Author Topic: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up  (Read 6346 times)

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nstars

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #15 on: July 21, 2018, 04:16:31 AM »
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You can find more info about the second TCS throttle on this page.

http://tcsdcc.com/mini-throttle

Marc

jdcolombo

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #16 on: July 21, 2018, 08:02:56 AM »
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Ah.  Yes that one looks pretty good.  Might have to try one when they are available, particularly for my yard operators.

John C.

nstars

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #17 on: July 21, 2018, 08:47:31 AM »
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i do like the concept of the MC2 and especially the big knob (my favorite Digitrax throttle is the UT4), but it wasn’t a home run for me. Besides the fact I most likely did get a lemon, it also felt slow and it missed an important Android feature which could have saved my day and that is a hard reset button. Maybe I’ll Wait for the MC3 :)

Marc

jdcolombo

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #18 on: July 21, 2018, 09:12:53 AM »
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i do like the concept of the MC2 and especially the big knob (my favorite Digitrax throttle is the UT4), but it wasn’t a home run for me. Besides the fact I most likely did get a lemon, it also felt slow and it missed an important Android feature which could have saved my day and that is a hard reset button. Maybe I’ll Wait for the MC3 :)

Marc

Hmmm.  Interesting.  Was this a recent experience?  Mine doesn't feel slow at all (well, except when booting the Andriod operating system, which takes it a minute or more) and everything on the throttle is very responsive using Engine Driver.

My "go-to" throttle has also been the Digitrax UT-4.  I very much like that throttle design, but I've just run out of patience dealing with odd glitches in Digitrax's radio system.  What I haven't done, however, is "stress test" a Wi-Fi system.  Normally I have 8 operators for a session, five of whom are using radio units.  Inevitably what happens during a session is that one or more operators lose control of an engine or a throttle quits working.  That frustration is what led me to want to try wi-fi instead.  But what I need to do is get five people down in my basement and run some trains around using just wi-fi throttles (I don't have five MC2's, but I do have several old iPhones with Wi-Throttle installed).

BTW - The battery is user-replaceable.  It's not convenient, but you can theoretically do a hard-reset by removing the back cover, taking the battery out, and then putting it back. 

John C.

nstars

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #19 on: July 21, 2018, 01:11:58 PM »
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I bought the MC2 in April this year and returned it to the shop in June. My objective was to test it with the Engine Driver App, but I did not get to the point where I could install the app. One of the things I tried to solve the booting problem was removing the battery. It was not a very pleasant thing to do as the antenna is making it a real nuisance, but I managed to do it. Unfortunately it didn’t help.

Marc

jdcolombo

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #20 on: July 21, 2018, 01:46:20 PM »
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Well, I concur that it IS slow in booting up.  I timed it this morning: about 2 minutes before I got to the home screen.  And when I first tried to download the current version of Engine Driver from the Google Play store, it seemed to take forever - 10 minutes, maybe?  I've never had something take that long to download from the Apple store on one of my iPhones.  I wondered if the Android store is just slow.  But this may have been partly my rush - maybe the thing had to install some additional software or something on its first boot.

And as I noted in one of my messages to Peteski, I also had a problem with getting it to reconnect to a WPA-encrypted network.  But I probably shouldn't have the train room running on my house network anyway, so I sort of wrote off that problem.  But if you wanted to use the throttle with a security-enabled network attached to the internet, I'd proceed with caution.  Maybe this glitch has something to do with my internal network setup, but I've never had a problem with a real Android phone (e.g., a Samsung Galaxy) reconnecting to my home network after going into sleep mode or shutting down.

What I haven't done yet is check to see if ESU has any firmware updates.  They have an updater app on their web site, but since the thing is working great for me now, I'm hesitant to "fix" what ain't broken for me.

John C.

nstars

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #21 on: July 21, 2018, 02:23:31 PM »
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From what I have read on some boards in Europe was that the internal memory of the MC2 is rather small. It would explain the slow response when some apps are running.

Marc

railnerd

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #22 on: July 23, 2018, 08:32:21 PM »
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Glad you guys like it. I just wish I could get the USB interface working with my NCE powercab  :facepalm:

What type of computer are you running?

-Dave

Steveruger45

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #23 on: July 24, 2018, 08:40:46 PM »
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I had an issue getting nce interface working too on my pc.   In my case it was the baud rate needed to be changed to the higher option during the set up procedure.
Steve

BCR 570

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #24 on: August 05, 2018, 02:22:45 PM »
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I have been watching the ESU Cab Control System for a while now and was wondering if as an intermediate step the MC2 could work with my existing Lenz system.  My two CVP wireless throttles have problems with their rotary encoders which requires sending them back to Texas for repair.

I do have JMRI on a laptop and just purchased a dedicated router to work with it, but JMRI stopped talking to the layout a while ago and I can’t figure out why.  If I can solve that, I could then purchase an MC2 and try it out in advance of purchasing a Cab Control System.



Tim
T. Horton
North Vancouver, B.C.
BCR Dawson Creek Subdivision in N Scale
www.bcrdawsonsub.ca
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3MbxkZkx7zApSYCHqu2IYQ

BCR 570

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #25 on: July 01, 2019, 01:39:26 PM »
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Update:

With the assistance of a friend, my JMRI and WiThrottle server is back up and running well, and it is now possible to use phones as throttles once again if/when desired.

Yesterday another friend brought over a Piko Smartcontrol Set which is essentially the same thing as an ESU Cab Control set (which as far as I can tell is still unavailable).  We unboxed it and connected the Smartcontroller (same as ESU Mobile Control II) to the layout via Engine Driver.  Within seconds we had acquired a locomotive and were running it with no issues.  Very quick response from the locomotive; better than iPhones using WiThrottle.

We then connected the Smartcontrol ICU to my programming track which was disconnected from the layout, and re-directed the Smartcontroller to the ICU.  After placing a LokSound locomotive on the track, it immediately self-registered with all of the function buttons customized for that locomotive, all of the info relating to the prime mover and horn sound files, etc.  Wow.  The knob is a winner, and you can access all of the buttons and the knob while holding the throttle with one hand.  We were quickly able to locate and change the image on the screen to an ALCO C-424.

My next step will be to connect it to the entire layout and test it for a week or so while running trains, switching, consisting, etc.


John:

If you have only used this throttle as a Wi Fi device (ie. Engine Driver), you have only seen a small portion of its potential.  Connected to its own system, there is an amazing array of features which I will need time to delve into.

Also, I did notice that the throttle takes a few minutes to boot up.  Given how much other stuff is on the device which is not related to model trains, I am wondering if one was to delete all of that, would it boot up and run faster?  I should add that once booted up, it seems to operate very quickly with no noticeable delays.


All for now,

Tim

T. Horton
North Vancouver, B.C.
BCR Dawson Creek Subdivision in N Scale
www.bcrdawsonsub.ca
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3MbxkZkx7zApSYCHqu2IYQ

jdcolombo

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Re: Mobile Control II and JMRI Thumbs Up
« Reply #26 on: July 02, 2019, 05:09:08 PM »
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Update:

With the assistance of a friend, my JMRI and WiThrottle server is back up and running well, and it is now possible to use phones as throttles once again if/when desired.

Yesterday another friend brought over a Piko Smartcontrol Set which is essentially the same thing as an ESU Cab Control set (which as far as I can tell is still unavailable).  We unboxed it and connected the Smartcontroller (same as ESU Mobile Control II) to the layout via Engine Driver.  Within seconds we had acquired a locomotive and were running it with no issues.  Very quick response from the locomotive; better than iPhones using WiThrottle.

We then connected the Smartcontrol ICU to my programming track which was disconnected from the layout, and re-directed the Smartcontroller to the ICU.  After placing a LokSound locomotive on the track, it immediately self-registered with all of the function buttons customized for that locomotive, all of the info relating to the prime mover and horn sound files, etc.  Wow.  The knob is a winner, and you can access all of the buttons and the knob while holding the throttle with one hand.  We were quickly able to locate and change the image on the screen to an ALCO C-424.

My next step will be to connect it to the entire layout and test it for a week or so while running trains, switching, consisting, etc.


John:

If you have only used this throttle as a Wi Fi device (ie. Engine Driver), you have only seen a small portion of its potential.  Connected to its own system, there is an amazing array of features which I will need time to delve into.

Also, I did notice that the throttle takes a few minutes to boot up.  Given how much other stuff is on the device which is not related to model trains, I am wondering if one was to delete all of that, would it boot up and run faster?  I should add that once booted up, it seems to operate very quickly with no noticeable delays.


All for now,

Tim

Hi TIm.

Glad you like it.  One day, I suspect mine will be connected to an ESU DCC system; my Digitrax Chief is getting long in the tooth.

And mine takes forever to boot up too, and I've deleted everything off of it except critical apps like the Google store access, etc.  It's just slow on boot - but like you, it's very responsive once the boot sequence was over.

John C.