Most annoying problem with DT-100....

[Jacktal]

I own an older Chief system at home which came with a DT-100 wired throttle.Although somewhat complicated to select operational features,the DT-100 does the job on my home layout.

My problem is when I use the same throttle on the club's layout,which is wireless by the way.Four times now,I have arrived first and started running some of my DC locos on adress 00 with my throttle,everything goes fine until another member comes in and starts operating his loco(s) with a DT-300R.What happens is that I completely lose control of my engine,it keeps doing what it was doing.Worse yet,I can't regain control as it seems that my Dt-100 gets completely phased out of the system.The dial says "PAGE" or "PHYS" and other things I don't understand yet,but by no way I can return to "SELECT" mode.When I ask,I'm told that they don't have a clue about what happened since they programmed their loco(s) as usual.Does someone have a hint...before I throw this throttle away?

[rrinker]

Sounds like a crossed wire in the Loconet cabling somewhere - perhaps in the socket this other member is plugging his DT300 into. There certainly is no reason why some people couldn't use DT100's while others use DT300's and stll others DT400's, and maybe a few UT1's thrown in as well. They all work and play together very well. The fact that your DT100 seems to be going into program mode means either a button is sticking or some wierd data is coming across the net, and since you say your DT100 work fine on your home layout, it's probably not a sticky button.
What about power? Does the UR91 have a power supply plugged into it? Doy ou have a battery in your DT10? It wouldn't be required on your home layout, and if adequate power is supplied to the throttle jacks on the club layout it wouldn't be required either, however, if there is insufficient power (and a UR91 MUST be powered with the transformer it comes with, it draws too much fromt he Loconet to be self-powered) you will also have erratic operations. A battery in your throttle would keep it from dropping off and would be an easy way to test this, btu it is not the solution, the solution is to properly supply power to handle the expected number of throttles in use.

--Randy

[Jacktal]

Thanks Rrinker,your answer makes a lot of sense to me as there are other problems occasionally showing up on this layout.I'm relatively new to the club and up to lately,I've had the "hands-off" request as there are other "knowledgeable" members who installed the system a while ago and are considered the only competent people to tweak with it.Strangely enough,nobody had realized that the DCS-200 was running with a weak battery until I decided to check why it was beeping like crazy when turning it on.

I have limited experience with DCC,only having installed mine at home,but I have documented a lot in the last four years so that I believe I pretty much understand it's workings.I will investigate about the UR-91,which I don't know anything about yet,and see if it is properly powered and set-up.

It may be a coincidence,but when this problem showed up,the other members had indeed used the same plugging jack.It would be logical that it could be faulty even if I doubt it because I have used it myself with my DT-100 on many occasions without any problem.

Another problem I'd like to find a cure to is interference from the HO layout in the next room when members of each layouts are running with identical adresses.This can be corrected by programming different adresses and listing them for decoder equipped locos,but it is still most annoying for many of us who do have DC locos and can't afford the extra cost for all their rosters.I will search Digitrax's documentation to see if there is some sort of fine tuning or else that can be done.Thanks for the info.

[Anonymous]

The interference problem sounds like radio frequency issues. You can change the frequency or channel for digitrax radio throttles and UR-91's and run complete layouts seperately even in the same room. I remember reading about stripping and tying together the red and green wires in the loconet cable to get around the problem of the loconet cable being wired in series or parallel(something like that) What it amounts to is telephone cable with the ends already crimped on iscommunication and true loconet cable is wired for data. Tying these wires together makes the connection a mirror image as only three wires are required to run the system. Confused? Me too but it may be worth a shot.

[rrinker]

I wouldn't shortchange my skill level, if I were you. Seeing as how you were able to install your DCC system at home and get it working properly, whie the so-called 'experts' at your club were not... Granted, there's a greater level of complexity in the larger layout, but that's what experts are for.. [:D]

This interference issue, does the club have two layouts that are wired together? Or is it as Tweet469 suggests, an issue with radio throttles on two otherwise unconnected layouts? If the latter, Tweet469 has the right idea, the radio ID (which is Digitrax speak for 'channel') can be changed so that the people operating trains on one layout would not be sending signals to the UR91 of the other layout. The downside is that you'd have to change your throttle to move between the layouts.
If the problem is because the two layouts are controlled by a common command station, then the only way to fix this is to break them part and give each layout its own command station.

--Randy

[Jacktal]

It is most possible that there isn't any real cure to the interference problem.Both layouts are fully isolated from eachother,as they both have their control systems.And since the handhelds are often borrowed by the other layout guys when they aren't in use,changing frequency is not a solution either.While the members have managed to not duplicate the loco ID's,which is fine with decoder equipped locos,I guess running DC locos will always be problematic.Unfortunately,there are still many non-decoder equipped locos on both the "N" and "HO" layouts,so the only solution would be if it would be possible to assign another adress than 00 to run DC on one of the layouts,which I doubt.This is beyond my knowledge of DCC.

I have read a lot on DCC and have a fair knowledge of it's basics.I'm not too great at programming the DT-100 though,as its instruction booklet is probably one of the most confusing piece of litterature I've ever seen.I'm an automotive electrician so DC is almost second nature to me.Troubleshooting electrical circuits is what I do for a living,but I must admit that the club's layout is much of a challenge.It's been created by bits and pieces by different people as time goes along,so that there's no consistent color coding to start with and many connections ressemble more a giant electrical octopus than organized wiring schemes.The whole thing is a mess that needs rebuilding according to some logical planning and it will be done,one section at a time.

[rrinker]

To make your life easier, you might consider aquiring a DT-400. Or an even better investment would be a Locobuffer 2 and connect your computer to your home system and use the free DecoderPro software to do programming. It sure is a lot easier than using the DT-100. The Locobuffer is a lot less exepsnive than the DT-400, and if you are comfortable running traisn witht he DT-100, then by all means continue using it.

--Randy