MRC Prodigy Express Help

[Reformed Grownup]

Hello all.

 

I am on the verge of taking the DCC plunge, and i'm seriously considering the MRC Prodigy Express. Any of you that have experience with this product - is it able to control turnouts on its own, or would I need to add the Advance cab in order to access this feature.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Richard

[Anonymous]

The on line manual:

http://www.modelrectifier.com/resources/trainsound/0001408.pdf

I have the Advance and really like it.

The Express will not do routes though (only individual accessory decoders - i.e., one turnout at a time).  The "major" downfall of the Express is that it does not read CV values.  I consider the ability to read CV's as an extremely important function.  My advice is get the Advance and be happy with all of the needed features.

 

[loathar]

You need what's called a stationary decoder to operate your turnouts. Here's a few different types. Some new ones can operate up to 8 turnouts.
http://dcchobbysupply.com/zcart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5

AlanB-That's interesting about the CV's. I thought even the Express could read CV's. I guess it's not much more of a step up from the Bach EZ command.

[Reformed Grownup]

Please excuse my ignorance, but what does it mean do "read CV values" What does this mean in terms of my ability to control the locos? Thanks again for your insight (everybody).

[locoworks]

reading CV's. if you are programming parameters into a loco decoder, and you want to say decrease the rate of acceleration in CV3, if the loco already as a value in that CV you won't know what value to enter to adjust the acceleration the way you want. by reading the CV BEFORE you adjust it, you know whether the number you put in is actually adjusting things the right way without lots of trial and error, and you can set it back to as was by noying down the original value. not all decoders come with CV's set to 0 except for address on 3.

[loathar]

This should confuse you even more about CV's!

http://www.capitolcityntrak.org/cv_definitions.htm

 

[47gotcha]

  This hobby is getting way to complicated.  When I play with my trains, I just want to veg, but now, I need a PHD to run my trains!

[CNCharlie]

 

   I purchased Prodigy Express this year and I am very satisfied with it. It all depends on your objectives for the system. I have a small layout and wanted an easy system to programme and certainly Express is that. I also wanted walk-around control with a large display. I am not interested in computer interfaces nor do I really care if it can read a CV or not. The 5 decoders I have installed all have the default values listed so all you have to do is keep a record of what you enter on a piece of paper. A small inconvenience to me.

While it is only a 1.6 amp system you can get it up-graded by MRC for $25 to 2.5 amps. I sent mine in and had it back in 2 weeks but in fact it was up-graded to 3.5 amps. So for a total cost of $140 I have a 3.5 amp system that will do all I need. Just check the MRC site for information on this. I did the up-grade as I converted from DC so that I could have sound. With 1.6 amps it doesn't take much to trigger a momentary short as explained by MRC and the extra power corrected that problem.

[dadret]

I'd spend the money (and I did) and get the Prodigy Advance  or the new wireless version.  You will still need seperate stationary decoders for the turnouts but the Express is limited in what it can do.  Personally, I question the value of controlling the turnouts with your DCC system - lot of expense.

[locoworks]

Decoder Pro is your friend.

I have been programming for a decade without the use of CV read-back and I have had narry a problem.  To call this issue "major" is a bit an overstatement.

If you are in the market for the Express as your pricepoint, then you need to consider the Zephyr.

David B

 

decoder pro is all well and good if you have a suitable PC or laptop to use it with. i lashed out on a locobuffer USB and it just won't work with my sony vaio which was a $2K laptop. although i do like the idea of incorporating a PC into running my trains. it should not be a necessary item for reading back CV's if you have a DCC system. but i agree totally with your Zephyr suggestion.

[wjstix]

  This hobby is getting way to complicated.  When I play with my trains, I just want to veg, but now, I need a PHD to run my trains!

Not really. It depends on what you want to do. You can just install a decoder (or buy an engine with one already installed), put it on the programming track, and change it's ID No. to match the engine number. Then put it on the layout and run it !!

However, DCC allows you to do a lot of other things that make running trains more fun and more realistic. For example, you can "speed match" your engines so when running a long train with 3-4 engines, they all start together, run at the same speed, and all stop together.  You can do this by adjusting their CV's for starting, middle, and top speed.

You can set a CV to determine which end of a diesel is the front. Maybe your railroad ran their engines long hood forward, you can adjust a CV so when you tell the engine to go forward, it knows the long hood is the "forward" end. Or if you have two engines you always run back-to-back, you can adjust one to run the same direction as the front one...otherwise, when you tell them to go "forward" they'll go in opposite directions !!

However, if you can't read back CV's, you aren't going to know what you're adjusting, you'll just have to put in a number between 1 and 255 and see what happens...and be sure you wrote it down, or you might forget what you put in!!

[loathar]

Does anyone think something like Decoder Pro makes sense if your only going to have 10-15 locos and only speed match 2 pair? If I'm looking at this right, DP stores your locos CV settings in a computer program so you can recall and reload them if your decoder loses it's settings.(right?) Does it do something more than that? How often do decoders lose their settings?
I can see where it would be useful if you had a big fleet.

[locoworks]

it could be used as a back up, but it is generally an easy to read a screen of your CV's with definitions rather than CV numbers. it makes 'seeing' what the settings are easy at a glance rather than select CV, read, adjust, check setting, next CV. and it also does away with hexadecimal if your system display uses it.

[wjstix]

Does anyone think something like Decoder Pro makes sense if your only going to have 10-15 locos and only speed match 2 pair? If I'm looking at this right, DP stores your locos CV settings in a computer program so you can recall and reload them if your decoder loses it's settings.(right?) Does it do something more than that? How often do decoders lose their settings?
I can see where it would be useful if you had a big fleet.

Although things are better now than they were, some decoder companies still make it a little hard to work out what number to put in each CV - especially when it gets into that hexidecimal baloney. But generally now it isn't that hard, but sometimes even with easy ones (like TCS) you still need to do a little addition. Decoder Pro skips a lot of this, it basically does the math for you.

(BTW TCS decoders have a little booklet where you write in the CV values as you program them, so if you do have to reprogram your decoder, you just have to re-enter the numbers you wrote down.)

Keep in mind speedmatching is a hit-and-miss proposition. If one engine runs faster than the other, you reduce it's top speed and mid-speed CV's by say 10, then put them on the track and try them again. Still too fast?? Reduce the CV's another 10 and try again. Depending on how exact you want the match, you may need to change CV's 10 times before it's right...and then you can start programming the start and stop momentum CV's so both engines start up and then glide to a stop in perfect unison.

I prefer to have my programming track be a section on my mainline controlled by a DPDT switch so I can run the engines around the layout, then reprogram the one without having to remove it, and try it again. I don't know if I'd want to have to run upstairs to my computer every time I wanted to change a CV.

I guess with Decoder Pro I would try doing a decoder first and see how it goes, if it doesn't seem hard to you try another. Might turn out you're OK without it, but if not, you can always get it. (That sounds like a "Yogi-ism" somehow....)

[Reformed Grownup]

 

Thanks to all of you for your input. For the smallish layout my dad and I are putting together I think the PE will handle it. I snared one on eBay for $85 (this made the decision easier).

While it is only a 1.6 amp system you can get it up-graded by MRC for $25 to 2.5 amps. I sent mine in and had it back in 2 weeks but in fact it was up-graded to 3.5 amps. So for a total cost of $140 I have a 3.5 amp system that will do all I need. Just check the MRC site for information on this.

I am intrigued by the idea of upgrading to 2.5A(or 3.5), but I don't see any mention of this on the MRC site. Could you (CNCharlie) or someone else point me in the appropriate direction?

 

Thanks an awful lot for the access to everyone's know-how!

[CNCharlie]

 For info on the up-grade, go to the MRC site and under DCC Prodigy, scroll down to just below the info on the Express. There you will see " Click here to download Prodigy Tips and Tricks". It is on Page 14.

 I did the up-grade in September and was quoted $25 at that time.

[radar]

I have the PE ,also have a expansion plate with a advance handheld controller the handheld unit is the brains of the MRC units the only thing i cant use is the clock function. there is a forum on yahoo dedicated to MRC its in yahoos user groups its free and one of the service techs from MRC is also a moderator. but to get the upgrade I think you just call for current prices.

[NeO6874]

Decoder Pro is your friend.

I have been programming for a decade without the use of CV read-back and I have had narry a problem.  To call this issue "major" is a bit an overstatement.

If you are in the market for the Express as your pricepoint, then you need to consider the Zephyr.

David B

 

decoder pro is all well and good if you have a suitable PC or laptop to use it with. i lashed out on a locobuffer USB and it just won't work with my sony vaio which was a $2K laptop. although i do like the idea of incorporating a PC into running my trains. it should not be a necessary item for reading back CV's if you have a DCC system. but i agree totally with your Zephyr suggestion.

 

OK, here's the deal with that-- Sony, Dell, and others (pretty much everyone actually) reduces the USB output voltage to extend battery life.  It messes up anything and everything that uses the USB bus for power.

Two solutions -- 

1. Buy a POWERED USB hub (<$20 from online vendors usually)
2. Use a desktop or an older laptop from a garage sale or something.  You need something that can run Java, and thats about it.

Hope this helps.