Last night i was going to install a decoder and i thought i would test it first.
it is a soundtrax heavy steam decoder with sound. got it and the loco together. Had not been installed and only the power wires were striped for electrical contact. I have a digitrax dcs 100 with a dt400 throttle and a loyds toys tester.
i have never used the tester before and am new to DCC. so i stripped all the wires attached to the appropriate tester posts and proceeded to hook to the track power. turn power on and the light comes on on the tester and the light comes on on the decoder(the correct light, i know there are two). i program throttle to 03 and try, nothing. none of the tester light will come on. i thought maybe they programed it with a different address before i got it. . tried to program and after i enter the 4 digit address it says "noprg". I was sure that was not going to work because i have not gotten the programing track booster which i think i need to program a decoder like this.
how do i find out if the address is something different? just want to install, can program down the road.
what would be the best all around programing track booster?
i don't know if it make a deference but i was thinking getting digitrax sound decoders for the price
i have about 40 to do over time.
I'm not sure a decoder will program without a load on the motor side. Did you try the light outputs? Address 3 should work as default.
Springfield PA
You could try Ops Mode programming and address 00 and input the CV values you need that way. It should work. Otherwise, a resistor across the rails might help with the Tsunami. Boosters, I'll have to step aside because I have no experience with them.
-Crandell
HamltnblueI'm not sure a decoder will program without a load on the motor side. Did you try the light outputs? Address 3 should work as default.
i will check the lights tonight. Just does not seem to be responding to 03.
If your testing the decoder out of the loco you have to have a motor or a 12 volt bulb hooked to the motor leads .If not it wont do anything .When you program the loco accepts the CV change and moves .In order to do that you need a draw on it . I have put decoders in cabooses for lighting effects .I solder a 12 volt light between the motor leeds so I can program what i want for lighting.I also have a decoder tester and it has a bulb in place of a motor. Try that . It should work. MartyG
I have an NCE decoder tester which has a light as a motor load and I can program decoders fine with it.
Jack W.
Last night i worked on it a little, i did find that there was a jumperplug on the tester. i was able to program the decoder to a new address. but when i try and test it it doe the same thing getting power to to decoder but no response on the tester. i put a quick plug and put it in a loco, same response power to the decoder but no response to the loco, no lights nothing. Am i missing something.
this is the first time i have done this.
loys toys tester
digitrax dcs100
dt400 throttle
can i reset the decoder to factory specs and start over?? does anyone know how? or is the decoder broken
When you programed with your tester did you hook it to a programing track or to mainline power. I have never used a booster to program a sound decoder . I think they are a waste of money .On a programing track you only get 12 volts of power and some sound decoders want more . I program mine on the main where you get full power 15.5 on most systems. That is all a booster is going to do in increase power on your programing track.. So far NCE are the only ones who have increased power on the programing track and that is on the Power Cab system.Try hooking your decoder tester through the mainline power .If that dont do it odds are you might have a bum decoder. See if there is anything in the instructions that came with your decoder tester that might help. From the factory most are always set to 3 . How did the loco run before the decoder . Is the motor isolated . Sounds like your missing some little thing there . MartyG
MartyG When you programed with your tester did you hook it to a programing track or to mainline power. I have never used a booster to program a sound decoder . I think they are a waste of money .On a programing track you only get 12 volts of power and some sound decoders want more . I program mine on the main where you get full power 15.5 on most systems. That is all a booster is going to do in increase power on your programing track.. So far NCE are the only ones who have increased power on the programing track and that is on the Power Cab system.Try hooking your decoder tester through the mainline power .If that dont do it odds are you might have a bum decoder. See if there is anything in the instructions that came with your decoder tester that might help. From the factory most are always set to 3 . How did the loco run before the decoder . Is the motor isolated . Sounds like your missing some little thing there . MartyG
the loco ran great on DC, it is a dcc ready loco. i changed the plug on the tsunami to plug and play wire and pluged it in. It did the samething in the loco as with the tester. i am pretty sure that the decoder was not used when i got it. They said there were getting ready to install but never did. only the two track power wires had the insulation stripped of when i got it.
i thought maybe i could reset to factory specs and try again. i thought they might have some of the CV's changed and that is why it is not working.???????
Once again. Try putting a motor or a 12 volt bulb on the motor connections of the decoder. Some decoders need to see a load on the motor side for programming.