Hi all,
I have an N scale Kato SD90/43 MAC i want to fit ditch lights to after seeing this video on the net (episode 10)
http://realityreduced.blip.tv/#1621174
The decoder fitted is a Digitrax DN163K2,
could any of you tell me where each ditch light wire goes at the back of the board and the CV'S ineed to set and to what values to have the ditch lights on when i come up to the crossing to stay on for a predetermined time and off in reverse or on solid when running on other parts of the track, also which buttons do i use on the control for these functions, using an NCE Procab .
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks Nick.
DO you have the instruction sheet is came with? They are clearly marked: http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/DN163K2Instr1207.pdf
You want to connect one ditch light to the top left pad (F2) and the other to the pad just to the right of it (F1). Common side of the lamps goes to the pad marked common on the right side. Usually it's the left ditch light on F2 and the right light on F1, but you can program to handle either way if you are picky about which one starts blinking first.
Set CV51 to 106, CV 52 to 107. Try CV62 at 196 and adjust for best flash effect. CV63 is the holdover time - how long they keep flashing after you stop the flashing. A value of 64 will give about 5 seconds. With these settings your ditch lights will be on solid when the loco is moving forward and the headlight is on, and they will alternately flash when you turn on F2 (pressing 2 will lock them in flash, pressing the horn button will make them flash as long as you hold the button down plus the holdover time).
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Nick,
If you don't have it already, download the DN163K2 manual off the Digitrax web site. I believe that should tell you everything you need for setting up your ditch lighting. If not, here's a couple of additional links from the Digitrax site for the following:
DN163K2 Instructions (Listed under the Supporting Documentation heading near the bottom of the page)
Setting up Ditch Lights (Listed under the Decoder Programming Notes heading about 1/3 the way down the page)
Each is in .pdf format so that you can download them and view or print them out from your computer.
Nick, your NCE Pro Cab or Power Cab manual should fill in the rest of what you need to do to set your ditch lighting.
Hope that helps...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Hi Randy/Tom
Great i'll try it tonight and let you know how i go on
Got the SD90 all sorted now with the lights and CV settings .... though the lights only slightly flash can i adjust the settings to allow a bit more distinct flash without upsetting the other settings.
What kind of bulbs are you using for your ditch lights? Incandescents or LEDs?
It's been a while but I believe it's change one or more of the CVs in the"50s" range. The Setting up Ditch Lights manual download that I listed above should walk you through it.
Try adjusting that CV62 value for the flash effect - the higher numbers were for bulbs, they recommend low values like 3-5 for LEDs. Try somewhere around 128 instead of the 196. This number is sort of liek how much power gets to the bulb when it is supposed to be 'off'. You don't want 0 because the persistence of the tiny bulbs is far less than real ditch lights so it will look more like a car blinker then ditch lights flashing, but the default 106 recommendation might be too high for the bulbs you have so they only dim rather than blink off.