Märklin Systems
In February 2004 , the model railway company Märklin presented a digital model railway control system called Märklin Systems . The system was developed in cooperation with Electronic Solutions Ulm .
The core of the system is a protocol that overcomes many of the limitations of its predecessor, the Märklin-Motorola protocol from 1984. The new control centers and decoders are compatible with the old and new protocol. Märklin offers two types of control units - Mobile Station and Central Station . The Mobile Station was designed more for beginners, but it is definitely expandable; The Central Station is aimed at ambitious hobby model railroaders who want to partially automate medium-sized systems but are looking for an alternative to completely computer-controlled operation. Both central units contain databases of suitable Märklin locomotives in order to simplify commissioning.
With the appearance of the second generation of the Central Station and Mobile Station , Märklin has given up the name “Märklin Systems” and reintroduced the name “Märklin Digital”, which was already known from earlier digital devices; only Central Station 1 and Mobile Station 1 are listed on the Märklin website under “Märklin Systems” . Today the manufacturer uses the identifier "fx" for the historical and "mfx" or "mfx +" for the new decoders.
mfx protocol
The aim of the development was to remove many of the restrictions of the previous protocol while at the same time being compatible with it in order to allow the systems to be used in parallel. The address space is now increased from 80 to 16,384 and the speed is broken down into 128 instead of 14 levels. Significantly more functions can be addressed per vehicle (such as lighting, horn, steam generation, lifting and lowering of the pantograph). Above all, however, bidirectional data exchange is now supported: vehicle decoders can automatically register with the central unit and are identified by their name.
The new protocol has so far only been used for mobile decoders (e.g. in locomotives); Stationary decoders are still addressed via the old protocol or the DCC protocol.
Märklin game world
In 2013, the Märklin Spielewelt introduced a further developed locomotive control. Steam and diesel locomotives can simulate supplies that are used up depending on the operation and have to be recharged. In addition, driver's cabs are modeled for so-called mfx + locomotives, which for diesel and electric locomotives include a dead man's switch and for steam locomotives provide their typical control elements instead of a simple speed controller. The full range of functions can only be used with Central Station 3 or Central Station 2 + Update .
Mobile station
Mobile Station is the smaller version of the hand control device; it is included with many digital starter sets and can be put into operation quickly. The device can save the data of ten locomotives, an eleventh locomotive can be operated via the automatic registration of mfx. Locomotives with mfx decoders identify themselves automatically to the control center, older digital locomotives can be added manually using their destination address or article number.
The LC display shows the name of the vehicle, a symbol for its speed and direction of travel and up to eight pictograms for special functions. Function keys can call up these functions, switch the headlights on and off and trigger an emergency stop for the entire system. Speed and direction of travel are set with a rotary knob; From the second generation, turnouts and signals can also be switched.
A "connection box" in two sizes connects up to two mobile stations with the system; In this way, two different locomotives can be controlled at the same time, but both must be included in the database of the first mobile station. The locomotives continue to run when you switch to another locomotive; the number of locomotives running at the same time depends on the power of the transformer used, the power consumption of the locomotives and the size of the system.
In 2010 the Mobile Station 2 was introduced, with a design that matches the Central Station 2 . It can switch 320 solenoid accessories and 16 locomotive functions, has a locomotive card reader and an illuminated full graphic display and masters the mfx, DCC and classic Motorola protocols.
Central Station
The Central Station , abbreviated CS , has a touch screen as well as 16 function keys and two control wheels for the simultaneous control of two locomotives. The older digital system and S88 feedback can be connected to the Central Station via an integrated sniffer input as well as boosters and other mobile stations (also via a network). In addition to controlling the locomotives and switching points, signals or other functions, route control is now also available. A computer that can take over control can also be connected via an Ethernet connection. This connection can also be used to upload new software versions.
Unlike the Mobile Station, whose booster is in the track box, there is a booster in the Central Station itself. Therefore, only an external power supply is required, the track or the ring line of the system is operated directly from the Central Station. If additional, external boosters have to be used due to the size of the system and the associated power consumption, the Central Station offers a new type of interface via which the (feedback-capable) mfx-compatible boosters are controlled in a chain structure.
The heart of the Central Station is a system-on-chip computer from Sharp called LH79525, which is operated with Embedded Linux . In the delivery state, several services can be accessed via the Ethernet connection. For example, a connection with Telnet is possible without any problems. Since June 2007, Märklin has been able to update the Central Station free of charge. However, since the appearance of the CS2 it has not been supported by Märklin any more. The former developer of the Central Station 1, the Ulm-based company ESU electronic solutions ulm GmbH & Co.KG, took over the support and offered an upgrade to a new software version until 2015, combined with a more powerful switched-mode power supply that used the available electricity of the internal booster increases to 4A. A new addition is a track diagram interlocking, support for the turntable, support for all digital railroad formats (i.e. in addition to the Märklin / Motorola format, DCC and others) and the direct display of up to 10 locomotives.
Märklin has been delivering the successor model, the CS2 (also the new Central Station ), since October 6, 2008. Märklin developed the CS2 with the support of the Kontron company. The main innovations of the CS2 were a color display, integrated track diagram control panel , the ability to update software online and a USB connection (for mouse, keyboard or a USB stick to save the current settings). The CS2 also has two locomotive card readers, which enable information and settings of a locomotive to be saved and read in on a card. Old devices or systems can only be connected via external sniffer boxes or, in the case of the old central station, via Ethernet. The ten-pole connection can also be used to connect up to two mobile stations or additional central stations directly to a master CS2. The CS2 is constantly being developed. The first CS2 appeared at the end of 2008 with the item number 60213. The next CS2 (60214) came with DCC capability; all previously delivered devices (60213) can receive the functional scope of the CS2 (60214) with a corresponding software update. In 2011 another version with the article number 60215 appeared, which delivered a higher output current (optionally 5A instead of 3A). In 2008, CS2 won the prestigious red dot award in the field of product design.
As of firmware 2.5 from 2013, the CS2 supports the Märklin game world with the different versions, whereby the manufacturer Märklin tries to develop new locomotives with e.g. T. for German railway enthusiasts rather unusual driver's cabs to be considered in an appropriate form in updates, so that z. B. the simulated driver's cab of a Swiss pre-war electric locomotive looks and is operated differently than the standard driver's cab of a German BR 103.
Another interesting addition are corresponding apps for Android or Apple mobile phones and tablets as well as a PC application that allow the control functions of the CS2 to be used with a similar surface via the network interface. In this way, there is often no need to purchase a mobile or additional controller in addition to a stationary central unit.
As of July 2017, the " CS3 " and the " CS3plus " are the latest version of the Central Station with which Märklin is present on the market. They were presented to the professional world in 2016.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.oude-station.nl ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Märklin CS update website ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ESU via the CS 1
- ^ Current Model Railway Technology, October 2008 edition
- ↑ http://de.red-dot.org
- ↑ https://www.maerklin.de/de/produkte/produkt-informationen/modellbahn-steuerung/central-station-3/
- ↑ http://www.swp.de/goeppingen/lokales/goeppingen/maerklin-praesentiert-400-neuheiten-auf-spielwarenmesse-11776746.html
Web links
- Märklin Systems
- ESU company
- Instruction manual CS1 (6 MB; PDF file)
- Operating instructions CS2 first version (5.9 MB; PDF file)
- Instruction manual CS2 DCC (6.9 MB; PDF file)
- Operating instructions MS2 (7.1 MB; PDF file)
- Märklin World of Games brochure (190 kB; PDF file)