Correction, I have 4 locos that got deprogramed. Two of them are Kato A and B units and the other two are Atlas GP-40. All 4 of these ran very good before I connected the PTB-100.Litchfield Station is giving me credit and I'm buying the NCE Power Pro system.Time to upgrade anyway.
Couple of questions first.
Are these Atlas engines that do not run? If not, what make engines and decoders?
Do you have control of the lights on any of them?
Answer the above and we can go from there.
Martin Myers
OK before you panic take a deep breath and let's go back a few steps....
You have two engines with DCC & Sound that run fine, and two with DCC that don't, right?? So it's unlikely (though not impossible) that the problem is in the DCC system you have. OK for two that have DCC, did you install the decoder yourself?? If so, you should have an instruction sheet that came with the decoder. If someone installed the decoder for you, or if it came factory installed, you can still get the instructions online at the decoder company's website.
If you're not sure what brand decoder is in it, open it up and take a look. It should have writing on it identifying it.
Not every decoder can be "locked", it's something having to do with the decoder, not your operating system. It's a no. you enter into a CV per the instructions. It's unlikely you did this accidently, but it's possible.
Similarly, most all decoders have a "factory reset" option. You put a particular number into a CV and it resets all the numbers back to the way they came from the factory (including the ID no. back to 0003).
If you can put one of the two engines that work on the programming track and it recognized them, then it's not the programming track or your DCC system.
Why don't you just contact MRC and ask about having it repaired or replaced under warranty.
Yes,Programing is the only problem I'm having.Can anyone tell me the best and most inwexpensive DCC unit I should invest in? Wouldn't hurt to try it.
There could be something wrong with the programming features of it even if it does run other locos. Isn't programming the only thing you're having trouble with?
How can anything be wrong with the Prodigy when it controls the other two locos just fine.
I'm beginning to suspect that something is wrong with your MRC Prodigy Express and not the locomotives or decoders.
I made a totally new program track all by itself last night and still are having no luck.
I think I'm going send these locos back to the Hobby Shop that installed them and see if they can get them to do something.The new program track isn't even near the layout. It is just a program track.I've tried to change the settings to 3 but nothing still.They worked fine untill I hooked up the PTB-100 and got the blinking red light and they went dead.
If you're talking about the PTB-100 having a flashing red light, that means that your programming track is shorted out.
Are you absolutely sure your programming track is totally insulated from the rest of your layout as you're trying to program? If not, your entire layout is trying to be the programming track and there's an electrical short somewhere in your wiring..
I have the manual for the MRC Prodigy Express and have gone thru it over and over.
I have trtied to clear the programs of the ones that won't work.I have tried all of the above. It all started when I bought the PTB-100.I went thru those instructions too time and time again.
I always got a flashing red light. Is it a possibility that I short circuited the module the the
wires to the program track go into?Can a guy by that separate somewhere?Can I test it somehow?
It's www.modelrec.com. Just Google MRC to find it.
Joe
Does anyone know what MRC's website is?
cacole I don't have an MRC DCC system, but with my NCE ProCab Radio throttles I never enter leading zeros before a decoder address. The way you have listed the address as 0003 makes it a long (4 digit) address instead of short 2 digit address. Try entering only one number, 3, as the number to program into the decoder. With an NCE system, if I were to enter an address as 0003 that would be a long address and I would have to change the value in CV 29 in order to get the locomotive to run.
I don't have an MRC DCC system, but with my NCE ProCab Radio throttles I never enter leading zeros before a decoder address. The way you have listed the address as 0003 makes it a long (4 digit) address instead of short 2 digit address. Try entering only one number, 3, as the number to program into the decoder.
With an NCE system, if I were to enter an address as 0003 that would be a long address and I would have to change the value in CV 29 in order to get the locomotive to run.
This is the problem. This came up in a different thread - MRC handles it the same way as NCE. If you reset a decoder and then key in 0003, it will NOT run because MRC and NCE treat 0003 as a 4-digit or long address, and a factory reset decoder has a 2-digit or short address of 3. Just key in 3, not all the zeros.
This applies to any address between 1 and 127, If you set a loco to an address like 2501, it's no issue, 2501 is always a long address. But if you set one to something like 50, it depends on how you keyed it in. If you programmed it to 0050, then you have to key on 0050. If you programmed it to 50, then you key in 50.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Froggy I have both MRC systems. to reset a decoder you need to know which kind of decoder you have with NCEs andTCSs write 2 to cv 30. with the express you can not read cvs you would need the advanced handheld
So I don't know if this will help, but it's worth a shot. I have MRC prodigy express, I now know why it was cheap, I couldn't get a decorder based loco to program no matter what I did. I asked for help here and got a suggestion that maybe it was previously part of a consist. I looked at the section on how to break up a consist and reset the decorder and that worked. Give it a try, the manual, if needed, can be found on MRC's website. Jason
The section about programing a loco, I've read over and over.
I see nothing in the manual about locking up or even how to unlock a decoder.
It does say most decoders are set from the factory at 0003 and I've programed to that and
nothing happens.This is when you wish you knew someone who lives around here who knows this stuff.I know of two clubs and they don't even want to run DCC.
One more thing is,Do you reset a decoder by programing it to
0003? It won't even do that. I even made a separate program track all by itself
and nothing happened either.Could I have fried the decodersa somehow?
How do you reset a decoder??????? I am new at this and any good information I don't know might make a world of difference How do ytou unlock it like your saying.These f
Well first, adding a booster or not has nothing to do with whether or not your engines are programmed.
froggy I am about ready to go under my layout and inspect every wire under there.
I am about ready to go under my layout and inspect every wire under there.
The only wiring that would matter would be the wiring to your programming track. If your track wasn't connected up to the DCC power, none of your engines would work.
froggy 4 DCC locos of which two are programed and the other two used to be and now they are not.
4 DCC locos of which two are programed and the other two used to be and now they are not.
Could you explain what you mean that two are "not programmed"? Do you mean, you can't read any CV's from them, or that they don't respond to their assigned ID numbers or ?? Have you tried doing a factory reset on them?? Also, some decoders have a "lock" option, you put a particular no. in a CV and it locks the CV's so you can't program the decoder until you undo the lock. Normally if you try to program it, your DCC system will tell you that it can't find the decoder, since it's programming signals are blocked.
That is not the case here. I have four DC locos and 4 DCC locos of which two are programed and the other two used to be and now they are not.I am about ready to go under my layout and inspect every wire under there.
froggy MRC Prodigy Express, N scale, plain locos without sound.One remote control. Big layout 5x9 ft.Can run or used to run 7 locos at once, four of the are DC and three are DCC.Once I got the Athearns with sound programed, somehow my other ones would not run and I've tried over and over to reprogram them to no avail.My program track is isolated and clean.I just can't figure it out.I have lots of feeder wires all over so I wondered if I need a booster.I just can't figure out why I can't program the other two locos I have.
MRC Prodigy Express, N scale, plain locos without sound.One remote control. Big layout 5x9 ft.Can run or used to run 7 locos at once, four of the are DC and three are DCC.Once I got the Athearns with sound programed, somehow my other ones would not run and I've tried over and over to reprogram them to no avail.My program track is isolated and clean.I just can't figure it out.I have lots of feeder wires all over so I wondered if I need a booster.I just can't figure out why I can't program the other two locos I have.
I'm confused. You said you have four DC engines and three DCC engines, at least two of which program correctly and the rest of your locos (plural) won't program.
It sounds from that description like you are trying to program DC engines. Is that the case?
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
In addition to cleaning the programming track you may have to disassemble the trucks to clean the contact points in them. Dust, pet hair and other grime build up there preventing a loco from running and will also hamper programming. I do that about twice a year as part of regular maintenance or when a loco starts to stall or is not responding on clean track.
I'd say to simplify. Lets just try to get one loco at a time running, with nothing else on the layout.
A motor connection shouldn't prevent a decoder from programming, but you won't be able to read CVs, or get any feedback as it programs.
Did you say you were running DC locos as well as DCC? What's your scheme there?
Jeff But it's a dry heat!
Has a wire come loose( to the program track)? What decoder is in the engine that won't program? With some N scale drop-in (board replacement) decoders, there can be issues with adequate contact with the motor terminals - maybe picking up the loco lifted the shell enough to break contact. Most decoders won't program if there is no motor connection.
You are very correct. That is what's happening and the locos without sound used to run and now I can't even for the life me program and put them on the main track and nothing happens.I've read the book a 100 times and they will not program. I am very upset.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com