Märklin Digital for Dummies ^® Control Unit

The Control Unit is the central unit for Märklin Digital, i.e. Märklin HO and 1 Gauge digital layouts. It supplies the layout with power and control commands. Märklin 6021, the latest model, has a built-in locomotive controller which the old Märklin 6020 doesn't have. (Here you would need the Märklin 6036 "Control 80f" in addition, as locomotive controller.) However, when you use a computer (including the Märklin 6050 or 6051 Interface) for operating your layout, you don't need this controller. But OK, it can be nice to have for testing purposes. You can access up to 4 loco decoder functions using the 6021. After the announcement of Märklin Systems, the price of the 6021 has dropped, approx. to 100 USD.

So far, for the new "Märklin Systems, only the Mobile Stations 60651 and 60652 have been released. They are identical, however the 60651 delivers 1.9 A and the 60652 1.2 A. The 60652 is included in several starter packages. They can also be found cheap e.g. on eBay.de, at approx. 50 USD. Using the Mobile Station you can access up to 10 locomotives directly. With the help of an adaptor cable you can put second Mobile Station in the connection box. All functions etc are visible on a nice LCD display. You can access up to 9 loco decoder functions using the 6021. There is no computer interface in this unit, and therefore I have not acquired it.

The new Central Station 60212 will be the "heart" of Märklin Systems, and is announced to be relased after the summer 2005. It will have a large touch screen and several operating possibilities, including two knobs for controlling trains. It will have an integrated locomotive database. You will be able to access up to 16 loco decoder functions, and also control your Solenoids. The station will also include an Ethernet computer interface. It has not been communicated that the Central Station will support other protocols in parallel, e.g. the NMRA DCC protocol. Price is indicated by Märklin to 549 EUR. It will be possible to connect several Mobile Stations 60652 to the new Central Station.

The "Intellibox" from Uhlenbrock is an alternative that combines the heart and blood system, and the nervous system, into one item that replaces the Märklin Control Unit and Digital Interface. The price for Intellibox is about 3000 SEK (400 USD) compared to about 1000 SEK + 2000 SEK = 3000 SEK (400 USD) for the Märklin items. The Intellibox can manage the Märklin Motorola protocol and other protocols in parallel, e.g. the NMRA DCC protocol. It also provides two locomotive controllers. Another advantage with the Intellibox is that maximum interface speed is 19200 baud compared to 2400 baud maximum with the Märklin 6051 Interface. However, the communication at 19200 baud sometimes is not reliable, therefore it is recommended by some software providers to use 9600 baud maximum.

My "Digital Adventure" actually started with the Control Unit, when I found the cheap old Märklin 6020 on eBay. Before this, I wasn't that interested in digital, but now I started to read more about it. I managed well with this unit for some months, but later I learned that I need a newer Control Unit:

Why this? In 1994, with the new 6021 Control Unit, Märklin introduced the "New Motorola Protocol Format". If interested in more details, please refer to "The Manual of the New Märklin Motorola Format" by Andrea Scorzoni, hosted at the excellent site on the digital subject by Dr. König.

So what did I do? I also found a Märklin 6021 Control Unit cheap on the 2nd hand market. The Intellibox can wait and - so far - I don't need the fancy features of the Intellibox.

Would I recommend to first learn digital hands-on with the Control Unit (without a control software and a computer) or should you immediately start digital with a control software? (instead of operating via the Control Unit)

In my opinion, this depends on where you are in your layout project, and what you finally would like to do:

(1) Run the engines
(2) Control turnouts and signals + (1)
(3) Automatic control of the layout (incl. s88 feedback) + (1) + (2)

My conclusions:

(1) If you only want to run the engines, the computer doesn't provide much value at all. In this case, I would recommend one (or two) Mobile Station 60651 or 60652.

(2) If you want to control turnouts and signals as described on the Solenoids page, this is possible if having a Central Station 60212 or an Intellibox. If having the Mobile Station 60651 or 60652 only, you can not control your solenoids digital. If having a Control Unit 6021, you need to purchase (at least) one 6040 Keyboard also. However, if you do not plan to go to step (3), I would recommend old-fashioned conventional (analogue) control of your solenoids, as going digital here does not provide much value.

(3) If you are currently designing and building your layout, and you know that you would like to get to stage (3), I would recommend you to immediately start with the computer. The you will need a Central Station 60212 or an Intellibox. The Märklin 6021 Control Unit in combination with the 6050 or 6051 Interface is an alternative, which I use. You will have to plan and test contact track locations etc. in parallel, and for this you need the computer. The software packages have slightly different requirements of contact tracks. Once the tracks are fixed on the layout, changing the contact tracks of course derives more work. I really enjoy the possibility to work with the scenery one day, and with layout control software the other day.

I started immediately using software. Actually, I don't even know how to operate the Märklin Control Unit! What is the difference between the old 6050 and the newer 6051 interface? The 6050 did not include the cable between the interface and the PC.