press it ten times to get back to the previous loco so SHIFT plus knob is a better way to move loco selection to the left):


Inverted function symbols indicate activated functions:


Available loco symbols (1 of 3):


Available loco symbols (2 of 3):


Available loco symbols (3 of 3):


Mobile Station 2 can control up to 320 turnouts - two are showing at the same time:

Use the keys left and right from the display to activate that turnout.

After switching turnout 1:


After moving to the next screen:


And the last screen:

(since the list wraps around it's a short way from 1/2 to 319/320)

And here's the slave MS - still void:


Here we find a new option: "From Master":


This brings up another menue with two visible items where you can select the loco fom:

Note 1: when used with a CS2, you use this option to select a loco from the complete CS2 loco list; however this list is not sorted by name - with e. g. 200 locos registered on the CS2 and two items visible from an unsorted list, this is a helluva fun job to select up to ten locos for control with the MS2.
Note 2: the Master cannot copy locos back from the Slave (unless a loco card is used)
Note 3: originally my MS2 (bought in October 2010) came with software V 1.1 and this option was missing; after upgrading to V 1.5 (MS2 must be connected to a CS2 with current software) this option was available (I don't know which version introduced this feature).

MS2 shows a gauge control while data is being copied (not really necessary, takes only one second):


Here's the loco on the Slave:

Now you can delete it on the Master to free a slot for another loco - but you cannot copy it back.

For DCC, addresses from 1 through 10239 are supported:

You can use SHIFT plus knob to quickly change the address.

For programmable MM decoders, addresses from 1 through 255 are supported:


For old-fashioned "mouse piano" MM decoders, addresses from 1 through 80 are supported:


The MS2 in all its beauty:

There are keys around the knob and beginners sometimes hit them accidentally (when turning the know with three fingers). You can avoid this if you turn the knob with a thumb from below.

21 horizontal bars next to the function keys on the right indicate the current speed setting of the loco:

It seems the MS2 used 167 virtual speed steps for every loco.

I made a test with a current Märklin hobby loco that supports 14 speed steps only.
At virtual speed steps (VSS) 0 and 1 the loco was still standing (physical speed step PSS 0).
At VSS 2 through 7 the loco was running at PSS 1.
At VSS 8 through 18 the loco was running at PSS 2.
At VSS 19 through 29 the loco was running at PSS 3.
At VSS 30 through 39 the loco was running at PSS 4.
At VSS 40 through 50 the loco was running at PSS 5.
At VSS 51 through 61 the loco was running at PSS 6.
With VSS 62 the loco reached PSS 7 (and I gave up the test).

Limitations
Each MS2 can store 10 locos (I call them permanent slots) plus a volatile loco that is lost when power is turned off.
With two MS2s it's 10+1 for every MS2 allowing up to 22 locos.
The connection box supports up to two MS2s.
For people with more than 10 locos, loco cards seem to be a good choice to work around this 10 loco limit of the MS2.
I haven't tested working with loco cards yet.
Maximum track power is 1.9 A (which should be enough for 3 through 6 H0 locos running at the same time (your mileage may vary)).

Personal Reflections
The MS2 is much better than the old Mobile Station 1:
- 16 functions with mfx locos (versus 9 with MS1)
- 255 addresses for MM locos (versus 80 with MS1)
- DCC support
- turnout support

I take it with me to club meetings and we use it at home for a "carpet railway" and it's good for that.
Support for turnouts is useful only for carpet railway and club meetings; for a permanent layout control boxes would be a better option IMHO.

The display is better than it looks on the photos.
Many menues only show two items at a time which is annoying with long lists (especially with long unsorted lists).

Bad news for mailorder customers: MM recommends visiting your dealer once a year to upgrade the software.

My TRIX MS2 developed a display problem after a few days (one horizontal line and one vertical line were always dark).
It had version 1.1 when I bought it in October 2010 and version 1.5 when I sent it to repair. The replacement unit came in December 2010 with version 1.3 and needed an update.

Advantages of the Central Stations
The MS2 is an entry level controller.
Both CS1 reloaded and CS2 still have their advantages:
- two locos on screen, two speed knobs
- (at least) 16 functions visible on screen
- touchscreen (with on-screen keyboards to enter addresses, ref. numbers, loco names etc.)
- layout display for comfortable turnout control