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| joef |
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   Registered Member #3 Joined: Wed Dec 08 2004, 09:01PM: posts: 2112 | rghammill said ... Joe - Looking at the Model Railroader report on Anaheim. It mentions the MRC Prodigy PC interface is due out this fall or winter. Is it really a wireless connection to the PC? That's cool. Not so cool is it's totally proprietary and does not work with JMRI. Total bummer. MRC's DCC system is going downhill fast at this rate and not a DCC system I would recommend. The only one that's more proprietary is MTH's DCS system. Joe Fugate http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 200,000 hits and counting!  In video ... | ||
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| jwils1 |
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 Registered Member #524 Joined: Fri Oct 13 2006, 08:35AM: posts: 83 | Well, MRC’s interface doesn’t sound too promising at this point but I’m still hoping that they will surprise us with something very good. It seems that we are all just speculating right now as I haven’t heard of any real factual information regarding what it’s capabilities will be or not be. For the sake of MRC users, and for our hobby in general, let’s hope that they come up with something really great. Does anyone know where they do their engineering….U.S.A, China, or where? Has anyone ever visited their facility in NJ? It would be interesting to hear first hand impressions of their operations, personnel, etc. One thing that sets them apart from companies like Digitrax and NCE is that they produce a lot of other products in addition to model railroad equipment, and have been in business for a very, very long time. I wonder what percentage of their total sales consist of RR materials? Maybe model railroad products aren’t a big enough portion of their overall business to warrant an approach that many model railroaders would much prefer? My old Tech II says “made in U.S.A.”. Do they now make everything in China? I wonder if their decoder problems stem from inferior engineering or lack of quality control in China? And why don’t they make any public statements regarding their problems and what they are proposing to do to overcome them and meet the real needs of their customers. Customer relations and communications don’t appear to be much of a priority with MRC. All of these things really puzzle me. MRC is a very old company, and I presume profitable as they are still there. They have made, and still make some excellent products. Their latest Prodigy offerings have many nice features and work well. So why do they seem like the odd-balls of this industry? Are they “thinking outside the box” and way ahead of their competitors, or, for whatever reason, are they just not able to understand how to really best serve the mainstream model railroad users needs? Or, are they simply successful enough to be very stubborn, independent and are just going to do things their way? Jerry | ||
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| joef |
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| Registered Member #3 Joined: Wed Dec 08 2004, 09:01PM: posts: 2112 | The MRC interface info I got from Mr. JMRI himself, Bob Jacobsen. I talked to him in Anaheim and he's very disappointed in MRC for taking this route. So this is not speculation - this is MRC's statement to the head of the JMRI open source initiative. I am likewise very disappointed with MRC with this latest news. This is enough to kill the MRC system for me - I won't be recommending it to anyone unless they change their stance on their interface. It also somewhat explains an MSRP of circa $200 on this product. Proprietary is wonderful, isn't it - for the vendor.  [ Edited Thu Jul 31 2008, 07:55PM ] Joe Fugate http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 200,000 hits and counting! In video ... | ||
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| JeffShultz |
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  Registered Member #6 Joined: Wed Dec 08 2004, 09:30PM: posts: 582 | Too bad we weren't able to video tape the MRC guys at the NTS (I'm fairly sure I saw their booth) commenting on this.... Jeff Shultz Willamette & Pacific - Oregon Electric Branch W&P RR Photo Gallery | ||
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| tasdisr |
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 Registered Member #945 Joined: Tue Jul 08 2008, 12:43PM: posts: 1 | I had read through this thread with interest. I am just getting started in the hobby and was looking to purchase an DCC system. I was looking at the MRC Prodigy advanced squared and NCE PowerCab. I ended up purchasing a PowerCab because of expandabilty if needed in the future and no proprietary PC interface. | ||
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| rghammill |
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  Registered Member #463 Joined: Thu Aug 17 2006, 07:42PM: posts: 165 | Well, that's a bummer. So it's not just a PC interface but a whole software package, huh? If it's as complete as JMRI that might be OK, but it is a bit of a strange approach to take. Especially since there's nothing in a PC program that might have any effect on the controller system, it's just to make it easier to program the decoders. I guess I'll have to wait until they provide more information to see what they are really offering. A wireless connection to a PC makes so much sense since a lot of folks don't have a PC set up in their layout room, or may not want one there. Although the one I REALLY don't get is the Bachmann one. Randy Randy Hammill New Britain Station: Modeling the New Haven Railroad 1949-1953 | ||
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| jwils1 |
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| Registered Member #524 Joined: Fri Oct 13 2006, 08:35AM: posts: 83 | Re: MRC computer interface I just asked for, and received an answer to, info on what their interface will do. You can see this on the MRC Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRC-DCC/ Sd40Man is an employee of MRC and gave the response. Okay, it's not JMRI but you know what, it just might be a very workable and useable product for MRC users. Let's wait and see before we say too much more about it. And, I wouldn't worry too much about the price. The actual street price is what counts and we don't yet know what that will be. I am a JMRI user and a strong proponent of it, but I'm also very interested in other options and new ideas. I'm sure we will get some good reviews of the MRC unit when it comes out and we can then really honestly discuss the pros and cons. Jerry | ||
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| joef |
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| Registered Member #3 Joined: Wed Dec 08 2004, 09:01PM: posts: 2112 | I don't get a warm-and-fuzzy when a company doesn't want to join in the community efforts and wants to go off and do the proprietary cowboy thing. While the product may be great, the proprietary angle generally makes you pay more for the priviledge. It also often means less overfall functionality - although what functionality there is can be sweet indeed. I think of Mac versus PCs. Macs have been very good machines - but they cost more and they don't do as much as PCs. What Macs do is generally done better than the same functionality on PCs ... so yes, let's wait and see. I have a hard time imagining MRC's software will do everything that JMRI does, however. I have a hard time imagining a $200 MSRP will be $60 or less street price - which is what the competition's computer interfaces are costing street price. Joe Fugate http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 200,000 hits and counting! In video ... | ||
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| Mark |
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  Registered Member #492 Joined: Sat Sep 02 2006, 03:30PM: posts: 37 | This isn't very relevant to me. Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing Joe's DCC presentation to the recent national NMRA convention. Mark | ||
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| joef |
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| Registered Member #3 Joined: Wed Dec 08 2004, 09:01PM: posts: 2112 | Mark: I hope to be posting that video in another week on the new MRH web site in the MRH Theater section. Joe Fugate http://siskiyou-railfan.net - 200,000 hits and counting! In video ... | ||
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