I am setting (back) up a DigiTrax Chief layout from about 9 years ago.
I have some old decoders in the locomotives, and a couple of them only support 28 step speed mode. However, the value for the start voltage in CV2 is acting bizarre.
No matter what I set it to, the locomotive does not start on throttle values of 3, 6, or 9. Once the throttle hits 12, the locomotive takes off. The higher I set CV2, the faster the locomotive takes off once the throttle hits 12.
I've made sure the decoder is not set to a custom speed table. I set CV29 to a value of 6 and 2, with no difference in the locomotives performance.
I'm sure I'm making a basic beginner's mistake, but I can't seem to figure out what it is.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
An older Lenz P2K-SW9.
What is the status of the decpder address? See your Digitrax manual for explanation of staus codes and status editing.
Trainside...the locomotive does not start on throttle values of 3, 6, or 9. Once the throttle hits 12, the locomotive takes off...
Have you tried a full reset of the decoder?
It sounds to me like the controller is running in 28-step mode and the decoder is set to a higher number.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
i had a lenz decoder from a few years back, it came factory fitted in an atlas N gauge SD70, it wouldn't move on speed step 1 in 128 step mode, in speed step 2 it did what you describe. i think older lenz decoders just don't recognise the digitrax DCC signal as you expect. i bought the digitrax drop in decoder and swapped them over and it worked on step 1 as expected. it could be a case of a software upgrade in the DCS100 may sort things? failing that loose the lenz chips and use digitrax chips.
The old Lenz decoder I have does not support anything higher than 28 step speed mode.
I'm starting to suspect that the weirdness is inherent in this decoder.
TrainsideI'm starting to suspect that the weirdness is inherent in this decoder.
It's not the decoder, as I said before, it's just in the way the Digitrax throttle handles 28 speed steps. I tried running Digitrax, TCS, Lenz, and MRC decoders in 28 speed step mode and with everyone one of them there was no movement until I reached 12 on the throttle.
My apologies, what I meant to say and what I typed were two different things entirely.
I meant: I'm starting to suspect that the weirdness is inherent in how the Digitrax unit talks to this 28-step decoder (based on what you have seen previously coupled with what I am experiencing).
Thanks for the insight -- it was really starting to frustrate me. Perhaps I should look into replacing these decoders. There are only two of them.
Which throttle do you have? When you select those locos, does the throttle show 128 or 28? I suspect the problem is that the throttle is set to 128 speed steps and trying to drive a decoder that only supports 28. If you had them working previously when you stored away your equipment, I'll bet the battery oin the DCS100 is dead - after as long in storage as you mention, it almost curely is. That means any saved settings have been reset to default - check the manual for instructions on "Status Editing". Those settings are normally retained but if the battery has dies, they will be lost as soon as you power off the command station.
Also keep in mind the numbers on the throttle are NOT speed steps, they go 0-100 as a PERCENTAGE of the total, so it goes up 3-4 percent for each click of the knob in 28SS mode, in 128 SS mode there are points where you turn the knob a click higher and the number in the display does not change.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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