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Post by harborbelt70 on Jul 29, 2024 12:29:21 GMT
A very useful and interesting video - very long and this is only Part 1! I imagine the working out of how the Base3 functions (or not) is going to be a continuing saga. I didn't even look at the online manuals except to see what it said about the CAB3 App running Bluetooth. The most interesting thing to me was using the Base3 with a CAB2 and at least that seems fairly simple. Probably not ready to take the plunge yet, however.
P.S. The inability to load engines from a Base2 other than by doing them individually and the lack of any train brake control are serious drawbacks that don't seem likely to be addressed (if ever) until the revised CAB3 App is available in September. I can't say I'm impressed by this and so I'm not tempted by the product unless I am forced to migrate by a CAB2 failure. As I have a spare one I'll rely on that.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 12:36:45 GMT
Post by eaaiii on Jul 29, 2024 12:36:45 GMT
First of all, thanks to Rockymountaineer for posting the link to Sean's video. I recently bought a Base3 because I have an interest in dabbling in Lionel Legacy (for better or worse) for several years now. If I wanted to have the full functionality of Legacy, I would have had to buy a secondhand Base2 at exorbitant prices that Lionel no longer technically supports, so I have been stuck. Bugs aside, I think over the long run, the Base3 will have a longer lifespan because it will be easier to roll out software updates if you have your Base3 hooked up to the internet and if you use a cellphone/tablet for train control.
I do have a technical question that maybe someone out there will have an answer. I have an existing MTH DCS set-up with a star wiring diagram. If I hook up the Base3 Common to the Common off my transformer before it goes into the TIU, I take it that this would not present any operational issues? I thought that l read somewhere that setting up Lionel Legacy with a star wiring pattern creates issues. Thank you in advance for your help.
-Ed Abbot
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 13:47:11 GMT
Post by harborbelt70 on Jul 29, 2024 13:47:11 GMT
I do have a technical question that maybe someone out there will have an answer. I have an existing MTH DCS set-up with a star wiring diagram. If I hook up the Base3 Common to the Common off my transformer before it goes into the TIU, I take it that this would not present any operational issues? I thought that l read somewhere that setting up Lionel Legacy with a star wiring pattern creates issues. Thank you in advance for your help. -Ed Abbot
I have run DCS and Legacy together for years without having any signal conflict issues BUT (a) although I use the same transformer (ZW-L) to power both I keep the connections to the tracks separate and do not use a Star wiring pattern although that is recommended for DCS AND (b) I never connect the "one wire" Legacy/TMCC common directly to the fixed output post of the DCS TIU. The latter may not make a difference as the ZW-L has a dedicated post for the Legacy/TMCC base and presumably it feeds the signal through both of the outputs that provide track power including the one I connect to the TIU. However, as I say I have had no signal conflict issues between the two systems.
Although you cannot MU/lash-up Legacy and DCS engines I have in fact run a PS2 engine in the same consist with a Legacy engine and used the two different controls to match their speeds. I would have thought that if there was going to be a signal conflict it would have shown up in this arrangement but nothing untoward happened.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 14:58:39 GMT
Post by dennym57 on Jul 29, 2024 14:58:39 GMT
Interesting video, I can honestly say that I probably will not invest in this, but I said the same thing about Cab2.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 15:17:18 GMT
Post by JDaddy on Jul 29, 2024 15:17:18 GMT
Sticking with the Cab2 until a remote comes out for the Cab3.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 16:45:56 GMT
Post by harborbelt70 on Jul 29, 2024 16:45:56 GMT
Sticking with the Cab2 until a remote comes out for the Cab3.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 16:49:54 GMT
Post by JDaddy on Jul 29, 2024 16:49:54 GMT
Sticking with the Cab2 until a remote comes out for the Cab3.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 17:15:32 GMT
Post by harborbelt70 on Jul 29, 2024 17:15:32 GMT
Not sure whether you're pulling my leg, JDaddy! I think Lionel's done with handheld remotes forever.
However, someone else who understands electronics has said that the idea Lionel can't make a new version of the CAB2 is just nonsense - they have just decided that they can't be bothered to do it. We'll see . . . I suppose that my second backstop after the spare CAB2 I have is a CAB1L.
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Base3
Jul 29, 2024 18:01:53 GMT
via mobile
Post by madockawando on Jul 29, 2024 18:01:53 GMT
Sticking with the Cab2 until a remote comes out for the Cab3. The CAB-1L hand held remote is offered by Lionel right now and works with the Base-3 |
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Base3
Jul 31, 2024 3:28:38 GMT
via mobile
Post by bobthetrainguy on Jul 31, 2024 3:28:38 GMT
However, someone else who understands electronics has said that the idea Lionel can't make a new version of the CAB2 is just nonsense - they have just decided that they can't be bothered to do it. We'll see . . . I suppose that my second backstop after the spare CAB2 I have is a CAB1L. This is 100% the case. While some things would need to change as to how they are displayed, the features of the CAB2 can be replicated... With the CAB2 Lionel could deliver on the claim they had the best way to run trains. Without it, it's merely yet another control system. |
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Post by trainman9 on Jul 31, 2024 15:00:48 GMT
I had posted years ago that during a meeting with Mike Regan in NC he said that some of the components in the CAB1L were going to be used to construct a 2nd generation CAB2 system. Never happened.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Jul 31, 2024 16:53:28 GMT
I had posted years ago that during a meeting with Mike Regan in NC he said that some of the components in the CAB1L were going to be used to construct a 2nd generation CAB2 system. Never happened.
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Post by JDaddy on Aug 1, 2024 1:54:30 GMT
I had posted years ago that during a meeting with Mike Regan in NC he said that some of the components in the CAB1L were going to be used to construct a 2nd generation CAB2 system. Never happened. The issue is the LCD screen. Nobody makes the LCD in plain black anymore. All the suppliers make color screens. Since the technology on color screens is being used for phones/ cars / Ipads, making a remote with this technology would be very expensive, but the cost in the technology is coming down rapidly, once the cost comes down and IS A PROVEN technology in a remote. There will be a new CAB 3 remote.
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Base3
Aug 2, 2024 21:03:51 GMT
Post by bobthetrainguy on Aug 2, 2024 21:03:51 GMT
Looking at the plethora of complaints on different forums, it sounds to me like while the Base3 may be the only game in town if you want to get the full capabilities out of your Legacy equipped locos, the Cab3 App is a total crap shoot.
Lionel would have been better off designing the app for one specific phone or tablet, buying thousands of that model, and selling it along with the Base3 to guarantee a better user experience. The performance of swiping and tapping on touch screens varies to a great degree depending on the quality of not just the hardware, but the software drivers on the device's operating system.
Trying to make the app work on the hundreds of phones and OS versions is a recipe for disaster. I think it will take Lionel a long while to dig out of this one.
At least in the mean time, new users can buy a CAB-1L (not ideal as it doesn't allow for the operation of all features) and existing CAB-2 owners can continue to use that. Though, from the sounds of it, even the CAB-2 has bugs in controlling trains through the new Base3.
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