I am looking to upgrade my current digitrax system and want to get other railroaders opinions. I have a DB150 for my command station and 5 ds64's for my turnouts along with a pr3 extra that is hooked all to loconet. I would like to make programming easier for me and provide a little more power since all my engines are becoming dcc sound loco's. I want a system that will read back my cv's once programmed and is compatible with jmri decoder pro. Seems like decoders are demanding a more powerfull system for programming. I have some ideas of what would work, but want to get others opinions. The decoders that i am changing most of my engines to are tcs wow 121 with built in keep alive. Below are choices i would like to see what others think about each. Any explaination of each and how i could use these systems to upgrade would be greatly appriciated. Thanks
DCS 100 or 200 digitraxSprogIII DCS 240 expensive - what would be the advantage over the 100/200 dcs?
Zepher extra command station and throttle DB150 would be a booster
You already own all you need to program your decoders. Use the PR3 in standalone mode with a power suply in the 16 to 18 volts range.
Jack W.
Yup, just plug a power supply intot he PR3, and hook the track outputs on it to a piece of track. In JMRI you will need to make sure the PR3 is set as the programmer - any of the relatively newer (past 5 years or more now) versions of JMRI support multiple profiles and also seperate out the command station vs programmer functionality so that you can use a single profile where when you use DecoderPro it uses the PR3 directly which gives you the readback capabiluty but if you open up a JMRI throttle or fire up WiThrottle, it uses the very same PR3 in Loconet interface mode so you cna run trains.
The PR3 in standalone mode (you do NOT have to disconnect the Loconet cable) can, in my experience and that of others, read and write any decoder than supports read operations with no extra programming boosters or accessories. And JMRI will automatically set the mode of the PR3 for you, so that part in the PR3 manual about holding the button until the LED winks or blinks or whatever - no need to worry about that, JMRI takes care of the proper setup.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
hey guys thats how i have it hooked up right now and i am having problems reading decoders with my pr3. I can program but have to go into the loconet menue and change it from program mode to interface mode. Maybe i need to update some kind of software on my pr3. I currently have the previous version of decoder pro. I have a hardtime keeping up with all the new version upgrades. i believe mine is like 3.8 or 4.2. I cant figure out why i cant read any of my decoders lately. my power supply is ps14 that digitrax sells.
You cn't read ANY decoooders? Is it actually writing to them at all? Maybe you have a loose wire between the PR3 and your program track. If your PS14 working? I've been able to read anything, including Tsunamis, with the PS14 as my only power source, others have used slightly higher voltage power supplies - you cna get 16V plug packs fairly commonly, don't exceed 18V (the PR3 says 20V but leave a safety margin). If everything previously worked and now it doesn't, it's likely either of these two things, a loose wire or the power supply has failed.
It won't hurt to upgrade to the latest frmware on the PR3 but I'm pretty sure mine is at least a version behind now as I haven't had it hooked up in over 2 years (all my train stuff is packed away awaiting basement remodeling and a new layout).
If you have to go to the loconet menue to change mode, you will have to review your setting in the preferences section of JMRI.
First, you must have 2 wires going from the PR3 to an isolated (from the layout) programming track. Also me I use a 18 v DC 500 ma power supply the 14 v one will not read some stubborn decoders.
In the preferences section you should have the following
System mfg = Digitrax
System connection = Loconet PR3
Serial Port = The one given in the Windows device manager.
Command station type = PR3 Standalone programmer
Good point. Mine has a rather goofy config because of the way I had everything hooked up, I had my PR3 plugged in with its own track, but I used a home built (Hans Deloof version) Locobuffer as my layout interface - all at the same time, since the 'newer' JMRI versions allow this. If I went in to DecoderPro, it communicated to the PR3, if I opened a JMRI throttle, or a panel, or used WiThrottle, it went through the Locobuffer to my Zephyr via Loconet. Didn't have to quit and open JMRI with another profile or any such thing.
If you change the PR3 mode to programmer, but have the command station in JMRI set to DB150, it won't work. In Loconet (PR1 mode), you'd want the command station to be DB150 to match your system and control it correctly. For this you need 2 profiles. Mine works the way it does because I have 2 interfaces, and you can then select which functions (programming, switch/sensor control, throttles, etc) are associated with which interface device. This is also how for example NCE owners can use WiThrottle to drive trains while using a standalone Loconet for the signals and block detectors.
If i use the pr3 as the command station then standalone programmer will i be able to use the pr3 in interface mode so i can run my layout through jmri? I think it would be smart to go to a 18v power supply. Where is a good place to purchase one that will work with my PR3 extra? I think jmri has my command station as db150 but i can go change that. I think im also going to download the latest test version of jmri. Sometimes that solves problems too.
Randy, that sounds so confusing to me. What exactlyis a locobuffer? How exactly do you create 2 different interfaces? My inexperience is showing now. I am just starting to learn about all this java jmri talk. On my yahoojmri group people have suggested to get a sprog for programming and use my pr3 as a interface only. What do you think about that idea? Would that be a more simple idea than the way you had to do it to get it to work with your homebuilt device? To answer your question it is writing to them in program mode. Thanks
bnsf0823 If i use the pr3 as the command station then standalone programmer will i be able to use the pr3 in interface mode so i can run my layout through jmri? I think it would be smart to go to a 18v power supply. Where is a good place to purchase one that will work with my PR3 extra? I think jmri has my command station as db150 but i can go change that. I think im also going to download the latest test version of jmri. Sometimes that solves problems too.
You can have multiple set up with JMRI. On the same computer and JMRI, I have 3 different set up. 1- PR3 Stand alone programmer, 2- DCS50 Zephyr, 3- DB150 Empire builder.
In the most recent JMRI release there is an opening window titled "Set Active Profile", this is where you add those profiles to choose from. In the preferences for the command station type use DB150 (Empire builder) don't forget to save these preferences.
I got my power supply from an electronique shop you need a positive center adapter.
If you are afraid this is a bit complicated, you can also use the Panel Pro icone, configure the preferences to use your DB150 and use this icone to run your layout.
Thanks i will give that a try!!
JMRI has configuration Profiles. You can have more than one profile, and they cna be selected when starting any JMRI component (if you have more than one - if there's only 1 profile, it makes no sense to offer a choice, so it doesn't).
A Locobuffer is just another Loconet interface device. Original Digitrax only had the PR1 which used a non-standard serial port speed and did no buffering of the data, the computer had to always watch to not miss any Loconet data. This is for various reasons not practical under Windows (DOS does better) and I have even seen the effects myself at a Digitrax display at a train show, where the computer program missed the Loconet message from the block detector that said the loco was at the end of the track so instead of stopping and reversing like it did most of the time, it hit the bumper and kept spinning its wheels.
To get around this, a bunch of people developed their own interface device that provided proper packet buffering, so that if a couple of Loconet packets came in while the computer was busy, no big deal, the next time the computer read the data, it would get those buffered packets. This originally was a complete DIY device, no kits or anything even, but eventually kits and a PC board were made available. There is a pre-built commercial version available today from RR-CirKits called the Locobuffer-USB. It connects your computer to Loconet, that's it. The PR-3 adds the standalone programming feature. In Loconet interface mode, the PR-3 acts more like the Locobuffer in that it buffers the data, even though they call the mode "PR-1 Mode".
In addition to multiple profiles, in a single JMRI profile you cna have more than one interface device. When adding multiple devices to a profile, you pick which one is used for "control" stuff and which one is used for "programming" stuff, which is how mine is set up - PR3 for programming and Locobuffer for "control", thus when I open up a DecoderPro window to program a loco, it uses the PR3 and the attached track, and when I open a JMRI throttle panel it sends the command via the Locobuffer and thus I can run trains on my layout.