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Atlas "DC & DCC" option in CV29?

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  • Member since
    November 2007
  • From: Columbus, OH
  • 122 posts
Atlas "DC & DCC" option in CV29?
Posted by NSColsMP6 on Friday, August 14, 2009 12:38 AM

Before I could run my Atlas DCC locomotive, I first had to change a jumper to switch from DC to DCC. Then I was reading the manual and saw that CV29's Bit 2 is set to 1 by default (page 5 of the manual). 

This would seem to imply that if I placed the engine on a DC layout, it would run without replacing the jumper to it's original position.

Is this the case, and if so, why not just ship them with the DCC jumper in DCC mode if it can accept either DC or DCC inputs by default with this setting?

- Mark (NS Columbus, MP 6)
  • Member since
    February 2006
  • From: Gahanna, Ohio
  • 1,987 posts
Posted by jbinkley60 on Friday, August 14, 2009 3:55 AM

NSColsMP6

Before I could run my Atlas DCC locomotive, I first had to change a jumper to switch from DC to DCC. Then I was reading the manual and saw that CV29's Bit 2 is set to 1 by default (page 5 of the manual). 

This would seem to imply that if I placed the engine on a DC layout, it would run without replacing the jumper to it's original position.

Is this the case, and if so, why not just ship them with the DCC jumper in DCC mode if it can accept either DC or DCC inputs by default with this setting?

I think manufacturers may have changed their default settings over time.  It's been awhile since I've opened the box on an Atlas dual mode decoder.  Most other manufacturers don't have both a jumper and a CV setting to set analog/DCC mode.  I also thought that CV29=6 was a pretty common default setting.  If you use Digitrax or other similar decoders, there are no jumpers.  Just the CV29 setting for the mode.

 

Engineer Jeff NS Nut
Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/

  • Member since
    February 2007
  • From: Christiana, TN
  • 2,134 posts
Posted by CSX Robert on Friday, August 14, 2009 8:58 AM
NSColsMP6
Is this the case, and if so, why not just ship them with the DCC jumper in DCC mode if it can accept either DC or DCC inputs by default with this setting?
The answer lies in the second sentence of the manual:
For the first time, modelers are able to run a decoder-equipped locomotive on a standard DC powered (analog) layout, without experiencing the typical speed differential.
An engine being powered by a decoder that is running on a DC layout will have a higher starting voltage than a non-decoder equpped loco. By having the jumper that bypasses the decoder, the loco will run just like a non-decoder equppped loco.

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