Massoth DRC 300 No.8130201

[PaulRhB]

Massoth DRC 300 No.8130201
I've seen this on the Massoth website and available for pre-order from a few shops including GRO but there isn't much detail so far. Does anyone know if this will only work with Massoth chips, which I suspect from just two wires and an aerial, or if it might be possioble to control othe makes of large scale decoder off it?
http://www.massoth.com/en/produkte/8130701.en.php

 

[stockers]

It has been promissed for ages now and we wait eagerly. God knows when though.
As far as I understand, it does not operate a decoder but acts as a radio reciever/decoder/speed controller itself. Controlled by a Navigator handset without need for a digital case station.

 

[muns]

It is a "mobile" radio receiver/central station contolled via a wireless Navigator and will drive any decoder.

I am led to believe that the DRC-300 and the Stationary sound unit will be available the first half of 2013.....hopefully I'l have them for the GSS show to demo - but I'm not promising anything

 

[Zerogee]

It has been promissed for ages now and we wait eagerly. God knows when though.
As far as I understand, it does not operate a decoder but acts as a radio reciever/decoder/speed controller itself. Controlled by a Navigator handset without need for a digital case station.

The way I understand it, Alan, no - it DOES need to be connected to a decoder (Massoth or any other brand); you're right in that it replaces the central station, but what it does is receive radio commands direct from the Navigator and translate them into a control signal for the decoder, similar to that which the decoder would pick up from the track in a "conventional" DCC setup. The actual power for the loco can be supplied from track or battery, or both (switchably).
The benefit of it will be that you can theoretically equip a loco that will do everything via a couple of switches - track power or battery, and control either via the DRC300 or from the central station via the track as normal.
As Mark says, Peter at Massoth has promised the unit for the early part of 2013 (I emailed him myself a few weeks ago to ask about progress) - but seeing as it was originally scheduled for "summer 2010", I'm not going to hold my breath, even though I want one or two as soon as I can get my hands on them!

Jon.

 

[PaulRhB]

So Peter did confirm it will work with any make if decoder then Jon? If so it would be exactly what I need to go battery powered. Only reason is I don't like the sound of power under acceleration and coasting on massoths steam sound files.

 

[Zerogee]

Yes, Paul, apparently it should work with any decoder that complies to the usual standards. All it is really doing is generating a control signal to tell the decoder what to do, instead of that signal being generated by the central station and transmitted via the track. I think that's the theory, anyway. Because it does NOT include a decoder in the DRC300 unit, the price of the module can be kept down to a reasonable level, which is why it will appeal to those of us who already have chipped (especially sound-chipped) loco fleets - but possibly less to those who wish to convert up from analogue.

I really like the idea of being able to make a few switchable "all options" locos that can be run on anyone's line in any conditions, and also the big plus of being able to drive them from the usual familiar Navigator in just the same way as you would do via the central station.

Jon.

 

[PaulRhB]

Cheers Jon this is exactly what I've been waiting for means I can do dcc or radio and probably just flick a switch to switch the supply between track and battery or maybe even charge off the track too. I'll wait to see the full specifications with interest. Track cleaning indoors is easy but this means you can run in the garden with minimal prep with decoder equipped locos too hopefully with some suitable cells tucked in all the empty spaces.

 

[Cliff George]

As has been said the DRC 300 should work with any decoder.

Useful information here:

http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/krs/DRC_300_Basics.pdf

 

[PaulRhB]

Thanks Cliff, knew this was the place to ask as you lot would have picked up any info out there

 

[Zerogee]

Wow!
But whats the slightly higher cost?

Roly - if you mean this bit in the Massoth preview document......

"13.) What are the cons compared to other RC systems?
The starting price tag is a little higher because the receiver does not contain a decoder.
However, this must be put into perspective with the compatibility of the components. "

...... then what they mean, I think, is that the cost of equipping an analogue loco from scratch with a DRC300 AND the required decoder is going to be more than with rival systems which use a combined receiver/decoder unit - BUT for those of us who already have most or all of our locos chipped, it will work out cheaper just to buy the add-on DRC300 units rather than have to replace all our existing decoders with new RC/decoder combo units.
I think that Massoth are really aiming the DRC300 very much at people who are already DCC users (and specifically users of Massoth Dimax or LGB MTSIII + Navigator systems) rather than at analogue folks moving straight to Radio Control DCC without going through the track-power DCC step first.

Jon.

 

[whatlep]

For those of you eagerly awaiting the DRC300, I have news from Massoth and it isn't helpful. To see what reaction I might get, I e-mailed them asking where & when I could buy several DRC300s, bearing in mind their English website says availability in summer 2010. Here's Massoth's reply:

The DRC 300 is currently in development stage therefore we cannot give an expected date of availability. As I checked the website I noted that the english version has the 2010 date mentioned by mistake. I will inform our web-ingenieur to change this.

So there you are. Don't hold your breath. :crying:

 

[Keith RhB]

Thanks for the info Whatlep. I have been waiting for it to put into my live steamer so I could control it with the navigator, but since they can't even answer forum or hotline questions within a reasonable time I have given up holding my breath long ago. :impatient:

 

[KeithT]

This all smacks of the frequently promised QSI Titan card, by the time it arrived - years late and in no condition to be used as promised- I think many potential locos had been consigned to Woodhams scrap yard!!
Why is it that improvements to Large Scale locos and control/sound systems take so long? I was at the Leyland Model Railway Society's exhibition a couple of weeks ago and the systems and sounds available for 00 and N were light years better than we have available. All that squeezed into minute spaces and they worked. :impatient:

 

[yb281]

Why is it that improvements to Large Scale locos and control/sound systems take so long? I was at the Leyland Model Railway Society's exhibition a couple of weeks ago and the systems and sounds available for 00 and N were light years better than we have available. All that squeezed into minute spaces and they worked. :impatient:

OO and N scales = massive market, turning over millions every year.
Garden scales = niche market, most big model railway companies (like Hornby) don't even bother with it.

Shimples I'm afraid.

 

[PaulRhB]

On the sound front the Esu and Zimo sounds and features are identical on their large scale chips to the HO ones
The smaller LGB locos can also quite happily run on an HO chip but they don't like having 24v and 10 amps thrown at them so if you have big locos too you'll have to go for the large scale chips that cost 50-60% more as they have capability to handle the extra oomph off the track.
Shame the DRC is still in limbo as it would allow the best of dcc and RC to be mixed.

 

[Zerogee]

Thanks for the updated info, Peter, even though it's not good news. I strongly suspect they are having some unexpected technical problems with it, and possibly have been for two or three years.....

I'll still buy some when/if they ever appear, unless of course somebody else beats them to it with a similar product that has all the same functionality!

Jon.

 

[Zerogee]

OK, please bear with me as there will be quite a lot of Blue Sky Thinking and "wouldn't it be nice if..." in this post!

Whatever Massoth's difficulties are with the DRC300, I think we can all safely assume that we're not going to see it anytime soon, as borne out by Whatlep's post above. So, what to do now?
I suspect there are a good number of folks who, like me, have been waiting for the DRC300 specifically because it fits certain important criteria for us:
1) it will allow RC control of locos that already have DCC chips, without having to fit a separate RC speed and function controller, thus allowing full control over all sounds, lights and special functions;
2) it will allow the control of said locos directly from the standard Navigator handset that us Massoth users already have (often in multiples!);
3) it will allow a loco to be switched quickly and easily between onboard battery power and track power, and when on track power it will give the choice of control via the RC link OR by conventional DCC track signals from the central station.

So, first question - is there any other proprietory system that is actually available that fulfills these criteria (or even two out of the three - eg: one that requires its own handset rather than a Massoth one)?

Then (and this is where it gets a bit blue-sky), does anyone think there is any way that anybody else, such as one of the current small manufacturers of specialised train RC equipment, could produce something that again fits at least two out of the three requirements? Again, I'm thinking that expecting something that works with a Navigator handset is VERY unlikely from a third party, due to proprietory technology restrictions if nothing else, but I'd take something that required its own dedicated handset provided it allowed points (1) and (3) above......

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Jon.