I thought I could live with this.
I have three of MTH's protosound 3.0 PAs, an ABA set. The first two (the a and b) were among the first DCC locos I acquired, and programming then has been a bit hairy. These particular models can't be programmed on a programming track, only on the main, which means no CV readback. Fair enough. MTH gives pretty good instructions on how to do it. Also fair enough. I muddled my way through it, got them set for 128 speed steps, reset the addresses, all that sort of rot. I also managed to get them advance consisted (a bit interesting) with a little swearing and a few factory resets.
Enter the second A unit. Got this one programmed much more quickly, but then discovered something bizarre when advance consisting it with the other two animals. The first A and B have lost all their momentum settings, and the decoders have completely locked; all the functions work, but they can't be reprogrammed at all. Even the CV55 reset isn't working!
This wouldn't bother me all that much if all three units were in a good place programming-wise, but they're not; they're fighting each other on the rails and badly need to be have their starting voltages tweaked (maybe speed tables too).
I may have locked the decoders myself through sheer dumbassery, but how do I undo that given that POM-only means no readback on CVs?
Help?
Streamlined steam, oh, what a dream!!
Are you resetting them as a group or individually? It's best to reset the decoders individually then start over MUing them together. Hopefully, this isn't one of those CVs that you need a Protosound system for.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
RastafarrI have three of MTH's protosound 3.0 PAs, an ABA set. The first two (the a and b) were among the first DCC locos I acquired, and programming then has been a bit hairy.
The first thing you need to understand is that MTH's DCS is most assuredly not DCC.
Having said that, I don't (and won't) own any DCS locos, so I can't shed any further light on your difficulties.
Which type of consist are you trying to do? Or more importantly, which DCC system are you using? I only have 2 MTH locos, an A and B, so I just set them both to the same address, no other changes required, and they run together just fine.
I don't think they've ever supported the decoder lock funtion on the Prot-sound decoders. Remember that the reset requires using address 44 as well as cv55 - make sure no other locos with address 55 are on the track. Also, if they are in advanced consist with CV19 set, it may not respond to the address 55 reset - try setting CV19 to 0 first. Depending on your system, if you cannot recall what address might be in CV19, you might be able to select address 00 and use ops mode to reset CV19. Makre sure EVERY other DCC loco is off the track - ops mode programming to address 00 is broadcast to EVERY decoder on the layout.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
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Advance consisting, digitrax zephyr, individual reseting, get every other loco the heck off the rails, got all that. I know all the CV values (I keep a separate card for each loco with programming values on it), but I did NOT know about the address 00 reset, but will give it a try.
Thanks muchly guys, i will keep you posted.
Stu
Nope, no dice. Tried resetting cv19 with address 00; nothing. Tried resetting cv19 with loco's address; also nothing. Tried once again to reset to factory defaults (loco 55, cv55, value 55) and got a double honk out of the engine (MTH's signal that the program change went through). Not a single thing actually changed, of course. Argh!!
I've sent MTH an email on this (and got a polite and useless robo-response in return). My gut tells me I'll soon be sending them a pair of NYC PAs as well...
I don't own any MTH, so I really can't help you.
But when were those locos manufactured? It appears from the following link (http://www.mthtrains.com/news/026) that MTH offered an upgrade to their DCS systems around mid-August 2011 which would have expanded DCC features to include advanced consisting.
So I suppose the question which could be asked is does the version of the DCS system installed in your locos support advanced consisting?
Yes, it does. The oldest of the locos was bought in May of this year (well after the update) and the manual covers advance consisting in quite a bit of detail. The advance consist has taken just fine, it just can't be undone or adjusted.
And thank you all again for the ideas and support!
Unless you changed some settings in you Zephyr, it is not using advnaced consisting and not changing any CVs. Didigtrax default consisting is command station controlled, no changes are made to any locos in a consist.
Consider an OpSw 39 reset on the Zephyr as the next step. This will reset it to factory defaults and clear out the memory, in case anything in there has gotten corrupted somehow.
Make sure you are attempting the rest correctly - select adress 55, go to Ops Mode, select CV55 and set the value to 55. Then tip the loco off the rails to remove power.
If this still fails, you can also use address 00 and use Ops Mode to set CV29 to 6, this should reset the active loco address to 3. Broadcasting Ops Mode programming to address 00 is definitely something Digitrax can do.
Thanks for all that, Randy. I tried each of the steps you suggested and got precisely zilch out of the first of the fubarred locos. I do believe it's time these creatures were crated up and carted back to the LHS they came from. I just wish it wasn't a two hour drive away...
Randy, you're a good helpful fella and I very much appreciate your advice. And to all the rest as well, thanks!