DCS Remote Commander
Following on from the introduction of the DCS Commander comes the DCS Commander Remote. Although the name might suggest that it is an accessory to the DCS Commander controller this is not so, the small control box and associated handset that comprise the DCS Commander Remote are a control unit in their own right and currently provide the cheapest method of controlling a Protosound equipped model locomotive via DCS commands. The handset is compact and does not have the range of controls of either the DCS Commander or the DCS TIU handset but it does cover the basic requirements; pushbuttons for whistle or horn, bell, sound volume, smoke volume, coupler release, direction and speed. It requires a 16 to 20 volt (ac or dc) input and can handle up to 8 amps. which means that it should be capable of controlling a handful of Ho locomotives or two gauge 1 units. The handset requires two AA size batteries and the remote link operates on infra-red so the handset should have line of sight or a suitable reflective path to the receiver. For those that have been considering battery operation of the larger MTH gauges there is now the possibility of installing the receiver and a battery pack in an item of rolling stock and feeding the output to the locomotive via a simple two-core cable. For outdoor use my initial concern would be the effective range of the unit and I will report further when I have data for this.