Daley Train Log
Page 41
Some days I put a lot of effort into an activity, and at the end of the day I have a good feeling about it, even though I may have almost nothing to show for it. Today for example.
Sometimes I am like a dog worrying a bone. I just can't let go. So it was with my problem programming the Digitrax DS64 stationary decoder. There were two main aspects to the problem. One was that the sequence of events when I was programming the module did not totally match the description in the manual. Second was the fact that when I was finished the wrong turnouts would move in response to my commands. Obviously the two aspects are related.
I asked a couple of members of the Southern Alberta Model railway Club about my problem but they were unable to offer any suggestions.
This morning I decided to try the Web Forums on model train activities. I began by trying a Yahoo Group called mrc-dcc ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRC-DCC/ ) which is dedicated to discussion about the MRC Prodigy DCC controllers. I posted a quick message asking if anyone had tried to use a Digitrax DS64 with this system and received a quick reply asking if I had use the ID button (I had.) This was encouraging as it seemed to imply that the two systems did work together.
I also posted similar messages to The Gauge as well as The Gauge ( http://www.zealot.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=254 ) and I have just joined a forum at Tony's Train Exchange ( http://tonystrains.com/forum/index.php ) and posted a message there as well.
I have also set up three bookmarks for these three discussion forums so I can monitor the replies. A good beginning.
I then decided to go back to the basement and see if I could see any pattern or if I could try something and see what happened. I began by trying to program the DS64 using the four addresses 604, 601, 603 & 613 for the four mainline turnouts in the Jasper District. This did not work but it seemed that all four addresses defaulted to the first turnout. Weird.
After a few more similarly abortive attempts I decided to see if I could get the decoder back to the way it was at the start. I tried using the numbers 1, 2, 3 & 4 as my addresses. This worked perfectly on both accounts. The process matched perfectly the description in the manual and the four turnouts each moved as I expected. Interesting. Why did this work yet when I used the numbers 604, 601, 603 & 613 nothing worked? The Digitrax manual said that one could use any numbers between 01 and 2048.
I tried the process again, using 1, 2, 3 & 4. It worked again. But this time I noticed that the number I used also appeared on the Cab display below the information on the status of the turnout. When I tried using the 600's it didn't work, and instead of the number 604 etc. on the bottom of the screen the number 255 appeared. This was a clue. The decoder was changing all of my 600's number to 255, and it was assigning this number to turnout #1. Back to the MRC manual. Here is the key sentence: "Using 0 - 9, enter an accessory address (1 to 255)". BINGO! By pure bad luck , and not noticing this sentence, I had picked numbers that were too large for the MRC cab controller, even though they were acceptable to the DS64. Problem solved.
Now there are two alternatives.
One is to see if I can change this upper limit on the MRC cab controller using something called a configuration variable. I have never used these, but have seen many references to them in the manuals. I have sent an email to MRC to see if this is a possibility, and if it is, what are the appropriate next steps.
The second alternative is to change my numbering system for keeping track of my turnouts so that all of the numbers are less than 255. This will not be difficult, but I will wait a couple of days and see if I get a reply from MRC, or from any of the three forums that I contacted.
The bottom line is that I am back on top of the situation. And I am learning more about the characteristics of the MRC system.
I have added a few model train photos on the September 07 web page.