You will all probably roll your eyes on this! I'm 100% new to DCC and loving every bit of it. Haven't run HO since I was a kid... DCC is just the best thing ever.
Basic questions:
I am running a few locomotives. An Athearn HH660, an H10-44, S2. The S2 was custom modified with DCC and DCC sound, all have DCC and DCC sound. Everything has been going great, I'm using an NCE PowerCab setup. All three locos have different throttle responses which is kind of fun. Then, one evening of switching, the throttle response completely changed on the HH660. Other engines seem to be the same. It now takes many many many taps of INCR/DECR to get it to even start to move, much spinning of the thumb wheel barely gets it going at all.
So... this forced me to start reading the manual. (RTM!) But that hasnt' been much help. I'm looking at what I can find for the Athearn and it's all about sound, which is doing fine. I'm seeing and trying to understand CV values... and again they all seem to be about sound. The things I can find in the NCE manual that have to do with throttle seem to be specifics for the throttle itsellf, not the loco. (Such as yard mode vs. mainline mode for the thumb wheel, and the momentum button, etc.)
So, I'm stuck. I don't get how to figure out what DCC motor controller I have on the HH660, and how to create a throttle profile for that. (It appears headlight functions are part of the motor part of DCC?). And I can't figure out what CV registers map to what. It looks like you can really screw things up by messing with the wrong CV registers, but then I also found a reference to a CV register you can set that resets to defaults? Can't find that for my locos though.
Any help much appreciated. The stuff I can find on YouTube is too many steps beyond my starting point... still lost.
Thanks!
-Richard
Hello all,
Try resetting CV8 to a value of 8. This should reset the decoder to the factory defaults.
You will need to readdress the locomotive as this reset will return the locomotive the factory address of 3.
If you are doing this on the main track make sure that you remove the other locos or all will be reset.
For programming I bought a Digitrax PR3XTRA, you can find them for less than the MSRP.
I set up three pieces of track on a 30-inch long piece of 1"X4"; two straight sections with a re-railer in the middle.
For programming I downloaded JMRI Decoder Pro (free programming software).
Now, rather than having to have the DCC system read and write CVs through the controller I can see what the actual CVs are on my computer.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I use a NCE Power Cab and recycle power after CV8, enter 8.
I have seen a number of times from others to recycle power.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Setting CV 8 to a value of 8 to reset a decoder is NOT universal. Different manufacturers use different methods. If you want to reset the decoder you need to find out what decoder it is.
doublereefedThen, one evening of switching, the throttle response completely changed on the HH660. Other engines seem to be the same. It now takes many many many taps of INCR/DECR to get it to even start to move, much spinning of the thumb wheel barely gets it going at all.
Is it possible you changed from 28 speed step mode to 128 speed step? The default with the Power Cab is 28 - the 28/128 button (bottom row) switches the currently selected loco between 28 and 128. In 128 speed step mode, it takes approximately 4 steps to equal one step in 28 speed step mode.
I can see 128 vs 28 SS having a huge effect ont he INC/DEC buttons since they only go 1 step at a time and now it would be 126 (some of the steps are reserved) pushed to go from stop to full speed, but the wheel shouldn;t be THAT drastically effected.
But what do I know, I use Digitrax and never use anythign BUT 128 speed steps, and it doesn't take contant cranking on my throttle knob to go from stop to full speed. If I am turnign it for slow, realistic acceleration it takes maybe 203 complete turns to hit full speed, but I rarely run at full speed. The up/down buttons, like the inc/dec, DO take a LOT of pushes.
--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 have never had to use anything but CV8, enter 8.
The below link has a little more info that might help.
https://tonystrains.com/how-to-rescue-a-faulty-decoder/
It does depend on the decoder though. TCS is CV30=2 for a reset.
Whatever you do, do NOT use the decoder reset function in the PowerCab unless you are working with an NCE decoder. That option doesn;t do a single CV decoder rest, it actually programs a whole bunch of CVs to the default values one by one. It's definitely right for NCE's decoders but may not be correct for other brands.
richg1998I have never had to use anything but CV8, enter 8.
Here's a handy chart to keep by your programming track or command station:
http://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/sr201402_dcc.pdf
Richard—
Regards, Ed
Dear all,
Thanks! What can I say... thanks for getting me going in the right direction.
I tried the 28/128 button, it didn't have change the problem. I did notice that the sound ramps up, but the motor/speed is still almost zero despite the many many taps of the INCR button.
I read through everything in the links, and then referring back to other things I've read, how do I refer to the two parts of DCC? It seems like there's a power/headlight part of DCC and a sound part of DCC.
Here's the loco I'm working on, but I swear it says "Athearn" under the locomotive. Is that possible given this is the description? SP HH660 Loco 1003 Atlas SOUND DC/DCC NEW SEALED in Box HO Gauge h899
So what kind of motor DCC (encoder?) and what kind of DCC sound (decoder?) do I have. I'm traveling for the next few days so will try reading CV8 when I get back, but will reading that tell me both the motor and audio DCC manufacturur information?
Finally, very interesting to read that shorting out the loco can cause the DCC controller to freak out. That particular locomotive was having trouble on one of my turnouts and shorted out all the time. Matter of fact, it freaked out just after I re-soldered some turnouts and then ran the loco back and forth to test it out.
Again, many thanks! Eager to get back Sunday and try out the CV8 reset.
Best,
If the motor sounds ramped up but the loco didn;t move, you probbaly set momentum. CV3 is acceleration and CV4 is deceleration. A little momentum is nives, lets the prime move ramp up before the loco moves and keeps you from jackrabbit starting, but too much and it acts liek the loco isn;t moving, as it can take several seconds for each speed step, and has nothing to do with how fast you press the button or roll the throttle wheel.
Athearn has to be wrong, Athearn did not make an Alco HH660. Atlas did. The ones with sound have a QSI Quantum sound decoder (at least yours does, based on the item number).