NEW TO COMMAND CONTROL

[gottcent]

I am new to Command Control and decided to start simple with Lionel TMCC rather than Legacy. I purchased a CAB-1, a TPC 3000 unit, and a cable to connect the unit to a power supply. I have no Command Control engines at the moment and so am interested only in running in Conventional mode. My power supply is a Lionel LW transformer cranked up to its maximum output of 20 volts.

I've hooked up everything according to instructions but all that happens when I plug in the power supply is that the Track LED on the TPC blinks. I cannot program the CAB to work with the TPC or get any other operation to work. I'm sure I've overlooked something. Please tell me what that might be, and/or ask additional questions and I'll be glad to answer.

Thanks in advance for any help.

John

[dadurling]

I'm no expert, and in fact I use the CAB-1 with a powermaster instead of the TPC 3000. But did you follow all the setup steps from the manual? I think it says if the the LED continues to blink, you're not in conventional mode.

 Before you use the TPC unit in the conventional (non-Command) environment, you must set the TPC unit to conventional mode.

1. Press TR  or ENG  on the CAB-1 Remote Controller.

2. Enter the ID# of the TPC unit into the numeric keypad on the CAB-1 Remote Controller.

3. Press the M  button on the bottom of the CAB-1 Remote Controller.

The TRACK L.E.D. will turn OFF to indicate that the TPC is in conventional mode without power.

4. Press the SET  button on the CAB-1 Remote Controller.

The COMM L.E.D. will long blink to indicate that the TPC has been set.

[rtraincollector]

gottcent

I am new to Command Control and decided to start simple with Lionel TMCC rather than Legacy. I purchased a CAB-1, a TPC 3000 unit, and a cable to connect the unit to a power supply. I have no Command Control engines at the moment and so am interested only in running in Conventional mode. My power supply is a Lionel LW transformer cranked up to its maximum output of 20 volts.

I've hooked up everything according to instructions but all that happens when I plug in the power supply is that the Track LED on the TPC blinks. I cannot program the CAB to work with the TPC or get any other operation to work. I'm sure I've overlooked something. Please tell me what that might be, and/or ask additional questions and I'll be glad to answer.

Thanks in advance for any help.

John

Do you have a base unit. you don't mention it and you need a base unit to operate even the TPC-300 you also need a cable from the tpc to the base unit to receive commands from your cab one controller.  heres what you need to operate your conventional engine

Lionel 6-12911 command base unit

Lionel tmcc command base cable 6-14192

Lionel tmcc power adaptor cable 6-12893

TPC-300/400 or a powermaster to control your conventional engines ( I use the TPC-300 also)

you hook the base unit to your power supply ( I use my ZW) you then hook your base to the

here is a video from lionel kinda long ( I think about 25 minutes) but it will show you how to wire your tpc-300 correctly http://www.lionel.com/CustomerService/service-documents/video.cfm?documentID=6350 

 

[gottcent]

David Durling: I did all the things you mentioned and still get nothing but a blinking Track LED. Ironically, I had just read Roger Carp's story about you in the current CTT. On page 37, he mentions that you also run only in Conventional mode and that you use a Cab-1 and a PowerMaster with a 135-watt "brick." He doesn't mention a Command Base and so I assumed you only need that if you're running Command engines. Since my LW is rated 125 watts, I assumed my set up would be similar to yours.

The Second Responder (sorry, I didn't see your name on the post): As you'll see, I do not have a Command Base Unit. Do I need one even though I don't run Command engines?

Thanks to both of you for your tips.

John

[rtraincollector]

Yes heres a copy of the manual and if you look on page 7 you will see it shows a command base. http://www.lionel.com/CustomerService/service-documents/download.cfm?file=71-4189-250.pdf