hey all got a new UT-4 throttle digitrax and made the mistake of trying it out at the same time I installed a tsunami in a vo-1000 . I thought a had a bad decoder till I changed to my dt402 and the decoder ran fine ?
heres what it would do, if pressing any of the functions f0 thru f5 the horn would blast or stay on till you hit a nother funtion button plus the head light would go on & off in sinck with the horn ,very strange ,its brand new .... any Ideas ??? I'M leaning towards a stuck function button but they all feel fine ... jerry
gee, I guess Im not the only one who cant sleepBUT hey thanks David ; the 402 was unpluged & cleared (I do listen & learn ) and the zephyr was on "locco" or cleared to say...... I well give it a go tomorrow...Jerry
Unplugged and (cleared?) is not the same as dispatched. Dispatching needs to be done with the throttle. Unplug before zeroing speed and dispatching the loco is still in use in the system. F0 to F8 are controlled by the command station. F9 and up's function packets are sent by the throttle.
Martin Myers
mfm37 Unplugged and (cleared?) is not the same as dispatched. Dispatching needs to be done with the throttle. Unplug before zeroing speed and dispatching the loco is still in use in the system. F0 to F8 are controlled by the command station. F9 and up's function packets are sent by the throttle. Martin Myers
the problem is PROBABLY me not reading the instuctions on the ut 4 prior playing with it . But now we cant find the instructions, but odds are I Pressed something wrong on the ut4 ,but it looks so simple ..Jerry
I don't know anything about UT4's, but here are the instructions: http://www.digitrax.com/static/apps/products/throttles/ut4/documents/UT4andUT4R.pdf
Jerr:
Download the instructions from the Digitrax site and read them. There are only about 4 pages. The UT4 is just about bulletproof if you follow the directions. The procedure for dispatching is different than with the DT402.
Joe
Thanks Joe & max and well every one,I went out to the sanctuary and tried the ut4 again with the same loco "only now programed & addressed" and the ut 4 worked flawless ,and yes I did see the "disp" button "
its funny how I have a zephyr a dt402 & a ut4 and they ALL work a lil' different ! what I mean is once you learn one you forget how to use the other....maybe its just me. thanks again...Jerry
Anyway the same loco selected on more than one throttle would not cause the function problem. Now, if it was only F2 having a problem, I'd say eitht he UT4 came set with F2 being latched, or you inadvertantly set it that way. But if you press F0 and the horn sounds - something's really messed up. It COULD be stuck keys but that's pretty odd, it sounds more like pressing one key activated mutliples - that may be something serious like a cracked circuit board. It's posisble the throttle was damaged in shipping, or if it wasn't new, was damaged and the seller never bothered to tell anyone. If it's new - well, that's what warranties are for.
It really is that simple to use a UT4. There's no programming so you can't press the wrong button and reset a decoder. It takes deliberate action to turn the address dials, so you can't easily lose control of your loco.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
BIG JERR Thanks Joe & max and well every one,I went out to the sanctuary and tried the ut4 again with the same loco "only now programed & addressed" and the ut 4 worked flawless ,and yes I did see the "disp" button " its funny how I have a zephyr a dt402 & a ut4 and they ALL work a lil' different ! what I mean is once you learn one you forget how to use the other....maybe its just me. thanks again...Jerry
Glad you got things sorted and are up and running. I know what you mean about each unit having its own quirks. Once you get used to them everything should go smoothly.
Happy to hear you got it all working. I have gotten into the habit of resetting every new decoder before trying out on the track. Every once in a while one gets through with a CV or two programmed wrong.
As far as dispatching, the main thing to do when finished running an engine is to make sure the speed is set to zero. On a DT402, the display should read 00. With Zephyr and UT4's the simplest thing to do is move the direction switch to center before pressing dispatch and unplugging UT or pressing loco then exit on a Zephyr. As long as the speed is at zero, the system will eventually make the slot available. Of course none of the above works if the address is part of a consist. But that's a subject for another thread.
well good is never really GOOD ,just went out to check my horn(changed my horn) programing and wa-la its acting wacky again tried all weve talked about and no good ,dial it up on the zephyr works fine change to the 402 just as should dispatch and plug in the ut4 and you just dont know what youre going to get when hit function keys BUT it well always have a horn sound with it ,very strange....going to try a loco I havent run in a well that has a tsunami in it to try and figuire this out ...jerry
PS the moter run is not effected just the function sound /lighting
Try that UT4 out on another engine. Also make sure that same engine works OK with other throttles
This is probably going to require a call to Digitrax.
WOW ; I need to learn to read directions . it appears that I wasn't understanding the procedure for dispatch and stealing! so YOU have to unplug THEN press steal or dispatch and while pressing the button plug the unit back in ,oh and dial up your loco # too simple but "ARE YOU KIDDING ME" who thunk up that Idea plug,unplug ,plug back in.! now I'M curious to read my manual for my dt402 what surprises have I been missing with it ? ...Jerry
It does seem a bit arcane, but there is some logic to it. The idea is that it is a very conscious effort to steal or acquire a loco or dispatch a loco. You can't accidental do it by pressing a button. This way an experienced operator can acquire a loco, hand the throttle to a complete novice and they really can't screw it up. This is exactly what is done at our LHS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_9sdUshM4&list=UU2p1cqCGy-W5bPsoinOHZmA&index=2&feature=plcp Radio UT4's are handed to kids as young as 6 and they get to run trains. Sure they crash into each other, but they are not accidentally dispatching and losing control of thier locos!
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