Late yesterday afternoon I needed to move a train off of a siding where I wanted to do some scenery work. I powered up the layout and grabbed the controller for my NEC PH Pro-R system. It asked me which layout I wanted to run. Never seen that before. I cycled the power and it asked me to assign the cab. Never seen that before, either. I cycled the power again and was rewarded with a screen full of gibberish. No, no, no. Two 4-day weekends coming up and I wouldn't be able to so much as back a train up. No, no, no. I grabbed my yard cab, a Cab05, and tried to select a loco. No blinking red light. Nothing. The track had power, but I had no control. In a rising panic, I grabbed my manual. Nothing in the Trouble Shooting section. I called NCE. Disconnected number. It's now 4:45 PM Eastern. I raced upstairs and powered up my computer. Come on, come on, boot. www.ncedcc.com. Got the new phone number and called. 4:50 PM. "Our office hours are 9:00-4:00 Eastern. Merry Christmas." Right. This was an absolute disaster.
Outside, pacing, smoking a cigarette. Now what? Two 4-day weekends!. Looking up to the sky, "Thanks." What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Not feeling too strong right now. Wonder if I can get a cheap used DCC system on ebay to at least salvage one of the two 4-day weekends. No, that's too desperate, even for my current state of mind.
Back downstairs. I wonder... Cycle the power. Still gibberish. Disconnect the bus and plug the cab directly into booster/command station. Hey, it's showing 4516. That's correct. It's working. I can cycle through all of the locos and they all respond. I can't believe it.
I have two UTPs. One in the yard and one for main control. I reconnect the bus, disconnect the main UTP, and plug the cab into the yard UTP. It still works. So, it's either the bus cable or the UTP. Right now it doesn't matter... Two 4-day weekends. Looking up the sky, "Thanks. No really, thanks."
Already
Check the cab 05 for an improper address. I dont have a radio system but if one of the cab addresses is 08 than it will do that. Another thing that comes to mind is the chip in the comand station being loose. This was discussed on the NCE yahoo site a while ago.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
AlreadyInUseWonder if I can get a cheap used DCC system on ebay to at least salvage one of the two 4-day weekends. No, that's too desperate, even for my current state of mind.
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable...
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