General > General Discussion
Sound Familiar?
nodcc4me:
Pat, although Ring Engineering started their business in 2002, they spent several years and probably a lot of money developing the products they would eventually be selling, followed by trips to China to set up the manufacturing process. The end result is a system that far exceeds anything else available today. Even now, I believe most of their time, and money goes toward R&D. There are some very cool things in the pipeline. They won't be going under anytime soon, barring some catastrophic event. In the unlikely event of that happening, we would continue using what we have, and would most likely be able to stock up on modules, if necessary, from suppliers. I have 30 RP equipped engines, and am not the least bit worried about it.
The HC controller is not just a fancy rheostat. It can do so much more, in an intuitive format that can not be compared to DCC. Nothing else comes close. As a beta tester, I am excited for the future of RailPro.
William Brillinger:
--- Quote ---followed by trips to China to set up the manufacturing process.
--- End quote ---
Hold it. The entire RailPro line is manufactured in the USA by Ring Engineering. I expect the injection molding of the housings are outsourced but as I understood it, that doesn't happen in China either. Certainly the individual components are from various sources offshore, but the circuit boards and assemblies are all manufactured in Ring's shop on his own equipment.
nodcc4me:
That's true Bill, but I would think at least some if the outsourced parts are proprietary, or maybe not? I was also under the impression, from talking to Tim, that initially, everything was outsourced.
PatP:
Al
I appreciate the comments back however, I am not the one needing convinced. I retired last year from phosphate mining in Florida where I built, started, managed and operated facilities and equipment for 37 years. I designed and built railroads, roads, draglines, pumping systems, processing plants and, my favorite, flotation machines (I can make rocks float) and flotation chemicals. I understand that electronic equipment will run forever, provided we don't do anything mean to it. I had 20 and 30 year old electronics in industrial conditions that is still operating. I would not have spent a couple grand of my own money if I wasn't sure about RP.
Part of my point was to you, Bill, Alan, Tim, any of the other regulars on this UG, for the guy I responded to (MustDecide) and the guy Kevin responded to on MRH. They have concerns about the longevity of the system they're looking to buy, and I bet it's not an equipment life thing, it's a support thing, and to the average guy it's a lot of money. If they have trouble who do they call if Ring is gone? Y'all? If you want to have a conversation about the longevity of Ring do it somewhere else.
Tim had just posted a thread last week about the number of members on this site. Most of them are coming here looking for information or reassurance. If you want to build up the membership and participation of this group, if RP is not just a fancy rheostat, tell that story. If you're a beta tester then you should be the expert on this stuff. I, and I'm sure most others, took it out of the box, plugged it in and mashed the button (I did read the instructions cover to cover). I see the MU'd locos tug a little till they find their sweet spot so my assumption is they are communicating common load. No one else does that, I'll give you that one. The DCC guys can do lights and horns, and I can do that with a small circuit board and some components on DC. The touch screen, being able to put my own pictures on it, not being limited to 2 or 4 numbers as to what I call each one that's pretty neat. After that? Yeah the engines run quieter and smoother and they will run a creep speeds, but those guys will have to see that to realize it.
So, after all that it's still a rheostat, but then I've had 2 days with it, and I can't seem to find an expert to educate me.
PatP
William Brillinger:
Pat,
I think your comments are spot on, and I am glad you shared them!
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