Dogmatix

Except the central buffing plates (or whatever the correct technical term is)?

“He that would keep a secret must keep it secret that he hath a secret to keep.” (Sir Humphrey Appelby)

Contacting any firm at this time of year is hardly likely to lead to a flurry of instant responses. Some will probably be closed until after New Year.

The German manual is a good quality A5-sized wire-ring-bound colour tome of about 80 pages, including sections on connecting things up, mounting the box (for which you have to take it apart), networking, Android functions, firmware upgrades etc. Oh yes, and how to set up and run trains (including multiple-heading "consists") and points & signals. Nothing on route setting or shuttling.

Well, not living in the UK, I don't see most of the UK magazines. I subscribe to the Modeller, and a newsagent at Zoo station sometimes has the Hornby Magazine, and when I do get to the UK I usually binge on that month's railway magazines - but - and this is part of my point - when the UK magazines review a model, they usually say if NEM pockets are fitted, but almost never say how (i.e. if close-coupling compatible), and rarely show a picture of the underside. Compare that to German magazines, especially MIBA - when they review a model they do a proper job on it. Same with catalogues: the German catalogues and websites give more details about their models than the British ones, including lighting, length... and, as a matter of course, the coupling arrangements, about which the British ones say diddly-squat. So back to topic: I've decided to pass on the 73, and wait for DJModels' 71 and (especially) 74 instead (as I said before, pity that no 74 was preserved and back-painted into green which it never carried (wouldn't be the first preserved engine to carry a 'false' livery) so DJModels could do a green 74).

I asked Piko about the locomotive icons: they have replied that there will be more icons with each software update. There is no possibility to add own pictures, but Piko will happily accept user's requests, and will add icons by popular demand. This presumably means that if a certain locomotive is requested repeatedly and if it already exists in ESU's database, they'll add it. How many icons does the ECoS system have?

It works fine if it's done properly. Continental brands have had properly done, perfectly working close couplings for over thirty years - but British brands, even ones active on the continent, still can't get it right. It's quite ridiculous. Add to that the completely absent information from brands and in magazines on how close coupling works. Oh, and when I wrote that there' not enough room in the 73, I meant that there's not enough room to retro-fit any of the available retro-fit close coupling units. I've seen continental models with even less room that sported properly working close coupling mechanics when it was designed in from the beginning.

Just such a pity that Dapol not only couldn't be bothered with close-coupling mechanics, but have gone and moulded the NEM pocket into the bogie frame, not even on a pivot - the worst-case scenario, and there's no room there to fit any sort of close-coupling unit.

Roco's stubbornness in not adapting their app for the MC2/SmartControl is going to cost them sales, especially with the Piko system available for those who find ESU's ECoS too expensive and with too many bells & whistles. And if they have got a similar controller up their sleeves for the Z21/z21, they'd better announce it and release it doubleplus pronto.

So how do you add icons to an ECoS? Do you have to submit them to ESU for adding to a central library? If so, and having done so, how do they get onto your ECoS, as part of a regular firmware update or what? Or can you transfer your own icons locally?

Yes. You go into the Android settings and change the language to English, and the SmartControl app follows suit. I didn't try any other languages, though....

The FAQ's were there before the kit was available in the stores; Piko seem to have anticipated these questions. Anyway, here are a few to add: Q. My computer doesn't 'see' my SmartControl when I connect it with the supplied USB cable to update it. A. Use a different USB cable - one which is data-transfer compatible. Q. The app as supplied (version 1.0.4) doesn't look or act quite the way described in the manual - even the icon is different. A. Update it. Current version: 1.0.14. Q. I can't see the version of the SmartBox where it should be according to the instructions. A. Update the SmartControl app. Then you can. Q. When I start the system, select an engine and try to move it, nowt 'appens. Except a green LED is blinking on the SmartBox. A. The SmartControl boots up in 'Stop' mode, as indicated by the red LED. Touch the 'Stop' touch-button to clear and turn the LED green, and stop the SmartBox LED blinking. Q. There are some locomotive pictures offered (all continental except - bizarrely - a blue BR Class 08 shunter) but none of them fit my locomotive. Can I add pictures? A Dunno - we'll check and come back to you on that one.

Guilty, m'lud! Got one from a box-splitter on Ebay, for quite a bit less than the not-yet-realeased non-train-pack version.

Depends how you define "purpose". If "purpose" is running trains, it's fit because it does. Loconet is merely an extra. So "not fit for purpose" might not hold water. I've had a similar case recently, can't remember what it was.

In order to charge the SmartControl, a standard USB charger is needed. A charger is supplied with the kit, the sort with an unpluggable cable with a standard USB plug at the mains unit end. The manual tells how to update the SmartController: either directly via the internet (doesn't work, possibly because the app isn't in the Google play store), or by downloading an updater program onto a PC and connecting the SmartControl. What neither the manual nor the FAQs tell you is that the supplied USB cable is a charging cable only; it's no good for data transfer, so the computer does not notice the connection. Use a different, data-capable USB cable, and Bob's your uncle, computer sees the controller, update program updates the controller.

The SmartControl broschure mentions the Loconet port thus: "Loconet-T Extension Port + Wired controllers + Occupancy detector" What it does not say is that the Loconet port is not (yet) activated. This is only noted in the user manual, as supplied with the kit, and in the FAQ on the website, only in German: Question: Ich habe einen LocoNet-Anschluss an meiner PIKO SmartBox® entdeckt. Nach dem ich dort LocoNet kompatible Systeme angeschlossen habe passiert aber nichts. Answer: Bitte haben Sie Verständnis dafür, dass die LocoNet-Funktion momentan noch nicht integriert ist. Da ein störungsfreier Betrieb momentan nicht gewährleistet werden kann, wird diese Funktion später mit einem Update nachgereicht bzw. „freigeschaltet“. (Q: I have discovered a Loconet port on my PIKO SmartBox®. But when I connect a Loconet compatible system to it, nothing happens. A:Please have understanding [can't think of a better phrase here] that the Loconet function is currently not integrated. As interference-free operation cannot be guaranteed, this function will be activated later by an update.) Is it legal to list a function in publicity, but not to include it? If someone buys the kit assuming and needing the Loconet to work, would he be right to be rather dischuffed to find it not so? Can prospective buyers be expected to trawl through FAQs just in case an advertised function is not present?

Just discovered the Uhlenbrock Lokmaus Adapter (http://www.uhlenbrock.de/intern/Produkte/Adapter/IE6E3E4B-001.htm!ArcEntryInfo=0007.0.IE6E3E4B); that should do it, shouldn't it? For the Lokmeeces, anyway.

Question: the Piko base station has a Loconet-T connector at the back. Can I connect Roco LokMice and a Roco point control unit to this, either directly or via an adapter of some sort? Or would I be better off flogging those and getting some cheap 'n' simple Loconet hand unit for kids to use? Does such exist? Needs control knob, loco selection, F1 to F4 & lights.

I was at a local (Berlin) model shop last week, where they had a demonstration from ESU of their new Mobile Control II system. The MC2 was on sale, packaged with a WLAN access point, which you need to connect it to your ECoS system, at €299.99; or without, for those who already have the access point unit, at €279.99. The ECoS base system costs €599.99. Supplies will be hitting the shops this week; but the demonstrator said that initial supplies would be limited, so advised to get one quick (but then, he would say that....). I asked about the Piko version. The base station, he said, was a slimmed-down version, basically built on the same PCB but with some components missing and in a different box. Unlike the ECoS, it can only handle DCC (which is fine by me). The handsets are the same, and have the same app, he said - an ESU-branded handset will work with the Piko-branded base station. This might be interesting, seeing as the Pico-branded handset costs €349.99 (the base station costs €399.99). There are also single-train packs at €499.99, and a two-train pack at €599.99. I also asked about usability with the Roco Z21 (I myself have a Z21, connected to a Roco point control unit and an ESU Mobile Control (original type) with two handsets, and a couple of Roco LokMice for when my friend's kids visit - I have found that I rather use the MC units than a smartphone with the Z21 app!). He said the API's for programming an app to use the motorised knob are available, so if Roco want to adapt their Z21 app, they are quite welcome to do so. As it is, the Z21 app will work on the MC2, but not the knob won't work. The question is, can Roco be bothered? Perhaps we should keep bothering them about it....

Thar y'go...

Well, you know how it goes: wait, and they won't; buy now, and they will.So how about you buy a blue one now, so we can all get weathered ones later.... :-)

Kadees are no use at all at all for close coupling mechanisms because they do not form a rigid straight connection. This is needed to make the NEM pockets move outwards on the curves correctly and thus extend to avoid buffer lock. If you select your Kadees such that the buffers touch (or almost, but not quite, touch) then you're in trouble unless all your curves (and points) are of scale radius. Even layouts in which all visible parts have scale radii, there are often tighter curves and points in fiddle yards. This is why close coupling mechanics were invented well over thirty years ago, but are only recently hesitantly - and mostly incorrectly implemented and well misunderstood - finding use in the UK.

Just received my triplet of green vans. They do look good, they run well, but...... of course, once again, Bachmann have ballsed up the NEM pocket positioning. Whilst they are at pretty much the correct height, they are too far in. Standard close coupling couplers will not reach each other. Using Hornby long-shanked Roco couplers works but leaves a buffer-to-buffer gap of 2-3mm (a scale 6-9"). Using one standard and one long Roco coupler is tricky, they will not connect on the track but can be fiddled together off-track by hand - there is just enough lengthwise play in the cams to allow this, and once back on the rails, the separation on curves is enough to prevent buffer lock (which is, after all, the whole point). Why the..., I mean, why on Earth can't Bachmann get it right? They are in the continental HO business, they get it right on their HO models, why can't they get it right on their OO models? Are they really that incompetent?

How are the NEM pockets mounted - simple pivots, or close-coupling mechanisms?

What would be the time-line on these models now - is Easter possible?