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Offline jwalt2065  
#1 Posted : 11 April 2019 18:03:35(UTC)
jwalt2065

United States   
Joined: 02/02/2016(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: Peru, Indiana
Hi folks,

When I received my CS3 about a month ago, the box seemed light to me.
I soon discovered that the reason being, there is no manual (per se).
I went to you tube to find an unboxing video and one I found was an early CS3 video.
It said that the manual was not out yet but should be in the future.
It has been 3 years since the CS3 has been available and I guess they are still working on that manual.
Well I guess it is because they add things (which is good) and send us updates to download, so the manual has to keep being revised before it goes out to print.

I bought their CS3 book (03092) even before I knew I was going to buy one (I guess you have to buy the manual separately (for such an expensive item!?!?)).
Unfortunately this is now outdated. Also, I go on you tube, but it seems all of those videos are outdated.
I get the Marklin Newsletters, thankfully Curtis and Rick are doing an excellent job on writing articles on using the CS3 and the updated features.
Even so, it would be nice, if not being done yet, to have addendums to the book or a rewritten/on-line manual of the updated version of the CS3 so everything's all in one place.

I bought the first CS2 60213 in 2009 when it first came out and it had all kinds of issues, so I decided I would wait awhile before getting the CS3 to give them time to work out all the bugs.
Even after being out for some time now, there are still screens or text that are in German when you select English.
I haven't had my CS3 for long, but I know the CS2 would display German text mostly on screens that are giving you warnings (something that should most definitely be translated!!!).

The CS3 has a lot of nice features not on the CS2, so it just takes time to learn how to do things.
On one hand, I don't want to ask (stupid) questions that are found in the manual if you look in the right spot or anywhere else, and on the other hand, I don't want to spends hours upon hours trying to figure out something when somebody has the quick answer to it.

Thanks for listening BigGrin
Best regards to all,

John

Offline TEEWolf  
#2 Posted : 11 April 2019 20:31:37(UTC)
TEEWolf


Joined: 01/06/2016(UTC)
Posts: 2,465
Originally Posted by: jwalt2065 Go to Quoted Post
Hi folks,

When I received my CS3 about a month ago, the box seemed light to me.
I soon discovered that the reason being, there is no manual (per se).
I went to you tube to find an unboxing video and one I found was an early CS3 video.
It said that the manual was not out yet but should be in the future.
It has been 3 years since the CS3 has been available and I guess they are still working on that manual.
Well I guess it is because they add things (which is good) and send us updates to download, so the manual has to keep being revised before it goes out to print.

I bought their CS3 book (03092) even before I knew I was going to buy one (I guess you have to buy the manual separately (for such an expensive item!?!?)).
Unfortunately this is now outdated. Also, I go on you tube, but it seems all of those videos are outdated.
I get the Marklin Newsletters, thankfully Curtis and Rick are doing an excellent job on writing articles on using the CS3 and the updated features.
Even so, it would be nice, if not being done yet, to have addendums to the book or a rewritten/on-line manual of the updated version of the CS3 so everything's all in one place.

I bought the first CS2 60213 in 2009 when it first came out and it had all kinds of issues, so I decided I would wait awhile before getting the CS3 to give them time to work out all the bugs.
Even after being out for some time now, there are still screens or text that are in German when you select English.
I haven't had my CS3 for long, but I know the CS2 would display German text mostly on screens that are giving you warnings (something that should most definitely be translated!!!).

The CS3 has a lot of nice features not on the CS2, so it just takes time to learn how to do things.
On one hand, I don't want to ask (stupid) questions that are found in the manual if you look in the right spot or anywhere else, and on the other hand, I don't want to spends hours upon hours trying to figure out something when somebody has the quick answer to it.

Thanks for listening BigGrin
Best regards to all,

John



You do not have to buy it really. Download the 2 manuals as PDF file here:

https://www.maerklin.de/...s/details/article/60216/

https://static.maerklin....3c218aff091494261442.pdf

Major manual in 6 languages. The page numbers in each language are the same.

https://static.maerklin....065db123781498138103.pdf

Page 7 (a very important page of the manual) in German is also page 7 in English and so on. (page of the manual not of the PDF-viewer).

But the manual is not updated to the last software version 1.4.0
Offline jwalt2065  
#3 Posted : 11 April 2019 21:28:55(UTC)
jwalt2065

United States   
Joined: 02/02/2016(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: Peru, Indiana
Thanks TEEWolf,

Yes I have the manual from your 1st link from Brenda Hensleigh Marklin Newsletter emails.
I don't remember if I got that before or after I bought the book.
The 2nd link is what comes in the box with the CS3 (just basic stuff).

Thanks again for replying and for the links.

Best regards,
John
Offline dickinsonj  
#4 Posted : 13 April 2019 15:18:06(UTC)
dickinsonj

United States   
Joined: 05/12/2008(UTC)
Posts: 1,675
Location: Crozet, Virginia
Originally Posted by: jwalt2065 Go to Quoted Post

The CS3 has a lot of nice features not on the CS2, so it just takes time to learn how to do things.

This the trend with pretty much all newer digital devices, including the CS3. You don't get anything more than the most basic instructions for a tablet, computer or phone these days and it is basically up to you to figure it all out. Software changes too quickly to make paper manuals practical and besides, they are so much harder to search compared to electronic versions.

That book gives a good overview of the CS3 capabilities at the time it was written but like any software system the CS3 is constantly evolving. We are lucky to have access to the digital newsletters and helpful responses from Curtis and Rick because that is more support than Märklin has offered in the past. There are also a lot of people here on the forum with knowledge of the operations available with a CS3 and I often get helpful responses to my questions.

My friend Søren maintains a very nice blog which explains many details of controlling trains with Märklin software and you should definitely check it out.

http://railway.zone/

Søren is a software developer and he not only understands how these things work but does a beautiful job of explaining it in a way that almost anyone can understand. ThumpUp

Regards,
Jim

I have almost all Märklin and mostly HO, although I do have a small number of Z gauge trains!
So many trains and so little time.
thanks 3 users liked this useful post by dickinsonj
Offline jwalt2065  
#5 Posted : 14 April 2019 05:51:39(UTC)
jwalt2065

United States   
Joined: 02/02/2016(UTC)
Posts: 28
Location: Peru, Indiana
Originally Posted by: dickinsonj Go to Quoted Post

My friend Søren maintains a very nice blog which explains many details of controlling trains with Märklin software and you should definitely check it out.

http://railway.zone/

Søren is a software developer and he not only understands how these things work but does a beautiful job of explaining it in a way that almost anyone can understand. ThumpUp



Thanks Jim. I will check it out.
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