Seeking help navigating the RR CirKits product line

[John]

I was down to just the command station: throttle plugged straight into the front, and the only track being a foot long piece of flex swapped from the programming track to the layout connections.  And still nothing.  So that seems to narrow it down to a bad command station.

yea .. I think you are correct .. does the command station respond to JMRI? and can you see any loconet commands in the loconet monitor window?

any voltage going to the track?

[Sokramiketes]

yea .. I think you are correct .. does the command station respond to JMRI? and can you see any loconet commands in the loconet monitor window?

any voltage going to the track?

Yeah, I see command traffic in loconet monitor. Jmri can turn layout power on and off. But it can't read anything off programming track.

Like I was wondering if I somehow reprogrammed every loco on the layout to a new address by some glitch. But I can't even get a throttle or jmri to read back addresses on locks from programming track.

[John]

I did a reset of switch 39 in the DB150 to clear it out.  No dice.

Did you mean DCS50 --- The DB150 can't read back ... 

Try taking a loco and put it on the layout by itself, then using OPS mode in JMRI, reset the decoder to factory default ..

also, the DIGITRAX site has instructions for just using a throttle to read back

http://www.digitrax.com/tsd/KB458/dt402-dt400-read-back-cvs/

[Sokramiketes]

Did you mean DCS50 --- The DB150 can't read back ... 

Try taking a loco and put it on the layout by itself, then using OPS mode in JMRI, reset the decoder to factory default ..

also, the DIGITRAX site has instructions for just using a throttle to read back

http://www.digitrax.com/tsd/KB458/dt402-dt400-read-back-cvs/

It's a DB150, so that explains why I couldn't read back CV's on the programming track... but Ops mode programming of the RR-Cirkits boards was still locked out, and was working earlier.  Thanks for the reminder on the limitations of the DB150 and why that round of trouble shooting didn't work either.

[GaryHinshaw]

I'm a little behind here.  Are you able to run trains now, or is that still hosed?  If you think the DB150 might be ok, you might try putting a jumper across 1-3 and follow the instructions at, e.g. 2.3.f of the Watchman manual.  If that is non-responsive, you might reload the firmware (in fact, Dick posted new firmware for the Motorman boards a few weeks ago to correct a problem with buzzing Tortoises, so those will need it anyway).

[Sokramiketes]

I'm a little behind here.  Are you able to run trains now, or is that still hosed?  If you think the DB150 might be ok, you might try putting a jumper across 1-3 and follow the instructions at, e.g. 2.3.f of the Watchman manual.  If that is non-responsive, you might reload the firmware (in fact, Dick posted new firmware for the Motorman boards a few weeks ago to correct a problem with buzzing Tortoises, so those will need it anyway).

No,I think the RR-C stuff is ok and the DB150 is hosed. No trains running.

[nydjshep]

As I've been looking into this as well, this has a really useful thread, and probably one of the few places that an unsophisticated type can make sense of this.  I was just wondering if the discussion has been continued somewhere.

Particularly, I'm wondering how it has worked out for everyone?  Did it make wiring easier? Less wire? was programming, on the whole, ok, without getting a computer programming degree?

Thanks,

Dan

[jagged ben]

As I've been looking into this as well, this has a really useful thread, and probably one of the few places that an unsophisticated type can make sense of this.  I was just wondering if the discussion has been continued somewhere.

Particularly, I'm wondering how it has worked out for everyone?  Did it make wiring easier? Less wire? was programming, on the whole, ok, without getting a computer programming degree?

Thanks,

Dan

Easier compared to what?  I'll say this, I don't think that wiring for realistic block detection and signaling is easy, no matter what you use.  It requires high-level logic and persistence, just to understand your own goals and work through the inevitable debugging.  But if you're interested and motivated to do signalling, I think RR-Cirkits is as good as any company to work with.  Their products are versatile and the support is good when you need it.  (Just email Dick.)    As for not needing a computer programming degree, programming with JMRI goes a long way towards helping with that.  But, as alluded to in this thread, you still will likely need to ask for help from JMRI developers and/or the device manufacturer.  I should add that all of my experience with RR-Cirkits products has been in a club environment, and the guy who's done 95% of the programming does actually have computer science degrees.   For what it's worth, using RR-Cirkuits products does make the actual wiring somewhat self-organizing, in my opinion, to the extent such a thing is possible.

[GaryHinshaw]

I agree with jb.  It's worked out well for me too.  In fact, I just received another order from them with enough Motorman and Watchman boards to finish my layout.  (I still have yet to dive into hardware signalling with the Signalman boards, but those days are coming.  In the meantime, I use software signals in jmri's panel pro.

I would not hesitate to recommend these boards.  I think the easiest way to get started is to get define your needs: e.g. switch control, block detection, signalling, etc.  Then order a few products, and ask questions as you start to install and configure them.

[nydjshep]

Thanks for this.  I had used the Digitrax BDL 168 and it worked well--until it didn't.  Not sure what happened , but now I'm thinking of trying new options.  This has been helpful.  Dan