Address 0 as a Broadcast with Digitrax Hardware

Recently, at the Hostler’s Model Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah a museum member brought several locomotives to run on the museum layout. The one locomotive he really wanted to run, however, would not. After several questions by the author it became apparent that the engine’s address was not quite what the member thought it was. With no programming track available to program CVs plus Programming on the Main (POM) requiring the engine’s address be known, the member was not sure how to go about fixing the address problem.

The key to the solution in this case is the fact that Digitrax hardware utilizes address 0 which is defined in the NMRA standard S-9.2.1 as a broadcast address to all powered locomotives on the track the throttle is communicating with. If your hardware is different check the documentation for usage of address 0. Even though this is a standard not all hardware follows it.  

<CAUTION>The following procedure will modify ALL locomotives that are on powered  track when this procedure is performed. Therefore, remove any locomotives or move them to a section of track that can have power removed from it except for the engine you want to change.

Changing the Address

Long addresses (4 digits) are contained in CVs 17 and 18 according to the NMRA standard. Utilizing the phone app DCC Tools and selecting Long Address Calc enter the address in Long Address value. The values of CV 17 and 18 will be given below your entry (the phone app Digitrax Tool Box has been discontinued. You can read about that here).

Utilizing a Digitrax throttle select address 0 then select POM (how to do that depends on which throttle you have so we will not discuss that here). Write  the values given by the app into CVs 17 and 18.

The next step is to change CV 29 to use long addresses. Use the phone app’s CV29 Calc function to calculate the proper value and enter it into CV29.

Lastly, exit programing mode, select the entered address on the throttle and test the engine to see if you did everything correctly.

This procedure can be a life saver in certain circumstances but is virtually impossible to use if there are several other engineers running their trains on the same layout.

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Atlas Track Planning Software - Version 1.9.2 Released!

 

Fig1 Example layout

The Atlas Track Planning Software has been Updated to Version 1.9.2. New features and fixes are listed below.

Added and improved functionality:
- Added option in the “Updates” section of the settings for restoring of the reminder messages, previously      hidden with “Do not show this message again” check box
- Extended zoom-out factor for extremely large track plans

Added new track libraries:
- Atlas HO Trainkids

Bugfixes:
- Various small bugfixes

Atlas Track Planning Software Demo Download

Purchase the Software License

In addition, for those who might be looking for a place to start in the creation of their layout, we have also made select layout files available for purchase. Once downloaded, simply open up ATPS and load the file and start creating!

Purchase Layout Files

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From TCS: CS-105 DCC & LCC Command Station Now Shipping

The following has been announced by Train Control Systems: TCS is happy to announce the newest member to our product line...The CS-105! Over 20 years in the making, the namesake of our company, our very first 'train control system' is now available for sale in North America. The CS-105 is an intelligently-designed DCC command station with LCC integration as well as built-in RailCom™ detection. Thoughtfully designed to outperform in every area, the CS-105 is the perfect DCC command station for newcomers, or layout builders or renovators alike who are looking for a highly-capable command station with the latest and greatest technology available. The CS-105 Command Station from TCS is the new flagship DCC system for model railroads. This system brings a new level of operational convenience to DCC, especially when paired with a UWT-100. The CS-105 also features a wide range of new features compared to the competition - Including, but not limited to: RailCom™ bi-directional communication support Integrated Layout Command Control (LCC) support frees up your DCC bandwidth for what's important - locomotives! Accessories such as signal systems, turnouts, and more can all be controlled with the LCC bus while still having real-time interactions with your DCC trains. "Soft Start," as well as configurable short circuit detection for the mainline track output decreases the likelihood of burning up fouled decoders. Internal Locomotive Roster system to store important information about each and every one of your locomotives. Intuitive system-based consisting system unlike any other, aimed at tackling all of the annoying and time-consuming problems with other consisting methods. Fast and simple setup process for integrating with existing layouts, including non-TCS boosters and throttles! Instead of spending time with your head in a manual trying to understand your system, you can consult the intuitive configuration interface of the CS-105 through a TCS throttle such as the UWT-100, allowing you to focus on the important things - operating and enjoying your trains! And that's not all! Tons more features than we can list here can be found in our online documentation here. We are confident that the CS-105 will quickly become your favorite command station to use. Order a CS-105 here.

CS-105 Specifications: Dimensions: (WxHxD) 5.9"x1.18"x3.94" (150mm x 30mm x 100mm) Power Supply: Your Choice - 12V/90W or 15V/90W Continuous Mainline Current: 5 Amperes Macros: Up to 300 (10 steps each) Wireless Range: ~100ft (AP) Communication Protocol(s): Digital Command Control (DCC) Layout Command Control (LCC) WiFi RailCom™ SystemOne/NCE CabBus/Ramtraxx XpressNet™/Lenz/Roco/ZTC (In development) Interfaces: Character Display Interface (CDI) Via TCS Universal WiFi Throttle LCC CAN-bus (RJ-45) Auxiliary Cab Bus (RJ-11) The CS-105 is a true 5 Ampere DCC command station, capable of continuous delivery of 5 Amperes of current on the mainline output without annoying interruptions. You can learn more about the CS-105 in the online documentation.   RailCom™ is a registered trademark of Lenz Elektronik GmbH - This feature allows the decoder to talk to the command station. RailCom supports expansion for new features. If you have an idea for a blog post here, let me know. If I can comment on it, I will or I'll see if someone else can and post it

LokProgrammer PC-Software V5.2.2 Released

ESU LokSound has release v5.2.2 of their LokProgrammer software. The following is a list of changes to the update.

• New firmware 5.6.147 for LokSound 5 family: Register conditions <= and >= have been interpreted as > or < in the sound schedule
• New firmware 5.6.145 for LokPilot 5L: Support for new silicon revisions of the ARM controller
• New firmware 1.0.8. for SignalPilot: Support for up to two SwitchPilot Extension modules (future hardware upgrade). Outputs configured for automatic timeout will no longer be enabled at startup. This fixes issues with motorized switch motors
• New firmware 3.0.13 for SwitchPilot 3 Servo: Servo pulses will be sent to the servo every 20mS now. This fixes issues with Faller servos
• Bugfixes: Sound schedule: Container code size validation corrected
•  Soundsimulator: Register conditions <= and >= have been interpreted as < and >

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Automatic Horn Signals With ESU Decoders

Locomotives have specific horn signals they issue when starting to move in either forward or reverse directions. Two medium blasts indicate starting forward movement and three short blasts indicate starting reverse movement. They also have a stop signal of one short blast to indicate they are done moving in either direction.

It’s not difficult to add these signals to any ESU LokSound sound file if you have minimal experience working with sound slots and sound schedules. I have given several tutorials for working with these objects such as this one. This is a little more complicated task than the previous automatic bell project but again, not too difficult. We’ll use the ESU sound file S0539-LS5H0DCC-Diesel-EMD-12-645E3-T-V4-R4.esux located here one more time.

The Forward and Reverse Signals
Open the sound file in the LokProgrammer and go to the sound pane. Double click on an empty sound slot (we’ll use sound slot 28 this time). Once you have this opened add two containers, one for the forward horn and one for the reverse horn. Name them Forward Signal and Reverse Signal respectively. For the forward container add a group of conditions Function = true, Reverse = false and Requested Speed > 0. For the reverse container add a group of conditions Function = true, Reverse = true and Requested Speed > 0. This controls the logic of when horn signals sound. All of this is shown in fig 1.

 Figure 1 the basic containers

Once inside the containers the sound files you use will depend on the horn you want for the particular locomotive you are adding this sound file to. These files are located in the lower right corner of the sound pane. You can use drag-and-drop to put them in the states. Now double click on the Forward Signal container. Here you will add four states in series. First the horn’s init sound followed by the horn’s exit sound then the init sound again and the exit sound again. This is shown in fig 2.

Figure 2 the forward signal

All horns have Init and Exit sound files associated with them. Most also have Fast Exit sounds where you could use the Fast Exit in the first exit state and then the Exit file in the second one. It’s entirely up to you. The simulator will help you decide.

Lastly, click on the Reverse Signal container. Here you will do exactly what you did in the Forward Signal container except add one more Init and Exit cycle to complete the three blasts as in fig 3.

Figure 3 the completed Reverse signal

The Stop Signal
For the Stop signal you will need another sound slot. Use slot 31 for our example. Here we again add a container that will have the sound file states in it but we will add one additional state to the slot and this is the horn delay shown in fig 3. It uses the silence.wav file which is included in all sound projects which gives a short delay from the engine stopping to the horn sounding.

Figure 4 the horn delay

The Stop Signal itself consists of a single init/exit horn sequence as we did in fig 3.

When mapping these to a function put both sound slots on the same function and be sure to add the Drive signal to the function you choose (this is critical). The author usually uses function 3 due to not using the coupler function, again, your choice. See fig 5.

Figure 5 function mapping

Thanks to Ted Wentz on the groups.io ESU Forum for first presenting this sound mapping.

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