Hi, just an odd thing that's come up. I have a Zephyr that I've been using with a UR90 and UR91 for infrared control with my UT-4. A while ago, I had the walkaround upgraded by Digitrax to a UT-4R. I added a UR91 recently and for a while the radio pickup was very good, but now it's virtually gone. With a sound engine, sometimes I can get it to start moving in one direction or another (but normally can't stop it), but can't get any function buttons to work for lights or sounds.
I tried a new battery (I normally use rechargeables) and that's not the problem. The UT-4R works fine when plugged in, but not when unplugged even 1' away from a panel.
I have sent an e-mail to Digitrax but I'm guessing they won't read it til Monday.
Anybody have any idea what's going on?? Unfortunately I don't have any model RR friends that I can borrow a walkaround unit from to test if it works on my system, or take my UT-4R to someone else's layout to test.
p.s. I bought the recently-added UR-91 off Ebay and it didn't have any instructions, so I might be missing something really obvious.
There is a green light on the front of the UR91 that blinks when it is receiving a command from the throttle when the throttle is being used in the radio mode. Also make sure the power supply is plugged in for the UR91 and that the six wire cable from your zephyr is plugged into the rear of the UR91 not the front. The only thing that digitrax may tell you is to send the UT4R back to them and hope it is still under warranty from the upgrade
Stix:
You can download the instructions from the Digtrax web site.
Joe
wjstixp.s. I bought the recently-added UR-91 off Ebay and it didn't have any instructions, so I might be missing something really obvious.
Did you get the correct power supply with that UR91? Either a PS12 or the newer PS14. Either will work. UR91 needs a separate power supply plugged into the coax jack on its side. Power alone from loconet might work occasionally but not reliably. This would especially be true if a UR90 is also connected. It draws power too.
Also set the loconet ID with your UR90 and UR91 connected to loconet and powered up. Their ID's must match. Same is true if another wireless receiver is connected in the future. Instructions are in the manual.
Martin Myers
Stix,
Make sure you have to following set up:
The UR91 is powered by a PS12 or PS14
Unless you have changed the ID of the UR91, it's default is good.
Make sure the two antenna wires are pointed up and form a 'V' shape
Batteries - I suspect your re-chargeable are the issue. A normal non-re-chargeable has 9 volts when new(6 cells times 1.5 volts). Normal 6 cell re-chargeable batteries have only 8.4 volts when fully charged(1.4 volts per cell). Digitrax wireless throttles will start losing communications at around 8 volts. - Thus your re-chargeable batteries are right in the edge even when new. Try a brand new non-rechargeable battery and test.
Our club had lots of problems with lost train control as folks would keep re-using the same old non-rechargeable battery over and over again. Some tried the re-chargeable route and found that they would not last the entire 3-4 hour operating session be for they lost control.
Our solution was to buy '7 cell' rechargeable batteries which gives a starting charge voltage of around 9.8 volts. It takes quite a while to get down to the 8 volt danger zone. In fact, they will run 2-3 evening sessions without a re-charge.
I purchased 10 of these batteries and a 10 position 'smart charger' from Thomas Distributing. I also purchased a 4 position charger for myself(and 4 batteries).:
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/search.asp?keyword=powerex
These batteries are rated at 9.6 volts and 230 ma capacity. They also have a 300 ma version, but it is a very tight fit in a Digitrax throttle. Here is the direct link to the 10 and 4 position smart chargers:
MH-C1090F - 10 position charger
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/-MAHA-MH-C1090F-9V-Battery-Charger_p_265.html
MH-C490F - 4 position charger
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/-Maha-Powerex-MH-C490F-DC-9-Volt-9V-Battery-Charger-4-Channel-Smart-Battery-Charger_p_866.html
MH-96V230 - Battery
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/-MAHA-POWEREX-96-Volt-230mAh-NiMH-Rechargeable-Battery_p_232.html
. You can also buy the batteries from your local Batteries Plus store, but they are about $4 more than through Thomas Distributing. The local Batteries Plus in my area does not sell the smart chargers. Do not use the small 'wall wart' chargers that your other 9 volt re-chargeable batteries came with. They will overcharge these batteries and they will be dead after about 3-4 charges. The 'smart chargers' take about 2 hours to charge the battery and then go to a standby/trickle charge mode. The 4 position charger is about $32, and the batteries are about $10 each.
Each member of our club who owned a radio throttle, was assigned one of the batteries, The batteries are labeled with the members name, and they are to be plugged into the charger at the end of an operation session. After about 2 months of operation, we have not had any out of control trains due to low battery power!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Ditto the above. Make sure the UR91 has a power supply. And that the power supply is working. They SOMETIMES can work if they are the ONLY Loconet device and the cable betwene it and the command station is fairly short, but that is NOT the recommended way to do things. Also do you still have the UR90 in the system? It could be dropping to IR and not radio when unplugging.
And the one thing that gets left out - try an OpSw39 reset on the Zephyr. It's entirely possible that something got slightly scrambled, so a reset is always a good idea when there is erratic operation. Even smartphones and tablets need a reboot now and then.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I had this problem with my DT400R earlier in the year. As it had been working fine for 5 years I found every other item in the system as it should be. I did the OpSw39 reset it did not correct the problem.
I called Digitrax about the throttle losing connection and the first thing the person asked me was if I had done OpSw39 reset. When I said yes and it had no effect then he said send the throttle back to them. I did so and it returned working. Then after a few weeks it started to go bad again. Back it went. This time though it has been working as it should for the last 5 months.
I also have two UT4R's.
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
Thanks for the replies. An odd twist to the story...I had been trying to get it to work with a Proto RDC-3 (I'm in HO by the way) and it wasn't working. Under the idea of "test every possibility" I tried the UT-4R with another engine, a Kato AC4400, and it worked great. Tried it again with the RDC, nothing.
I find it hard to believe that it would work with one engine and not another - especially since they both have identical Digitrax decoders in them, so I tried a Spectrum steam engine with a factory Tsunami. That one was somewhere in between. I could get it to move, but had a hard time getting it to stop. Function buttons don't work.
It seems everything is hooked up OK. Before getting the UT-4 upgraded to radio I used on infra-red with few problems, and once I added radio it worked fine for a while (and sometimes still does).
This is now sounding like the locos aren't being dispatched properly. Definitely try the OpSw39 reset (or just OpSw 36 to clear the memory) and see what happens.
rrinker This is now sounding like the locos aren't being dispatched properly. Definitely try the OpSw39 reset (or just OpSw 36 to clear the memory) and see what happens. --Randy
Just a quick follow-up. Doing OpSw 36 and OpSw 39 seems to have fixed the problem. An odd situation that's come up now is that (at least according to the flashing red and green LEDs) my radio-equipped UR-91 is only picking up infra-red signals...and the non-radio UR-91 is picking up radio signals.
It works fine so I'm not too worried about it, but it does seem an odd thing....
Non radio UR-91?
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Well the on UR-91 doesn't have the receiver and the 'rabbit ears' that the new one does. I've had the UT-4R for a while and the old UR-91 had only worked on infrared before. Sometimes now they both flash as working on radio.
I think the most obvious, scientific explanation is that my basement is haunted.
The UR91 has always been radio. Are you sure the other one is not a UR90?