Page 8 OPERATING MANUAL COMMAND STATION MX10
Details on connections of “old” and “new” ZIMO cabs as well
as control units of other manufacturers
Various input devices can be connected to the ZIMO system with an MX10 command station for oper-
ating and configuring vehicles and accessories:
- ZIMO CAN bus:
All generation ZIMO cabs such as the MX2, MX21, MX31, MX32, ZIMO radio modules MXFU (to
connect with the “old” radio cabs MX21FU and MX31FU). Only the current generation MX32 cabs
can take full advantage of all MX10 functions.
The Roco central station Z21 can also be connected to the ZIMO CAN bus to take advantage of the
Roco mobile phone and tablet apps.
- “Mi-Wi”, the MX10’s integrated radio module:
The new generation ZIMO MX32FU radio cabs also contain a radio processor and can communicate
with the MX10.
- XNET:
The “red” Roco Lokmaus, Massoth DiMAX Navigator and other compatible devices.
The use of other products will be tested only as needed.
- WLAN (i.e. a router connected to the LAN socket of the MX10):
Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones and tablet PC’s (and of course other mobile Wi-Fi devices).
- Other bus systems such as Loconet and S88:
the hardware of these interfaces is installed but not functional with the initial MX10 firmware. Any fu-
ture implementation depends on demand.
- USB Client interface:
Virtual (computer) cabs within switch panels and decoder configuration programs such as STP,
ESTWGJ, Train Controller, ADaPT etc.
- Sniffer input:
track outputs of a third-party system can be connected here to reproduce their data at the MX10
outputs.
The ZIMO CAN bus:
The MX10 has two 8-pin connectors for the CAN bus, one on the front and one on the back of the de-
vice. The six middle pins of these two connectors form the so-called ZIMO CAN bus and are com-
pletely identical. Since these are connected together internally, all devices connected to these CAN
sockets with 6-pin CAN bus cables are connected in parallel. It does not matter which of these sock-
ets the cabs, MX8 accessory modules, MX9 track section modules or other devices are connected to.
The distinction between these two sockets simply refers to the two outer pins:
The socket on the back is equipped with additional lines for the control-signal synchronization of StEin
modules and the front socket is used, together with an 8-pin CAN cable, as a “Sniffer input”.
Each cab (MX32, MX31, MX2, MX21...) also has two identical 6-pin sockets, which allow the power
and data lines to be looped from cab to cab. A 6-conductor bus wire can be installed alternatively with
6-pin distributors and sockets, so more cabs can be connected as needed.
The “CAN2“ – Bus:
The “XNET” socket also contains the connections for “CAN2”, a second CAN bus, in addition to the
XNET itself. This is needed when the new system devices (MX10-MX32) are used together with the
“old” MX31 cabs and/or accessory and track section modules MX8 and MX9.
The following wiring must be observed when “old” cabs such as the MX31, MX21, MX2 or radio mod-
ules MXFU are used together with the new MX32 or MX32FU cabs:
- the “old” devices (MX31…) are connected with a “normal” CAN bus cable to either the front or the
rear ZIMO CAN bus socket.
- the “new” devices (MX32, MX32FU) must be connected to the front XNET socket (!) with the spe-
cial cable “8POLAxM” (8-pin plug on the MX10 end and 6-pin plug on the cab end). This special
cable connects the “CAN2” (=second CAN bus) XNET socket pins with the CAN pins of the cab.
Because a more extensive and faster protocol is used
between the command station MX10 and the
MX32/MX32FU (which the older devices do not under-
stand), both CAN buses are needed simultaneously.
As soon as a device operating in the old CAN protocol
is connected to the system bus, the MX10 automatical-
ly switches over to the so-called “MX1 mode”. This
mode is restricted to no RailCom, 12 functions etc…
In order to retain all the new
functions of the MX32, it is
necessary to connect it to
the ZIMO CAN2 (XNET)
socket. There are no
restrictions in wireless
operation.
The same type of wiring is to be used when connecting MX8 and/or MX9 modules. These modules
are connected like the older cabs (MX31…) to the “normal” ZIMO CAN bus socket, while the MX32 is
connected to the XNET socket as described above.
Radio communication via “Mi-Wi“:
The MX10 and the ZIMO radio cabs MX32FU are equipped with a “Mi-Wi” radio module from Micro-
chip (who also provides the “PIC” microcontroller).
The "Mi-Wi" protocol is based on the "ZigBee" standard in the 2.4 GHz band, but offers higher effi-
ciency and lower resource consumption. Compared to Bluetooth, "Mi-Wi" (as well as ZigBee) provides
a greater range of up to several 100 m and unlike W-LAN (Wi-Fi) offers an integrated network capabil-
ity, as well as a higher data transfer when compared to the 344 MHz technology (of the "old" ZIMO
cabs), and is approved worldwide.
Potential disadvantages of the 2.4 GHz technology with respect to the penetration ability inside of
buildings compared to 344 MHz can be offset if necessary by the network capability on the one hand,
or by using 900 MHz - "Mi-Wi' modules on the other hand (instead of 2.4 GHz).
