Hello, Everyone:

As I indicated in my previous discussion concerning problems with the Orient Express digital decoder and controller, found at: Orient Express ,this is what I understood from all feedback received:

1. M's digital controllers do NOT all work the same way. In other words, what may be the way the MS2 controller deals with decoders is not necessarily the way the CS1 (or CS2 or CS3) deals with it.

2. An Fx decoder has an address that the user must use in order to control the loco.

3. An MFX decoder does not have an address that the user need worry about.

4. The adddress number of a loco for an FX decoder is crucial - if two locos have the same address - both locos will respond to the same command at the same time. I know, I have done it with the wireless digital remote control.

5. If you have an MS2 digital controller and buy a loco with an MFX decoder, do not worry about the numbers of your FX or other MFX addresses - the last MFX loco will register itself with an address that will NOT conflict with any of the other locos in your database of addresses.

6. If, however, you have a CS1 (or CS2 or Cs3) digital controller this may not be the so. I am not sure. Hopefully someone will clarify this point.

7. The problem that the 3Rotaie poster experienced with his Orient Express loco using a CS2 may NOT have happened if he had used an
MS2 because of the different way the the MS2 deals with decoders from the way the CS controllers work. If I am wrong here, please clarify the point.

8. The key of the above seems to be:

a. For unsophisticated users, stick to the MS2 and don't touch a CS controller until you know why you are doing it and are well into the digital world so as to be capable of using the extra features the CS controllers have;

b. Stay away if you can from buying a loco that still has an Fx decoder - for a bit more money you save yourself a lot of troubles by
buying a loco with an MFX decoder - you simply put it on the tracks and off it goes;

c. There is no point in buying one of those loco digital cards if you have an MS2 controller and an MFX loco;

d. If you have an MS2 controller a digital card can be of some use with Fx locos; and

e. If you have a CS controller, I have no idea if there is any point in getting a digital card for an Fx loco. Hopefully someone will explain this point.

9. If your Mfx loco does not register on the track and you have an MS2 controller, try updating the firmware to 2.7 or higher if you can;

9.1 If the above does not work or you cannot update the firmware in your MS2 (you need a CS to do that) then call Mike at the Toronto Marklin shop and he will tell you what to do. If Mike is too far from you (like at the other end of the planet), then call a Marklin dealer that you know has knowledge of these products.


Any comments, advice and (gentle) criticism to what I said above by any reader truly knowledgeable of these issues would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you.

Silvano

THANK YOU, HO!

I think my comments/questions and your answers can very nicely become a simple starter guide for many of us still struggling with these concepts.

Among other things, I liked your comments about FX decoders that I thought were somewhat of a dinosaur in this hobby as a result of the advent of the MFX decoders.

Just for fun, if you had a choice of buying two identical locos, same price, one with an FX decoder and one with an MFX decoder, which one would you choose? It seems you would prefer the FX decoder, or am I wrong? I would pick MFX to avoid having to worry about addresses.

One point, however. Is it not the case that when you buy a starter set with an MS2 controller there is no guarantee that it will have the latest firmware update?

(I do realize from what you said, however, that if one buys a black case starter set, the firmware that was released at the factory is among the latest available simply because of its recent release. With time, however, this will be less and less so.)

I am thinking of E-bay in particular. In that case, one would need to ask the seller to do so, assuming he can do that (if he is not an established retailer).

Thanks again and have a good Sunday, you and everyone who is reading this post.

Must agree particularly in the ABD smoothness of old FX decoders, it is just superb.
And if you find a loco that you like equiped with a C sine motor, dont let it go away, i actually hunt for them.
Regards

What do you do when they break?

A C-Sine motor is a rather nice motor (in my opinion, but I know not everyone has the same thoughts) which is rather more complicated than the usual AC otr DC motors used because of the extra electronics needed to run it. There are no brushes and the original version claimed to be maintenance free. A later version had poor performance, which was later improved with redesigned electronics and used the term 'Soft-Sine'. But as mentioned they are a more costly motor to produce and with suitable electronics good quality DC motors are capable of equal performance, so Marklin no longer use the C-Sine series motors.

Originally locos with the catalogue numbers in the series 39xxx were c-Sine motors, but then they crept into some 37xxx series models and other motors in top end models crept into the 39xxx series numbers.

From the 2003/2004 Yearbook.

Many decoders set to address 35 will by default respond to both MM and DCC. If decoders support both MM and DCC you can usually disable protocols separately in the decoder.
I only use DCC addresses above 255 to avoid any potential conflicts.
On controllers with keyboards or on-screen keyboards long DCC addresses can easily be selected.

For decoders from ESU and Uhlenbrock, MM and DCC have the same priority.
Märklin decoders ignore MM commands when they detect DCC on the track.
Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. It's typically Märklin that they didn't follow ESUs example, but created a new pattern with new problems.