Massoth Navigator

[beavercreek]

Errm. You can do all those things with an LGB 55015 too! Oh and you can have your double-headers any way round you like, unlike the Massoth which doesn;t have that facility.

Now I've tried a Navigator but found it baffling, whereas the LGB kit is intuitive to me. I'm sticking to LGB kit, but I'll freely acknowledge that many of the GSC crowd swear by their Navvies.

Hi Peter
Seeing as, although I am Train Engineer analogue, I also have all the MTS gear (save the decoders!) and I feel that it is not intuitive as Massoth, would you give me some pointers as to how it could become more intuitive?:wits:

 

[whatlep]

Errm. You can do all those things with an LGB 55015 too! Oh and you can have your double-headers any way round you like, unlike the Massoth which doesn;t have that facility.

Now I've tried a Navigator but found it baffling, whereas the LGB kit is intuitive to me. I'm sticking to LGB kit, but I'll freely acknowledge that many of the GSC crowd swear by their Navvies.

Hi Peter
Seeing as, although I am Train Engineer analogue, I also have all the MTS gear (save the decoders!) and I feel that it is not intuitive as Massoth, would you give me some pointers as to how it could become more intuitive?:wits:

If you ponder it, perception of being intuitive or not is entirely personal. I provided my input. Others provided theirs.

On the 55015 points, locos, routes, double-heading are all symbols in front of me which immediately make sense, as do their programming equivalent buttons on the row below. Trying a Navigator, my mind simply couldn't fathom why I needed to press various buttons to switch between modes and menus (M1 & M2 if I remember correctly), rather than simply pressing a button marked with the symbol for the function I next wished to use.

As someone has written earlier, it's whatever floats your boat. The original questioner is looking for genuine experiences, not a critique on the systems or their users.

 

[beavercreek]

As someone has written earlier, it's whatever floats your boat. The original questioner is looking for genuine experiences, not a critique on the systems or their users.

Hi Peter
Apologies if you have perceived that i have been speaking out of turn, I was certainly not being critical of any one, any system and definitely not yourself who has given a good insight into the complexities of DCC /analogue reverse loops etc. I was being critical of myself as I find it hard to fathom the MTS system, or indeed also the Massoth one, although it seems to be more graphical.
Because I have always worked with GUIs (graphical user interface) computers (Macs) and have never really delved into the programming behind the machinations of what was going on, I find the idea of adjusting parameters in DCC not so clear (to me). You and others have mentioned a program, I think it is SPROG, that has a completely graphical representational of what is going on when changing the parameters or do i also have that wrong?

I suppose what I was really asking was , is there a good book, dvd, computer program that can explain the workings of the MTS system to dullards like me!

 

[Zerogee]

As someone has written earlier, it's whatever floats your boat. The original questioner is looking for genuine experiences, not a critique on the systems or their users.

Hi Peter
....... You and others have mentioned a program, I think it is SPROG, that has a completely graphical representational of what is going on when changing the parameters or do i also have that wrong?

Hi Mike - the SPROG is actually the little piece of hardware (a little cream box with sockets and LEDs, that contains magic...) which acts as an interface between your computer and the programming track, the software that does the work is one of the free programs like Decoder Pro. I'm a Mac user like you, and this setup works fine for me - if you'd like to see it working, you're welcome to come over sometime.

Jon (zerogee) - just a couple of miles from you!

 

[whatlep]

I suppose what I was really asking was , is there a good book, dvd, computer program that can explain the workings of the MTS system to dullards like me!

Thanks for the clarification and thanks to Zerogee for the SPROG input too.

I've never seen a book or even an internet article which specifically addresses the workings of MTS (or Massoth's system), though there are several books about DCC in general. I suspect that both LGB and Massoth believe that their instruction manual(s) are enough. For straightforward functions such as operating a loco or points, they are possibly right, but I can understand why you don't feel you have a source of the complete picture to hand. I can only suggest that you keep asking questions here....

 

[Anorak]

I wonder if people could do a sort of loose review of each of their DCC setups?

Something along the lines of showing basic functions so people who have no experience could do a comparison.

I wouldn't know one DCC system from another, but then again I am not in the market for one so not spent any great deal of time to see if this has already been done anywhere.

There does seem to be a huge difference between the costs of the systems but does spending twice the amount get you twice the amount of functionality or just lots of bells and whistles you'll never use......

Tim

 

[beavercreek]

Hi Mike - the SPROG is actually the little piece of hardware (a little cream box with sockets and LEDs, that contains magic...) which acts as an interface between your computer and the programming track, the software that does the work is one of the free programs like Decoder Pro. I'm a Mac user like you, and this setup works fine for me - if you'd like to see it working, you're welcome to come over sometime.

Jon (zerogee) - just a couple of miles from you!

Thanks Jon
That would be splendid! If you could be prepared for tons of questions and having to take me by the hand (metaphorically speaking) then I would be extremely glad of a visit over to you.
I will pm you



And thanks for your info Peter as I have a real grasp of the necessary stuff to form my reverse loops whether analogue or even MTS It is such a shame that you are not within a quick visit distance!