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mentions no upgrade or patch that I've seen mentioned elsewhere.
So, just what is correct?
28
Re: MRC Prodigy
Posted by John on April 15, 2003, 10:29am
Jim D. MRC offers a voltage limiter free of charge to allow you
to operate the Prodigy with decoders other than MRC decoders.
The Prodigy is not built to NMRA standards so you will need
this limiter to utilize other decoders. John
Deceiving DCC
Posted by Alain Boudreau on April 10, 2003, 12:13am
My HO layout is 8 x 15 feet around the room. Motive power is
provided by 6 unit consisting of Proto 1000, Proto 2000, Walthers
and Spectrum units. I choose MRC Command 2000 system for it is
sufficient for my layout, it is affordable and MRC products are
usually reliable. I started installing decoders in a proto 1000 and in a
proto 2000 loco. For the Proto 2000 the results were acceptable but
for the proto 1000, it was impossible to come to an acceptable level
of perfomance, after may attempts to program the decoder and
installing a second decoder. Tracks and wheels were all clened up. It
stopped the process of installing decoder in other units and disabled
the locos already converted and return to conventional DC power. I
use a MRC power pack fixed DC power as power supply for the
system. I am wondering what is my problem? The whole system,
the console, the decoders, the only decoder in the proto 1000 loco,
the proto 1000 loco, the power source? The programming device?.
Any idea?
Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by Paul on April 10, 2003, 10:13am
Alain, why don't you call the place you bought the MRC set
from and ask them for advice about problems you're having,
they should be able to help you. Paul
Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by Don H. on April 10, 2003, 11:22am
Alain, I'm a little surprised that you would totally abandon DCC
and convert back to DC simply because you had a problem with
1 loco. What, exactly, do you mean by unacceptable performance?
That could mean different things to different people.
Does the loco run ok under DC? Installing a decoder will NOT
"fix" performance problems. If, as you indicated, you had 1 loco
that ran fine under DCC then it would seem that there are no
problems with the command station / power supply etc. The
problem appears to be at the loco / decoder level. Have you tried
a different decoder? Have you tried the original decoder in a
different loco?
Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by e bradbury on April 10, 2003, 12:01pm
do you operate with all 6 units together to get up a steep grade?
If so then the two decodered locos will still not pull the load up
the grade that had required 6. Are you operating the two DCC
locos with DC locos? not good. By the way is the track clean?
By the way I just complete installing decoders into 3 Proto 1000
F3A/B and run them together without a problem. I removed the
light board & replaced it with a styrene shelve to support the
decoder (NCE DASRs) and removed & used the 300 ohm
resistor in series with headlight. For this installation insulate the
frame in the decoder area; the DASR is shorter & narrower then
the light board.
Re: Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by Alain Boudreau on April 11, 2003, 08:49am
Additionnal information:
The tracks were cleaned up. Only one or two locos were
opertating at the same time
The perfomance of the C-Liner Proto 1000 were very good
when operating in DC. With the decoders, two different were
used, acceleration and decelaration were very long and even with
dirrent attemps to program someting different, the loco is not
usable to switch. For the Proto 2000, the perfomance are
acceptable, but this loco perform better on DC.
Re: Re: Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by e bradbury on April 11, 2003, 10:05am
It appears that CV 3 and CV 4 have been set to a very high value
somehow. These should be set to "0" (zero) to begin with and
can be changed later. What decoders are you using.
Also some decoders and command stations (CS) require a load,
such as a resistor, to be placed between the CS and decoder. (I
have this problem with just soundtraxx decoders. A resistor isn't
needed for programming my NCE & Lenz decoders). This may
be the case with you. I think digitrax and some command
stations have this problem. Also when programming the
decoders on the program track be sure the locos lights are off; if
they are on they may trick the programming.
Also check some of the earlier discussions on Tony's BB or his
Tips for info. I think a similar was noted in the past.
Re: Re: Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by e bradbury on April 11, 2003, 11:47am
Alien see December 20, 2002 discussion
Re: Re: Re: Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by Alain Boudreau on April 11, 2003, 08:19pm
Thanks to E BRADBURY for you interest in my problem.
Both decoders used in the Proto 1000 C Liner have been
programmed to a minimum value for acceleration, decelaraation
and start voltage. Many many attempts to try to achieve a level ef
acceotable perfomance. I use MRC decoders programmable 28
or 14 step. These were purchased from a mail order shop, there
is no delaer in my area supproting these products.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Deceiving DCC
Posted by Dennis Lippert on April 24, 2003, 03:00pm
I'll bet there are references to this on the board somewhere...
but...
Your problems are likely related more to the LOCO than to the
decoder.
Life-Like (P1k and P2k) 4-axle locos have a known tendency to
have electrical pickup problems. These are "exaggerated" in
DCC, for a number of reasons, but still exist with DC.
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