MRC New Genaration Decoders

Nelson,

Keep us posted.  I have been wondering if the new decoders would be improvements over the old decoders.  Please let us know about these on an extended basis.

I have a trio of the Digitrax sound decoders. I am not impressed with the factory sound files on these. i received a PR3 for Christmas, but have not had time to try other sound files.

Regards,

John

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It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war.  John F. Kennedy

Hope you like it...

Oops sorry, did not realize it was newer...

I'd be impressed to hear that it is as good as other decoders, but honestly I have heard so many negative things about MRC decoders...I doubt I would ever buy one.

Looking forward to your review all the same.

Time will tell.

This is a new decoder series that has yet to be mass released to the public so the one Al had was an older version.

As I said I will do a full review good or bad.

Show me the specs...

Dear Nelson,

Was there any documentation or specs provided with this new decoder?

- Bitdepth (xx bit)
- Samplerate (xx kHz)
- onboard memory (x Megabits)
- reccomended speaker impedance (xx Ohms)
- and Power amp output (xx Watts RMS)

would be very interesting info to know...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Annoying feature

One of the things that really annoyed me about the last MRC diesel decoder I had was that it had to go through the start up sequence every time it first detected power.  That means that a momentary loss of power would force a sudden stop and the sound of the engine restarting.  I would much prefer if it could have just kept on going, or at least picked back up at the chose speed step.

I'm curious to learn whether they fixed that problem.

My Tsunami does the same thing.

So does my kitchen stove. When the power goes out it forgets the time of day, and when power is restored it has no choice but to start over flashing  12:00. 

Microprocessors have two kinds of memory- volatile, which is erased when the power is lost, and non-volatile, which is not. The briefest of power interruptions will scramble the volatile memory. (A microsecond is the same as a year.) When power is first applied the memory comes up in random states, so the first thing a microprocessor must do is run a setup program to zero the volatile memory, copy needed data from non-volatile, then begin the main program. The whole process takes a surprisingly long time. There is a reset pin on the microprocessor chip that must be pulled down to start this process. It usually has a delay tied to the power line so a reset occurs a millisecond or two after power is back. 

When a loco controller starts up, we want it in the idle state. (Picture 6 engines in a roundhouse suddenly racing toward the center of the turntable pit. Imagine a derailed loco taking off immediately after it is rerailed.) If the controller is restarting after a power interruption it won't begin to move until the next DCC message reminding it of what it is supposed to be doing. These come every 30 milliseconds or so.  Then, it will go through momentum effects, sound effects and whatever else you have programmed.

Theoretical alternatives to getting power and or control from the track have been discussed recently on several other threads, but they are in the future. With the current state of the art, all you can do is extend the duration of a survivable power loss by using the optional capacitor when you install the decoder. Unfortunately, with 1 amp running through the motor, the best this can do using a cap that fits into an HO body is on the order of 50 milliseconds of grace. (Actually, a minor change in the architecture of the decoder, so that it uses a second cap and rectifier to power the processor but not the motor would be a great deal more robust. Perhaps some decoders do this, perhaps this year's new models will. I would certainly expect the manufacturers to advertise this as a feature.)

pqe

Keep alive can help

A keep alive circuit can help ... our DCC columnist Bruce Petrarca will be covering this in an upcoming column soon. I've seen his demo video of the keep alive effectiveness and it blew me away, so we've got a great example of how to solve this coming your way soon!

Keep Alive is Amazing...

Monsterrailroad did a video on keep alive caps.  He placed tape over the rails and ran a loco onto it.  It was pretty impressive to say the least.

Keep alive can do the opposite

Model railroad horror movie...

Loco derails. Keep alive keeps it going while heading for the benchwork edge and not responding to throttel commands because it's not on the rails to receive commands...

Argghhhhh!

But not hiccuping on every bit of dirty track would be nice.

As far as sound decoders go, They could be constructed with a dual power subsystem. Instead of keeping the entire sound chip alive (which sucketh mucho power), keep a timer alive to measure the time since the last power (but let the rest of the chip go dormant). When power returns look at how long the power was out. If < 50ms resume operation. If> 50ms go through complete startup sequencing.

Charlie

We have customers who are

Agreed (above) MRC DCC and

Agreed (above)

MRC DCC and Decoders seemed to be the product that people love to hate.

However they have proven themselves to be quite a match for a lot less cash.

The prodigy Advance Wireless DCC system  is probably the most complete and user friendly DCC system around.  Further, it is a lot more popular then people think.

The new version of Decoder with sound should reflect MRC technical progress as well.

There is lots of good, solid DCC systems and decoders available from a host of various manufacturer (Esu comes to mind), however Digitrax  and Tsunami have won the advertising campaign.

Whatever makes you happy, really..

MRC Sound Decoders

For the cost I've been happy with my MRC sound decoders.  Got them on sale and I can say I wished I'd bought a couple more.  I also have Soundtraxx on the layout. My older MRC's won't cut off sound on F8 like the Soundtraxx.  But they were half the price.

MRC sound decoders

                         Here is a little bit of info MRC sound decoders are now really discounted at supper prices

                         thru Train World out of New York, All my sound decoders are MRC with real good sound

                         I am happy with them you cant beat the price               ron netti

Thank you for responding!

I want to take the time and thank readers for responding and not brand bashing as has happened in the past when I have asked about MRC products, particularly their decoders.  I make it a habit not to brand bash other manufactures and it's nice to see some support on this product line.  

Now for an UPDATE!

The decoder has been on the layout and continuously powered up for a solid 72+/- total hours since I installed it last Sunday the 27th and so far so good.  Also have programmed and reprogrammed several times to try different CV's and even did a couple resets to bring it back to factory default with no issues to report.  Sound is solid, all 6 prime movers respond well as well as the 20 some plus horns and 8 bells.  (Too many horns sound alike as some of them have very little distinction from one another, so this is an area that I think MRC could use the data space or memory for other uses)  As far as motor control, it just worked! Other than setting momentum rates, I didn't play much at all with the motor cv's like kick start and BEMF or the speed tables.  So for now seems to be a solid performer.  Tomorrow it will get a real workout as it will be going up against Tsunami decoders at an operating session and I should have better data from that.  Also will try to get some video from this Op session and post it here.

That's all for now!

Sounds Promising!

I hope this positive trend continues.  I've always thought MRC made the best DC power packs and their DCC system is probably the easiest to use out of the box, IMO.  The only thing that made me rule out MRC for DCC was the proprietary computer interface and lack of JMRI support.

I always thought it was a shame that their decoders had such a bad rep.  Hopefully that is a thing of the past now.

It would be great if you can get some video to compare the sound between MRC and Tsunami decoders?

Any updates? Thanks  

Any updates?

Thanks

Putting together an update soon!

Stay tuned and I'll post an update within the next few days.  Sorry, this time it will be only a text version as we did not get video.  Hopefully I'll have video in the next few weeks.  

Any updates on this?

Any updates on this?

Working on an update as we speak!

Hi everyone,  I am working on an update on this decoder series as we speak.  Really would like to include video so everyone can hear and see the locomotive run as well as allow me to show off some of it's features. What I  can tell you right now is that the decoder has been functioning flawlessly since it was installed (hope I didn't just jinx myself!) in the locomotive. So far , this decoder looks promising for the price point consumer.

That's all I have for now, so stay tuned.

Thanks!

Video is key!

I think at this stage of the review, video is an absolute must for me.  Looking forward to seeing and hearing what it can do.

what are we comparing?

It's a mix...

Prof,

Granted, YouTube quality is not up to the standards of any serious audiophile, however it is good enough for the audio A/B comparison "I" want to make.  I have already heard other MRC decoders vs Tsunami via a YouTube video and the difference in the audio between the two, was blatant.  If the sound is so nearly identical in the video, then perhaps we can have our friend Nelson take the loco's to The Integration, in California, for further testing, lol!

I would also like to SEE the locomotive in question.

That said, if video is unavailable, que cera cera.

Well, So far so good!

Well, so far so good!  The decoder has been flawless in operation up to this point.  Actually having more trouble with the Athearn loco it is installed in!  I just think that the loco is prone to dirt and just needs more attention to maintain track power.  Anyways, quick report.  I am compiling notes on this decoder and comparing it to other sound decoders so I can give a full report.  Need to work on video still as what I have for equipment will not do!  So I'm in the process of purchasing a good camera for for both stills and video.  What I can report to date is the fact that the decoder has been working very well.  Sound still good although as compared to Tsunamis, the sound is not as refined and a bit more choppy. ( this has a lot to do with whoever cut and edited the sound samples at MRC and not a flaw of the decoder in my opinion) Unlike Al, (Monsterrailroad) I have not had any light failures but am using LED's   and not the Athearn bulbs.  (those burn out way too easy anyways so I discard them from the get go).  I am planning on purchasing another decoder to put in an atlas engine so I hope to have that one as well for testing soon

That's all I have for now and hope to report at least once a week until the review is complete.

So far...

Thanks for the update Nelson!