Over the past week, I tried many of the functions of the ECoS DCC control system, model number 50210. Here are some of my observations. (Note that Don Fiehman posted a short introductory article about an earlier version of the ECoS system (probably the 50200). It did not go into any operational details but the results he described are very similar to what I found.
Summary opinion: The ECoS system is a first-class system that is well engineered, robust and intuitive after some practice. Although it supports worldwide digital model railroad control protocols, I have only tested the DCC capabilities. It also commands a premium purchase price for all of its capabilities. It is for the serious model railroader who is intent on building around the ECoS system architecture. There are many 3rd party components that can be used with this architecture that ESU does not sell, including the line of DCC Specialties circuit breakers, auto-reversers, block detectors, and accessory decoders. It works with Railcom feedback, which is available on the ESU V4 decoder series. It seamlessly integrates with 3rd party software used for layout control, dispatching and tuning and maintenance. I used ECoS successfully with Decoder Pro.
Overall impressions:
The ECoS system worked as advertised for all functions that I tried except I was not able to properly link multiple accessories and to draw track plans for controlling the accessories. I didn’t pursue trying to figure it out and will wait until the wireless throttles for the system are available to try it again.
The ECoS system is a Linux based computer system and has many functions programmed into it with graphical I/O on the main touch screen of the system box or an attached computer via ethernet. Because it is software controlled, improvements have been made to the program but those changes have not been reflected in the user manual. With a little effort, I was able to figure out how to use the new functions.
The TightVNC computer program is not discussed in the user manual. I could only get the ECoS screen images to work on my Windows 7 PC with the Windows Internet Explorer browser. The other browsers did not work. The screen image did not work at all on any browser on my Windows 8.1 PC without loading TightVNC viewer. It then worked fine. I had to figure it out myself. I was lucky.
The user can control input and output from the computer. The user manual states that only graphical output from the system can be displayed on the computer. I think things have improved since the manual was written. - I found no method of locking access to the ECoS through the ethernet cable other than a password for making configuration changes to the system. - However, when running the ECoS DHCP server from the ECoS box to link to wireless throttles through the mini access point (see below), a network name and password must be provided for the access point to connect
properly. Perhaps this will be fixed when the throttles become available and communicate through the home network using a password. - The ethernet connection between ECoS and the network is by cable. There is no wifi connection.
A crossover ethernet cable is required to connect ECoS to a computer ethernet LAN connection. This allows the transmit signal on one end to become the receive signal on the other end.
My Windows 8.1 laptop automatically senses when the transmit and receive signals are on the wrong lines and swaps the connection via firmware in the network controller. I was able to use a standard ethernet network connection as if it were a crossover cable.
The graphics are very clear and easy to read on the ECoS screen. - The documentation wording has been translated from German to English and there are terms that seem wrong or not clear. I had a difficult time reading DCC addresses from a locomotive on the test track and eventually found how to do it using a profile function on ECoS. It was not spelled out in the user manual.
I was able to save and restore ECoS system set up files to the computer for back up purposes. I was able to reset the ECoS to the factory reset settings, although the internet settings stayed unchanged. This is possibly due to the fact that I left the batteries in the system when I reset the system. (Note: I purchased 4 AAA NiMH batteries for the evaluation so that I wouldn’t have to open the sealed batteries shipped with the new system. The system was initially charged for 4 hours before initial use to allow the batteries to charge, although the packaging said that the batteries were precharged at the factory.)
I am quite proficient on the NCE system. I was able to eventually figure out how to do everything that I am able to do on the NCE system on the ECoS system with some differences:
The NCE Power Cab has some programming features that are very convenient for speed matching locomotives. I am able to vary some of the CVs for the speed table by rolling the throttle speed wheel or using the increment/decrement switches on the Power Cab. I found no similar capability on the ECoS.
Things I did not test on the ECoS:
S88 shift functions. I have no S88 components and do not know who uses it. It is a clever system and has good potential for layout automation or control programs.
NCE or other manufacturer’s throttles in sniffer mode. I only tested the built-in throttles of the ECoS box.
ECoS link devices. I did not plug any additional throttles into the system.
ECoS link extension connection of bus extension modules. - Separate insulated programming track sections in the main line. I ran the entire test track either in programming track mode or main track mode.
When not programming, the system defaults to main track mode through a relay switch built internally.
I had no problem programming – the programming output can supply up to 1A while the main supply goes up to 4A (3.85 after the PSX breaker). - Consisting function. The ECoS sends individual commands to each locomotive in the consist.
I don’t know if CV19 is changed by ECoS automatically to force the decoder to look at consist addresses for some of the functions. More work needs to be done.
External booster connection to allow external boosters to be driven and allow feedback for status indication on ECoS.
I did not utilize any of the other built-in feedback mechanisms (R ailcomm, etc) for railroad automation capabilities.
I did not create locomotive icons from personal photo images using the GIMP program process outlined in the documentation. It appears straightforward (although a bit time consuming and possibly difficult for the beginner). I don’t foresee any problems trying this out later. - I did not test the calibration or sensitivity of the built-in overload protection for both the mainline and programming track outputs. I used a DCC Specialties PSX circuit breaker in series with the main line output and it worked fine with the ECoS system without bringing down the ECoS system. In addition, a PSX-AR did auto-reversing operations without tripping either the ECoS built-in overload protection or the PSX external breaker. - Wifi connection of an external throttle. The ESU Mobile Throttles were not available for evaluation at this time [ETA late 2018]. - Access to the ECoS through a computer connected to the WiFi network. - The ECoS is connected to a cabled network on the computer and the WiFi wireless is a separate disconnected network. When the mobile throttles
are available, I will readdress this.
I wired the ECoS directly to the WiFi router cable in my office and bypassed the PC entirely. I was able to access the ECoS through the PC wifi connection without difficulty. I used the DHCP function of the router server (through the Comcast connection on the internet) to set up the ECoS addressing automatically. You can also use the ECoS hostname function if you have more than one ECoS system on the router network. - There is a card slot on the bottom of the ECoS under a plastic cover that allows a radio receiver (ECoS control radio, section 7.11 of the user manual) to be plugged in for wireless throttles to be added to the ECoS link bus, wirelessly. The ECoS control radio (part number 50111) is an obsolete former product (a radio throttle prior to the mobile control II throttle) and will use this slot on the bottom of ECoS. The control radio is a somewhat clunky throttle with a display screen (monochrome, low res), joystick, 10 function buttons (with shift key to go to 20 functions) but no speed knob. This option only allows up to 6 wireless throttles. It runs on the 2.4GHz cordless phone frequencies.
A Mini Access Point KX-300 is an external dongle that runs on a wall wart and has an ethernet connection directly to the ECoS. It replaces the PC connection to the ECoS through the ethernet. The ECoS must be configured to have a DHCP server running so that the access point can configure itself to the ECoS. Such an access point comes with the future wireless Mobil Control II throttle, model 50113. The model 50114 does not have the access point.
Although not mentioned in any of the instructions, the pass-through function for the internet may allow devices connected to the ethernet cable (i.e. ECoS) to be linked to the home WiFi router through the computer wireless connection. This has to be investigated when the throttles become available. Also, sometimes wireless routers may be daisy chained by a long ethernet cable from one of the ethernet connections of the base unit to the input connection of a satellite unit that is hardwired to the ECoS. That will be checked out, also.
Potential Tests with Mobile Control II Throttle:
Setting up and changing locomotive characteristics, i.e. function buttons, icons, images, etc. Also can modify existing locomotives. - It is probably quicker to use ECoS or a computer for this such editing but any changes made on the mobile control throttle will be transmitted to all other throttles on the system and to the ECoS box (i.e. a permanent change).
Ideas for Improvement:
Add wireless WiFi connection capability without having to cable the ECoS to a router.
Fix the VNC connection through the browser interface rather than loading a 3rd party viewer.
The wireless throttle is a key missing piece. This should be available again in late 2018.
Figure out how to work the accessory link capability
Clearer instructions.
Lower price.
Since this is all being rolled out of production for the first time while I’m writing this evaluation, several key components of the system are not available yet. Missing things on my list will probably be added very shortly.
Final Opinions:
I find that the ECoS system is very enjoyable to operate and for a person who invests the time to properly set it up and to use it efficiently. In a club setting, it can be learned incrementally if a knowledgeable system administrator sets things up. For a beginner or a person new to the ECoS system, about a dozen hours of training and another dozen hours of practice and usage must be expended to become somewhat proficient in its usage.
In comparison with the NCE system [with which I am very happy], the ECoS system offers most of the features of NCE. In addition, the graphics of this system is not available on the NCE system.
The computer interface offers potential dispatching and control improvements over the NCE system. The extent of this potential is unknown because most 3rd party programs will operate both systems without the operator having to know which system he or she is controlling. - I like the NCE system for troubleshooting and tuning locomotives on the test track. However, I use decoder Pro most of the time for programming locomotive decoders. Using the ECoS system with Decoder Pro should not give NCE an advantage.
Adding a new locomotive to the ECoS roster is a little more involved than the NCE equivalent action.
With the NCE system, when a locomotive is no longer used, it is erased from the throttle and a new one replaces it.
With ECoS, the locomotive entry stays on the list even though another locomotive is being run. T
The list can become quite cluttered if locomotives are added to the list without searching for a prior entry in the list.
More thought should go into a filing or classification system for keeping track of locomotives on the ECoS list.
When locomotive decoder settings are modified, these changes should be done with the ECoS system so that they get properly recorded for future
graphical display usage.
The NCE system does not have that capability so that CV changes are not recorded and function button changes must be memorized or passed along
to different operators by other means.
NCE has a lot of system quirks that cause problems. To recover from such quirks, I typically recycle power on the NCE system and start over. I encountered no system quirks on the ECoS system. Every function repeated the same way for me every time and there were no system hang conditions. - I did find that the accessory link function did not work as I expected after reading the instructions but I didn’t try to solve that problem. I just went on without ever getting the link to work and the ability to create track plans evaluated.
Typing in accessory addresses on the fly for setting up the accessory decoder routings, i.e. Jackwabbit, Hare, Wabbit, and other DCC Specialties decoders, seemed cumbersome.
I can do it much faster on the NCE system but I have also been using the NCE system for more than 15 years.
The NCE system requires paper and pencil while the ECoS system records it all in the system.
Paper records get lost. System records will not if properly backed up.
For our NWV [North West Vermont] club layout, the NCE system works fine and does everything that is expected of the average member. - The NCE system functions simply by using locomotive numbers and we don’t have any signal or accessory addresses in general use. - There is no help for those who forget how to use a function. - The NCE system is prone to hangs and missed commands which can be easily rectified once they are discovered.
As simple as the NCE system is, operators become confused on occasion and I am called upon to walk them out of the jam. - For members who wish to perform more advanced functions, i.e. setting up consists, operating accessories, signals and routes and operating sound functions beyond the bell, headlight and horn on a locomotive, the ECoS system with the future mobile control II throttles promises to be a first class, best of breed system with real flair that is bound to impress all onlookers. It is very polished. And in the brief testing that I have done, it has not had any hangs or other glitches in operation.
The functionally equivalent NCE system components cost about 50% of the ESU prices.
by Dana Brown
Over the past week, I tried many of the functions of the ECoS DCC control system, model number 50210. Here are some of my observations. (Note that Don Fiehman posted a short introductory article about an earlier version of the ECoS system (probably the 50200). It did not go into any operational details but the results he described are very similar to what I found.
Summary opinion: The ECoS system is a first-class system that is well engineered, robust and intuitive after some practice. Although it supports worldwide digital model railroad control protocols, I have only tested the DCC capabilities. It also commands a premium purchase price for all of its capabilities. It is for the serious model railroader who is intent on building around the ECoS system architecture. There are many 3rd party components that can be used with this architecture that ESU does not sell, including the line of DCC Specialties circuit breakers, auto-reversers, block detectors, and accessory decoders. It works with Railcom feedback, which is available on the ESU V4 decoder series. It seamlessly integrates with 3rd party software used for layout control, dispatching and tuning and maintenance. I used ECoS successfully with Decoder Pro.
Overall impressions:
properly. Perhaps this will be fixed when the throttles become available and communicate through the home network using a password. - The ethernet connection between ECoS and the network is by cable. There is no wifi connection.
Things I did not test on the ECoS:
are available, I will readdress this.
Potential Tests with Mobile Control II Throttle:
Ideas for Improvement:
Final Opinions:
I find that the ECoS system is very enjoyable to operate and for a person who invests the time to properly set it up and to use it efficiently. In a club setting, it can be learned incrementally if a knowledgeable system administrator sets things up. For a beginner or a person new to the ECoS system, about a dozen hours of training and another dozen hours of practice and usage must be expended to become somewhat proficient in its usage.
graphical display usage.
to different operators by other means.