ZTC 611 UPDATED CONTROLLER!

[traction]

That's what I thought, a modification not a complete redesign.

I have no idea what the mod is for though.

From reading the website it looks like they've had some grief from the guy who was doing the work for them though.

One's things for sure I bet Graham and Pat want this done ASAP so they can start selling them and getting the upgrades done, you can't get any investment back when you don't have anything to sell, must be a real nightmare to get this far then get let down like this.

 

I believe the software updates will still be valid for both boards, and as I far as I know the latest version is V16

Which came out a while ago now.

I must say I've not had any issues with my 611 at all.

Works perfectly OK reads and writes CV's controls and programs the Cobalt Digital point motors so all good.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[traction]

The latest update from Graham:-

30.11.15. The new engineer has already put right the problems that the last person had tried to modify and things are NOW going to start moving on.  more good news as it comes, Graham.

 

So hopefully upgrades and new controllers should again be available, but who knows when?

Still at least things are now moving forward.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[two tone green]

I had a chat with Graham at the Warley show last weekend and he said similar about the new guy starting but also about the new touch screen panel that will replace the current small limited display and will be bigger and better than the one on the ESU ECoS. Interesting !

[Mike Storey]

I had a chat with Graham at the Warley show last weekend and he said similar about the new guy starting but also about the new touch screen panel that will replace the current small limited display and will be bigger and better than the one on the ESU ECoS. Interesting !

 

That IS interesting! It is good to hear that he has already gone quite far down that road if he can say that. Did Graham give any hint at a timescale? I could live with cabled remotes so long as the main controller can be used and the programming much simplified by big screen operation. (This could swing me away from the Piko Smartcontrol, which, now seeing the programming needed and thinking about the number of things that can go wrong with smart phone tech, I am having second thoughts about.)

[GoingUnderground]

I had a chat with Graham at the Warley show last weekend and he said similar about the new guy starting but also about the new touch screen panel that will replace the current small limited display and will be bigger and better than the one on the ESU ECoS. Interesting !

A bigger screen isn't necessarily better. It's a question of what you do with the space. Enlarging a simple screen may be good for some, but you could be accused of wasting the extra space, or put more functions and information on it and be accused of making things too complicated and creating information overload?

 

Programming is simplified with a screen as it makes it visual, and you can show a lot of information on a 7 inch screen as used by the ECoS, which incidentally is the screen size of my Win10 tablet. Programming was a pain on my old 505, and probably still is with the 611 as it seems to share the same messy combination of button pushes as the 505 had. If it's just for programming then it's overkill as how often do most users reprogram their locos? Probably very infrequently. They set up the address, and may do some fine tuning when they get the loco, but after that they probably don't do anything more.  

 

So I'm not sure what Taunton expect to gain with a bigger screen. If it's more information, then the sort of folks who want everything on screen at once would probably prefer full computer control which renders the screen on the controller largely redundant. True, a bigger screen is better for a track plan diagram, but overkill for loco control. In the case of the Taunton 611 there's little point in using it for loco control as the attraction of the 611 is controlling the loco using the physical levers themselves.

 

The success of the Z/z21, the Hornby e-link, and the introduction of products like the SmartControl, and its ESU branded equivalent, whenever that's launched, suggests to me  that the market might be tending to move away from desk controllers with integrated screens and towards external screens and handheld devices like smartphones or tablets running apps.

 

That IS interesting! It is good to hear that he has already gone quite far down that road if he can say that. Did Graham give any hint at a timescale? I could live with cabled remotes so long as the main controller can be used and the programming much simplified by big screen operation. (This could swing me away from the Piko Smartcontrol, which, now seeing the programming needed and thinking about the number of things that can go wrong with smart phone tech, I am having second thoughts about.)

What sort of things do you think can go wrong with smartphone technology? Judging by the number of folks using them everywhere, the answer is "not a lot". TouchCab users have been using the Tablet and Wi-Fi capability of the iPhone for some time with, I understand very few problems, judging by the response of users to the news that the TouchCab app is being withdrawn from the Apple store for new users. If you mean Dynamis, that used infra-Red technology which for varions reasons seemed to be affected sometimes by external factors such as certain long life lightbulbs or radio or mains borne interference. That may of course just have been poor design of the circuit board or inadequate shielding against radio waves and mains borne interference.

 

The Piko SmartControl, and the ESU Mobile Control 2 on which it is based, aren't smartphones as they cannot get on to the mobile phone network and you cannot use them on their own to make phonecalls or surf the net. They're tablets, i.e. pocket-sized computers, running the Android operating system which communicate with the outside world, i.e. the SmartBox or the ECoS, using Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is very established technology, used for years in laptops, and more recently in smartphones and tablets. I think that TTG said that he'd used the MC2 at Warley, so I'd be interested to hear how it fared at a 2 day show. If you mean the tablet and Wi-Fi technology as used by TouchCab and the like, then I think your fears about problems with smartphone/Wi-Fi technology are far more in your imagination than what folks experience in the real world.

[boxbrownie]

Well I for one would like a big screen with information and levers and or knobs to physically control the Locos, not everyone likes touch screen tech.

[Mike Storey]

A bigger screen isn't necessarily better. It's a question of what you do with the space. Enlarging a simple screen may be good for some, but you could be accused of wasting the extra space, or put more functions and information on it and be accused of making things too complicated and creating information overload?

 

Programming is simplified with a screen as it makes it visual, and you can show a lot of information on a 7 inch screen as used by the ECoS, which incidentally is the screen size of my Win10 tablet. Programming was a pain on my old 505, and probably still is with the 611 as it seems to share the same messy combination of button pushes as the 505 had. If it's just for programming then it's overkill as how often do most users reprogram their locos? Probably very infrequently. They set up the address, and may do some fine tuning when they get the loco, but after that they probably don't do anything more.  

 

So I'm not sure what Taunton expect to gain with a bigger screen. If it's more information, then the sort of folks who want everything on screen at once would probably prefer full computer control which renders the screen on the controller largely redundant. True, a bigger screen is better for a track plan diagram, but overkill for loco control. In the case of the Taunton 611 there's little point in using it for loco control as the attraction of the 611 is controlling the loco using the physical levers themselves.

 

The success of the Z/z21, the Hornby e-link, and the introduction of products like the SmartControl, and its ESU branded equivalent, whenever that's launched, suggests to me  that the market might be tending to move away from desk controllers with integrated screens and towards external screens and handheld devices like smartphones or tablets running apps.

 

What sort of things do you think can go wrong with smartphone technology? Judging by the number of folks using them everywhere, the answer is "not a lot". TouchCab users have been using the Tablet and Wi-Fi capability of the iPhone for some time with, I understand very few problems, judging by the response of users to the news that the TouchCab app is being withdrawn from the Apple store for new users. If you mean Dynamis, that used infra-Red technology which for varions reasons seemed to be affected sometimes by external factors such as certain long life lightbulbs or radio or mains borne interference. That may of course just have been poor design of the circuit board or inadequate shielding against radio waves and mains borne interference.

 

The Piko SmartControl, and the ESU Mobile Control 2 on which it is based, aren't smartphones as they cannot get on to the mobile phone network and you cannot use them on their own to make phonecalls or surf the net. They're tablets, i.e. pocket-sized computers, running the Android operating system which communicate with the outside world, i.e. the SmartBox or the ECoS, using Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is very established technology, used for years in laptops, and more recently in smartphones and tablets. I think that TTG said that he'd used the MC2 at Warley, so I'd be interested to hear how it fared at a 2 day show. If you mean the tablet and Wi-Fi technology as used by TouchCab and the like, then I think your fears about problems with smartphone/Wi-Fi technology are far more in your imagination than what folks experience in the real world.

 

You are almost certainly right, for I starred in all the Jurassic Park films, or could have. They chose the T Rex instead - he had more presence. Cheek.

 

I have had three android phones (and when at work, one iPhone) crash on me with complete loss of data, over about seven years. That was the internal system, not a network cause. True they were used in fairly rugged conditions at sites, but they made me wary. Even the Blackberry I have now, whose most rugged environment is in my barn, will no longer talk to my laptop so I cannot transfer photos, and Orange can't work out why, and the BB help site is clueless, as am I. I have noted that many millions of others do not seem to have these troubles, so it must be me.

 

Anyway, I love the Piko Smartcontrol handheld, simple simon screen for what it appears it can do, with no wires, as a key thing I want do is make sounds (from the locos not from me...) when I play trains and all handhelds I have seen to date fall short on this. So does the existing ZTC, with its limited number of function buttons.

 

But what I really want is knobs and levers, so if the ZTC can let me have knobs and levers (tick) AND a big screen which lets me easily play the individual sounds I want without scrolling through pages of Fn, then it will get my filthy lucre. The Piko just has a knob.

 

On the other hand, the advances being made by Paul Chetter and others in the world of activedrive/realdrive sounds, or whatever they are called, may require fewer buttons to be pressed, but then I note that the new Class 24 from RE has 28 individual sound functions!!! Do what??

[Oldddudders]

Well I for one would like a big screen with information and levers and or knobs to physically control the Locos, not everyone likes touch screen tech.

Touch screen technology and smartphones are indeed popular and proven, but I find my use of both patchy. Screens will refuse to acknowledge my input, or the phone 'does something' as I put it down because I have inadvertantly touched something. Neither is reliable enough for running precious models, where cockups are at best infuriating, at worst expensive.

 

The ZTC has always appealed because it looks elegant and has an apparently nice 'feel'. I seldom look at other DCC systems than my Digitrax but this is different from the rest of the market.

 

As for functions to F28, I bet that for a shunting plank, or similar duty on a larger layout, then being able to access all sorts of sounds and lights on a Derby Sulzer Type 2 might be very pleasing. Operation is in such surroundings relaxed. Those who run a WTT-based layout might not have the time to make full use.

[Mike Storey]

Touch screen technology and smartphones are indeed popular and proven, but I find my use of both patchy. Screens will refuse to acknowledge my input, or the phone 'does something' as I put it down because I have inadvertantly touched something. Neither is reliable enough for running precious models, where cockups are at best infuriating, at worst expensive.

 

The ZTC has always appealed because it looks elegant and has an apparently nice 'feel'. I seldom look at other DCC systems than my Digitrax but this is different from the rest of the market.

 

As for functions to F28, I bet that for a shunting plank, or similar duty on a larger layout, then being able to access all sorts of sounds and lights on a Derby Sulzer Type 2 might be very pleasing. Operation is in such surroundings relaxed. Those who run a WTT-based layout might not have the time to make full use.

 

Nicely put! The 28 functions problem is that there aren't many systems yet that can access that number. The chap who has posted a YouTube review of the RE Class 24 only has a Dynamis and couldn't work the final 8 sounds! Neither can I until I upgrade to something better, but what? I hope the ZTC is it. A loco waiting for us to catch up!

[smokebox]

...Neither can I until I upgrade to something better, but what? I hope the ZTC is it. A loco waiting for us to catch up!

Hornby Elite if you're desperate.

[traction]

It's quite interesting to read about function operation as I don't think any controllers do it that well.

Apart from the ESU ECoS due largely to the fact that most of the functions are on the nice large display and can be pressed so very easily.

 

Every other controller I've used needs a few presses of buttons to get to the higher function numbers.

I have the ZTC 611, NCE PowerCab, Bachmann EZ-Command, 3x Hornby Select's, Hornby Elite, RailMaster and the Prodigy Explorer.

 

For my Large OO oval that uses the ZTC, none of the locos have sound.

For programming CV's I always seem to use the PowerCab as it makes it so much easier for CV programming.

For everyday running of my small layouts, it's The Selects, Explorer or EZ-Command.

As I don't need to do anything apart from speed up or slow down forwards/backwards then I don't actually need anything else from the controller.

The Prodigy Explorer is actually a great little controller. It does only control 4 locos, but can access all 28 functions and can program on the main(can't read only write)

You can also plug in any of the Prodigy Advanced handsets to turn it into a fully featured system, you can even plug in the wireless conversion set.

For me these very simple controllers are great, as the layouts I build are small so normally only one loco running at any one time and at exhibitions they are for the kids to use and play with so having a complex almost daunting big touch screen or hand held cab full of buttons just doesn't work.

 

The Elite is actually not too bad, a bit too menu driven but works well enough and the function operation isn't too bad compared to some I've used, it's just a real shame they didn't allow it to run two locos at once, like the ECoS so you could turn each controller to operate two different locos.

 

What does all this say to me, well basically we don't need the actual loco controller to do anything but control the loco.

I think a simple controller which actually just drives the loco but without any other purpose, it's there to drive the loco and that's it.

The controller can then be made to give the best driving experience just as the ZTC 611.

A separate plug in unit which has a nice big display so that this can be used to operate functions and accessories to make that much easier as well.

When I've been to exhibitions with the Elite connected up to RailMaster, the Elite or Selects are used to operate the trains.

The laptop running RailMaster is connected to a nice big touch screen which makes accessories and function operation so much better.

 

 

I don't see an easy way round this although the new ACE controller from Sig-na Trak does look rather good, but the hand controllers are just like a standard cab control, but the touch screen and future options sound interesting.

http://rs.209492.mrsite.com/ACE_DCS2044_Flyer_V1_1.pdf

 

 

Cheers

 

Ian

Edited December 6, 2015 by traction

[two tone green]

Graham did not give any hints as to development times or release date but I would just get on with life and enjoy whatever your doing now as I think it will be a long time coming.

 

With no sales or upgrades as such over the early summer period to very recently due to problems he has had, money I suspect will be tight and he needs to recover his cost still from launching the 611.

[Nigelcliffe]

Nicely put! The 28 functions problem is that there aren't many systems yet that can access that number.

Most systems on sale of any quality can access 28 functions - Digitrax, NCE, ESU, Hornby Elite, Uhlenbrock, etc.. etc..

 

 

- Nigel

[GoingUnderground]

Most systems on sale of any quality can access 28 functions - Digitrax, NCE, ESU, Hornby Elite, Uhlenbrock, etc.. etc..

 

 

- Nigel

Indeed they can.

 

The ECoS was one of the last quality units to get up to 28 functions as that only came with firmware 4.0.0 which was released 18 months ago. Prior to then it went up to F23.

Many units that can control up to 28 functions will need 1 or 2 menu button pushes to get you to the right place to operate the higher functions. 29 dedicated buttons, (F0 plus F1 to F28) would take up a lot of space on a touch screen if always available, or on a console housing using physical buttons, which is a problem if all of them aren't used, as is the case on many locos as they only use up to F16. Such a proliferation of buttons could be confusing if you had to remember exactly which button did what on each loco. There is no standardisation on what a button does, that's decided by the person creating the sound file, or by you if you're into changing the function mapping on the decoder.

 

On ECoS, F0 to F8 has dedicated physical buttons on the housing. On screen you have immediate access to F0 to F16, with user selectable icons to remind you wha teach button does. Pressing the F17+ button gives you F0 to F8, with F17 to F23 instead of F9 to F16, plus an F23+ button. Press the F23+ button and F17 to F23 are replaced by F24 to F28, plus an F23+ button. Press the F23+ button again and you're back to F0 to F16.

 

A larger screen just to accommodate all possible 29 buttons would be a bit of a waste. At least touch screen technology as used on smartphones lets you swipe down or across to reach the additional buttons.

[Mike Storey]

Most systems on sale of any quality can access 28 functions - Digitrax, NCE, ESU, Hornby Elite, Uhlenbrock, etc.. etc..

 

 

- Nigel

 

These are all top range stuff, apart perhaps from the Elite, which most people do not yet have. I was heading for a Zephyr, as a poor man's ZTC, but the lack of functions stopped me.

[traction]

Mike,

 

The Zephyr Xtra or DCS51 has all 28 functions available.

Just go to the Digitrax web site and read the manual first to see how you operate functions, it might not be as easy as you want it to be.

 

You say the Elite which most people do not yet have? the Elite has been out for years, although it wasn't until firmware V1.4 that it became much more function usable, and that firmware was released at least a year ago.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

Edited December 6, 2015 by traction

[Mike Storey]

Indeed they can.

 

The ECoS was one of the last quality units to get up to 28 functions as that only came with firmware 4.0.0 which was released 18 months ago. Prior to then it went up to F23.

Many units that can control up to 28 functions will need 1 or 2 menu button pushes to get you to the right place to operate the higher functions. 29 dedicated buttons, (F0 plus F1 to F28) would take up a lot of space on a touch screen if always available, or on a console housing using physical buttons, which is a problem if all of them aren't used, as is the case on many locos as they only use up to F16. Such a proliferation of buttons could be confusing if you had to remember exactly which button did what on each loco. There is no standardisation on what a button does, that's decided by the person creating the sound file, or by you if you're into changing the function mapping on the decoder.

 

On ECoS, F0 to F8 has dedicated physical buttons on the housing. On screen you have immediate access to F0 to F16, with user selectable icons to remind you wha teach button does. Pressing the F17+ button gives you F0 to F8, with F17 to F23 instead of F9 to F16, plus an F23+ button. Press the F23+ button and F17 to F23 are replaced by F24 to F28, plus an F23+ button. Press the F23+ button again and you're back to F0 to F16.

 

A larger screen just to accommodate all possible 29 buttons would be a bit of a waste. At least touch screen technology as used on smartphones lets you swipe down or across to reach the additional buttons.

 

29 functions on one screen a waste??? You can do that now with a small laptop screen. I can select an operation from any of around 70 programmes/files direct from my shortcut icons on my home screen. Triggering a sound from one icon is somewhat easier. It's what I want, and that is what I will look for. Scrolling screens and looking through menus is ridiculous when you are playing trains. When i want a buffering up sound, I want it now!

 

You will tell me I am being unreasonable, and that technology doesn't work like that. But then I remember being told that when we got our first IBM PC's, which could barely write a letter without serious knowledge of the keystroke shortcuts. To indent used to take five keys. 

[Mike Storey]

Mike,

 

The Zephyr Xtra or DCS51 has all 28 functions available.

Just go to the Digitrax web site and read the manual first to see how you operate functions, it might not be as easy as you want it to be.

 

You say the Elite which most people do not yet have? the Elite has been out for years, although it wasn't until V1.4 that it became much more function usable, and that was released at least a year ago.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

 

No (on Zephyr), it isn't as easy as I want it to be. As for the Elite - it's like using a ZX Spectrum when you know the rest of the world uses a modern laptop.

[Mike Storey]

It's quite interesting to read about function operation as I don't think any controllers do it that well.

Apart from the ESU ECoS due largely to the fact that most of the functions are on the nice large display and can be pressed so very easily.

 

Every other controller I've used needs a few presses of buttons to get to the higher function numbers.

I have the ZTC 611, NCE PowerCab, Bachmann EZ-Command, 3x Hornby Select's, Hornby Elite, RailMaster and the Prodigy Explorer.

 

For my Large OO oval that uses the ZTC, none of the locos have sound.

For programming CV's I always seem to use the PowerCab as it makes it so much easier for CV programming.

For everyday running of my small layouts, it's The Selects, Explorer or EZ-Command.

As I don't need to do anything apart from speed up or slow down forwards/backwards then I don't actually need anything else from the controller.

The Prodigy Explorer is actually a great little controller. It does only control 4 locos, but can access all 28 functions and can program on the main(can't read only write)

You can also plug in any of the Prodigy Advanced handsets to turn it into a fully featured system, you can even plug in the wireless conversion set.

For me these very simple controllers are great, as the layouts I build are small so normally only one loco running at any one time and at exhibitions they are for the kids to use and play with so having a complex almost daunting big touch screen or hand held cab full of buttons just doesn't work.

 

The Elite is actually not too bad, a bit too menu driven but works well enough and the function operation isn't too bad compared to some I've used, it's just a real shame they didn't allow it to run two locos at once, like the ECoS so you could turn each controller to operate two different locos.

 

What does all this say to me, well basically we don't need the actual loco controller to do anything but control the loco.

I think a simple controller which actually just drives the loco but without any other purpose, it's there to drive the loco and that's it.

The controller can then be made to give the best driving experience just as the ZTC 611.

A separate plug in unit which has a nice big display so that this can be used to operate functions and accessories to make that much easier as well.

When I've been to exhibitions with the Elite connected up to RailMaster, the Elite or Selects are used to operate the trains.

The laptop running RailMaster is connected to a nice big touch screen which makes accessories and function operation so much better.

 

Thomas & Friends.jpg

 

I don't see an easy way round this although the new ACE controller from Sig-na Trak does look rather good, but the hand controllers are just like a standard cab control, but the touch screen and future options sound interesting.

http://rs.209492.mrsite.com/ACE_DCS2044_Flyer_V1_1.pdf

 

Signa Track ACE .jpeg

 

Cheers

 

Ian

 

The ACE does look interesting, but I get the impression that the development timescales are even worse than ZTC, and it doesn't have enough knobs and levers. I remember having an email discussion with the chap promoting this, and he said he wanted as much feedback as possible to understand what the market wanted.

[boxbrownie]

Hornby Elite if you're desperate.

 

 

No one's that desperate 

 

 

[GoingUnderground]

29 functions on one screen a waste??? You can do that now with a small laptop screen. I can select an operation from any of around 70 programmes/files direct from my shortcut icons on my home screen. Triggering a sound from one icon is somewhat easier. It's what I want, and that is what I will look for. Scrolling screens and looking through menus is ridiculous when you are playing trains. When i want a buffering up sound, I want it now!

 

You will tell me I am being unreasonable, and that technology doesn't work like that. But then I remember being told that when we got our first IBM PC's, which could barely write a letter without serious knowledge of the keystroke shortcuts. To indent used to take five keys. 

Mike,

 

I don't think you're not being unreasonable at all. We would all like perfection if it was affordable to us.

 

Unrealistic, possibly, as I suspect that most people couldn't remember what all 28 sounds did if they had a decoder with that many sounds, or remember to use them at appropriate times even if their controllers allowed them instant access. It's a bit like all singing, all dancing technology, too many controls becomes information overload for many of us and most of them get ignored. Also there are many folks who don't want a console type controller with a laptop sized screen with space for 28 dedicated buttons, but prefer a smaller hand held walk around type unit. The success of the NCE range is a case in point. By all accounts it is very successful and very widely used despite its limited display.

 

Because of the lack of standardisation of what sound goes where and the access to higher numbered functions and lack of labelling problems on non-GUI based controllers, I personally don't think there's much of an incentive for sound file developers to use all 28 functions as most of them won't get used anyway. I know of one sound project that includes birdsong. Birdsong? Yes birdsong, probably provided to use up one of the sound slots to make buyers think they're getting more for their money.

 

It will take the developers longer to create the 28 sounds project which may put up the cost/resale price at a time when there is increasing competition from budget priced sound decoders. So they'll put the ones that they think will be most popular/most used on the lowest numbered buttons and those least likely to be used on the higher numbered functions, and probably leave the highest numbers unused. Why bother to use all 28 function buttons to provide something that will seldom be used, unless you put it there to try to gain competitive advantage over rivals, e.g ."Sound project ABC for Class 9876 on decoder brand A has 28 functions whereas sound project CBA for the same loco on decoder brand B only has 20 different sounds". Does that make ABC better than CBA, or just appear to be better? It's immaterial which is better if both are undercut by sound project DEF for the loco only has 12 sounds but costs half the price.

[two tone green]

I have access to all 28 functions via my ECoS and have a lot of decoders with 20+ functions on them and generally only really use 5 at the most.

[Colin_McLeod]

Its interesting that only a couple of years ago ZTC was criticised for having control of only a few functions. Now the 611 can control 28 functions and we are having a discussion about whether we really need/use them

[Shropshire Lad]

The Sutton Loco Works class 24 actually uses some of it's sound function keys twice, ie you press a function key 'on' to hear a sound and when you press it 'off' you get an associated sound. So pressing a key lets you hear the driver checking the train formation with the guard and when you press it again you hear the guard confirming the formation.

[GoingUnderground]

Its interesting that only a couple of years ago ZTC was criticised for having control of only a few functions. Now the 611 can control 28 functions and we are having a discussion about whether we really need/use them

Until the 611, you could only get 8 functions on the 511 and 505. That was clearly inadequate when there were more and more sound projects that used functions between 9 and 16, and ZTC was rightly, IMHO, criticised at the time for not increasing the number of functions that could be controlled. Once you included control of individual lights on a sound decoder, F0-F8 was not enough. 

 

If a sound project developer has used all 28 functions for lights, sounds, switching to shunting mode, operating fans, pantographs or smoke units ,etc, etc, and you have a decoder with that project installed in a loco then you need a controller that can take advantage of those features, which the 611 can now do, and Taunton deserve credit for bringing the 5/611 up to date in that respect. Lighting controls will be used, but I do question how many of the sounds that are manually operated are actually used by a lot of DCC modellers.

 

What is actually needed is a way to make a decoder play a certain sound automatically when the loco is on a particular place on the layout, such as flange squeal on a particularly sharp curve, or the sound of buffering up when that is what the loco is doing. That might need Railcom, which, AFAIK, is not included in the 611 spec.

 

Does anyone know if the 611 includes the hardware for Railcom and if so will it just need a firmware update to enable it?

Edited December 7, 2015 by GoingUnderground