Thanks very much for all the useful information, can't wait to give it a shot also for the heads up on further avenues to check. Sharing of knowledge and ideas like this is part of the reason I'm still in this great hobby after more than 40 years of enjoyment.
Also, start simple - hook up a pair of wires from the Rail A and Rail B of the DB150 to a piece of flex track. Connect your pwoer supply to the input of the DB150. These should be the only 4 wires attached. Set the toggle labeled run/sleep/ops to Run. Set the scale switch to O/HO/N as appropriate. Plug the DT400R into one of the two Loconet jacks ont he DB150. Yes, short cord. Press Power then Y/+ and see if you get a solid dot in the upper right of the display, also the track power LED shoudl come on on the DB150. If you have a loco with a decoder, see if you can run it. If not, try selecting address 00 ont he throttle and watch the track power LED. As you increase the throttle you should see the LED get either more red or more green. Press the direction switch or double click the knob and if the LED was tending more greenish, it should go more red, and vice versa. Once you have this working you cna start adding the other components back in.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
You definitely need batteries to operate the throttles in radio or IR mode. Plugged in to the UP3 they can work without a battery, but will go blank when unplugged (the trains continue to roll).
The DT400R should be fine, but the older DT100's, if they've been in storage all this time, may have dried out o otherwise failed capacitors. The screen display you see doesn't sound like any normal display. Starting with the more modern DT400R, if it has a good battery in it, and you have your UR91 hooked up and powered - it NEEDS a power supply, you should have a PS12, the current replacement is the PS14 - when you unplugg it the display should switch to Ra:xx where xx is a two digit number, if you never configured the radio system it should be 00 or 01. After a second or two it shoudl go back to the loco display and you shoudl eb able to still control speed and direction. After a while with no twisting of the knob or pressing of any buttons, it shoudl drop to IdLe.
It's possible for the radio to be off, or int he case of the DT100's, if they are DT100IRs, the display shoudl change to IR:00 or IR:01 when you unplug them if they are pointed in the general direction of the UR91.
I also suggest you join the Digitrax group in Yahoo Groups, there is a lot of information available there. One very useful thign is a cheat sheet for the DT100, since those much odler throttles are more complicated to use than the newer DT400. You may want to restrict testing to the DT400 for now since selecting a loco is as simple as pressing the Loco button, then punching in the address, and pressing Enter. The DT100 is finicky, especilly when trying to select a 4 digit address. Programming on the DT400 is also much easier - no crazy Hex numbers.
My system is an Empire Builder with a DB150, I have a UR-91 panel and a UP-3. My throttles are one DT-400R and two DT-100s. Frankly I am pretty much in the dark regarding electonics (pardon the pun) and I don't know one wire from another. I managed to get a hold of the manuals and so far haven't been able to figure out the problem. I do know that on my last layout I didn't need batteries installed to run the layout. Now if battery power begins to drop the throttles go to idle as soon as you unplug them. I appreciate the interest and would really like any help I can get. Thanks
Yard goat ...the system only comes on when batteries are installed in one or all of my walkaround controllers...
...the system only comes on when batteries are installed in one or all of my walkaround controllers...
If the throttles only work with batteries installed, then it appears they are not getting power from Loconet. Do you have 4-wire instead of 6-wire cables between the command station and your "UP" panels? If so, you will either have to replace them with 6-wire cables or directly power the UP panels with a separate power supply.
What system do you have?
It would be helpful to have the model numbers of the command station and the various throttles that you have.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Thanks for the heads up regarding the manuals, I'll follow up on them but to be honest while my system ran great on my old layout I never really understood it and the fellow who installed it was always glad to trouble shoot and get me back on track when I inadvertently goofed up.
Well, if you have lost your manuals, they can now be downloaded. Here is the link for Digitrax. http://www.digitrax.com/
If you look up each product on the web site, you can download the manual for it. Baring that, you can go to the Tech Support Depot.
I have NCE so can't help with your specific problem.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Due to renovations I lost my layout of 35 years last summer. I am in the process of building a newer and smaller layout. My original Digitrax system was installed by a young fellow who has since moved. I had great success with the system and couldn't wait to re-install it. Having done so on my own I am facing two problems, one the system only comes on when batteries are installed in one or all of my walkaround controllers. Secondly one of my remote controllers constantly flashes what appears to be a "6" and an upside down "F" on the right while giving frequent 2 beep signals. Despite this the systems works fine with the other controllers. I would appreciate any advice on this. Thanks.