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Programming 1st Engine with NCE PowerCab???

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  • Member since
    January 2018
  • 172 posts
Posted by kenben on Sunday, January 27, 2019 5:08 PM

I'm trying to program 2 ScaleTrains, GE Tier 4 GEVO and a EMD SD40-2.

On the GEVO the ditch lights (the lower 2 in front) don't come on.

On the SD40 the ditch lights don't come on AND the engine run backwards! When PowerCab is set to FWD, the engine with run in reverse. When swwitched to REV the engine will run forward.

Also the PowerCab will only remember the last cab entered. It will not switch to the ather engine when I press RECALL. It saya I should be able to toggle between the engines I have programmed. 

???

 

 

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
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Posted by richg1998 on Sunday, January 27, 2019 4:49 PM

What I saw missing was the brand of sound decdoder he is using.

I bought the Power Cab some years ago and it has the upgrade IC. I have programmed Tsunami and LokSound plus one Bachmann with sound on board. They all work fine after programming.

Also an Atlas GP40 with factory sound and it works fine.

No idea what his issue might be.

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.

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  • Member since
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  • From: Northeast OH
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Posted by tstage on Saturday, January 26, 2019 7:54 PM

BigDaddy
The Power Cab has a Recovery Program that claims to reset all decoders. The people I trust in this forum, say this has unpredictable effects on non-NCE decoders. Most decoders can be rebooted by setting CV 8 to =8. But sometimes it's CV 30.

Yes, most decoder resets are either CV8=8 or CV30=2.  QSI decoders are unique and require a three-CV adjustment.

Here's a handy link for all resets from the TTE website:

https://tonystrains.com/news/how-to-rescue-a-faulty-decoder

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, January 26, 2019 5:44 PM

kenben
Also, when to turn on power to your layout how do you "start" the engines idling?

Depends.  All Bachmann sound value engines immediately start sound, and that cannot be changed.  What engine and decoder is it?  What lights don't work?

Basic programming doesn't involve doing anything to sounds.

Normally F8 starts the engine sounds. 

At least for me, ocassionally weird things just happen with DCC.  An engine that ran just fine, doesn't run the next operating session.  A horn stops working or the lights stop working or the engine doesn't go faster than a crawl.  Resetting the decoder solves that 100% of them time.

The Power Cab has a Recovery Program that claims to reset all decoders.  The people I trust in this forum, say this has unpredictable effects on non-NCE decoders.  Most decoders can be rebooted by setting CV 8 to =8.  But sometimes it's CV 30.  

My era is pre ditch lights, so I can't help you with that, but it ought to be in the manual that came with your engine.

The other trick to programming is that you have to turn the power off and on to get all the changes to take. 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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  • Member since
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  • From: Northeast OH
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Posted by tstage on Saturday, January 26, 2019 5:28 PM

kenben,

Try pressing F8 to get engine sounds.  Some sound decoders come with the sound engaging at startup; others require you to press F8 to start the engine sounds.  If that feature is important to you, there are CVs that you can adjust to make that happen.

You'll need to look at your sound decoder's manual to determine how to activate the other two lights.  Are they ditch lights?  What locomotive are you programming?

Tom

https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling

Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.

  • Member since
    January 2018
  • 172 posts
Programming 1st Engine with NCE PowerCab???
Posted by kenben on Saturday, January 26, 2019 5:03 PM

Just got my test/programming track wired and the PowerCab connected. As soon as I place my 1st engine on the track it comes alive with the engine idling sounds. Horn, bell and lights seem to turn on and off.

So I go through the steps in the PowerCab Manual to do a basic program set up on this engine and now I get NO ENGINE sounds at all. Engine runs, horn and bell work and 2 of the 4 lights work. Where did the engine sounds go?

Also, when to turn on power to your layout how do you "start" the engines idling?

Am I missing something in the basic set up?

 

Thanks.

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