Greetings..... info about Muncie ATCS

[alcochaser]

I just wandered onto this forum, it's good to see Indiana based people very interested in ATCS.

I wanted to Introduce myself... my name is Shawn P. Noe (alcohaser) and I have been a long time ATCS user, enthusiast, and territory manager.

I am the current Territory Manager for the NS New Castle from Ossian all the way into Ohio and Frankfort District from Alexandria eastward

Before I turned loose of them to more local personnel....I used to manage the NS Chicago Line and CSX Garret Subs in Indiana as well...... I have done some ATCS field work for Mark and Greg in and around NE Indiana as well. I have also done ATCS work on the Lafayette District for the Erik Coleman in Illinois.....

I am currently working on a -very- size able update for the New Castle and Frankfort lines i manage..... hopefully will have a server or two soon...

Shawn

[Rob]

Are you going to wander up to Elkhart area now that its coming up? i went up there today to see what was really on, since it has been a long drawn out ordeal getting them going, and K17,K16,K12,K27,K25,K23,K22,K33,K31,K51,K68,K75,K74,K88,K98,K95,K93,K92,K91,K108,K107,K106,K105,K104,K103,K102,K101 which i caught with a single train traversing at what has to be CP421 seems a little fun and time consuming to decode , will those managing territory up there be able to handle it??
When the CSX Garrett sub was "missing" on the ATCS group when i first got into this, i decoded milford junction within a small amount of time, but thats only a crossover pair and a intersecting line, 421 is much more complex than that!
From might experiences in decoding, the first step thats easiest seems to be when theres no signals and nothing in area, if thats right, maybe we can hope for a thanksgiving "shutdown" up in Elkhart.
I am near Warsaw, so unless i meet someone more local to that area, i probably wont be up there much.

[Greg46m]

Nice to see you here Shawn, I can't wait to see an updated New Castle layout.

I used your layout down in Muncie a few months ago when I visited, worked very well.

[alcochaser]

There are those of us who can handle these "beast" interlockings. It is the same method, just a lot more to juggle... work at it long enough and you will find patterns in the bits on large interlockings. Then you are able to decode them with out seeing them come on, often just by completing patterns in the bits. Don't let the large number of bit numbers fluster you. Group the switch bits, group the signal bits. Identify and ignore the lock bits. Work out the approaches, and finally Work out the track buts in the interlocking. Find and request bits, Ohh and if you get board you have snow melter and track out of service bits. So in the end all those bits can be divided up.

ex Conrail machines also tend to have a lot more bits for things other railroads omit. CP-358 has a bit just for the Diamond occupancy, separate bits for matched switches... etc etc... lol and CP-358 lags a good 30 to 60 seconds from what is in the field.. it's an old slow machine. Expect to see stuff like this all along the Chicago Line.

That said, I have handed off the Chicago line, Chris Guss will handle it.

I have all ready uploaded the improved layout. I need to get up there and do more decoding on Ossian/Kingsland as well as Alexandria.

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/A ... 0District/

[alcochaser]

I have decided to move my Muncie files to my personal webserver. It contains current data for Ossian and Kingsland now.

http://inrd.gotdns.com/atcs/

[CIOR]

We tried to do it here at my place, but it didn't work with my setup. I've got a 40' Rohn, and the antenna is at the top. I got high error rates and only a couple of blips. But I couldn't get much of anything.

There was some hope of having it setup close to downtown, but that fell through. But there might be hope yet! Stay tuned.

[Greg46m]

Matt,

What kind of feedline are you using from the antenna to the radio? If it's RG-6 or even RG-59 I'd bet some better cable would get you a lower error rate and more coverage. Once I get the crimper and ends I need to shorten my lines I could give you some of my leftover LMR-400. Even 150 feet of this stuff has less loss than 20 feet of RG-6.

[CIOR]

Greg,
Part of the issue is that I am 6.25 miles from the closest atcs. I forget what I have up to it, but it cost a nice dime..LOL
I was told that due to the 900 and being in the location I am in, that is my biggest issue.

There was some high hopes for the location in Downtown Muncie, and that still might happen, but not for a couple more months. Lets just say some big plans have been made for the future in that area.

I would still like to get a better antenna to put up for the scanner and I am sure that would help greatly.