ModelRailroadForums.com is a free
Model Railroad Discussion Forum and
photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
I'm trying to reprogram a new Blueline engine with a NCE decoder using an MRC Prodigy Express to factory default settings. I found something online that says to press "Program" repeatedly until the display reads "Prog prog track". All I see is "Pro9 Prog". What do I do now?
I have the advanced squared at home and have a Blueline loco with a QSI decoder.
If it works like my MRC hand held. When programing the loco on the layout track (main line)I press the prog button a few times untill it reads something like "prog main" then press enter. It will flash a locos address. if this address of the one you want to program press enter again. (if its not the address you want, enter the correct locos address and hit enter) skip to the next steps by pressing enter again. you will then see you can adjust the SV,acc,dcc,tv, etc... again press enter to skip thru these. when it flashes CV this is when you need to stop.. if you looking to reset the loco I think you set CV#8 to a value of 008? if this works I think it sets the locos address to 0003. its fairly easy once you get the hang of it.
the prog track is a isolated track that you can set up under your layout. The MRC is just asking what track the engine is on that is to be reprogrammed
hard to explain in writing sorry
Trent
Prog Prog, is the program track.
OK, now for the lights
Thanks guys! Got the engine to run. Although it ran in reverse when I wanted it to run forward. Accordng to Blue Line, if this happens, I should turn the decoder card 180 in the socket. Unfortunately there is a wiring plug on the original board that is in the way, it prevents the decoder card from being plugged in all the way (not good). So I put the decoder card in the only way it would fit and figured out how to get the engine to run the right direction. The only problem now is the lights don't work. If I am correct, the lights are not controlled by the decoder that I just installed, they are controlled by the card that was in the engine when I got it. Is there a way to access that card with my prodigy sytem in order to get the lights working correctly? I would think that if I can change the direction of the motor rotation. Then I should be able to change the output to the lights to get them to work correctly.
when you say lights dont work... do you mean the rear light is on when in forward? or they just dont come on at all? CV29 can reverse the locos direction and all functions should follow with it? I had the same issue with my decoder not fitting in one way vs the other but the head light followed my CV29 change?
The lights don't work at all. Just to make sure, I took the Dcc card out reinstalled the "Jumper"card and ran the engine on DC and the lights worked correctly. Put the Dcc card back in, the engine runs the correct direction, but no lights. In the reversing the card instructions it said to move the light harness to the other socket, since I could not reverse the card, I could not move the light harness because the board is in the way for that hardware move. I believe the light harness move is simply a geography move and that there is no electrical difference between the two physical locations. Am I correct in this assumption?
hmm.. I have a Heavy mikado (steam engine) and had no issues with the head light after reversing CV29
If you cant get an answer here go over to this Broadway limited message boards and ask...
http://precisioncraftmodels.com/forum/
Thanks Trent, I'll give that a try. I'll let you know what I find.
Sounds like you don't quite have it wired right.
There really wasn't any wiring required. I just unplugged the small board that us used in the DC
Use the MRC as a paperweight and get Digitrax or something that actually works.
There really wasn't any wiring required. I just unplugged the board that is used for DC then installed the decoder card the only way it would fit in the engine.
I don't think it has any thing to do with MRC. The wiring and control of the lights are part of the original circuit board in the engine, as far as I know anyway. I believe the decoder only controls the motor. But there must be some communication to the original board since it controlled the lights and sound in the DC mode.
Use the MRC as a paperweight and get Digitrax or something that actually works.
I don't understand why people post stuff like this that adds absolutely nothing to the conversation. His MRC system is working fine and has absolutely nothing to do with his lighting problem. By the way, I am a Digitrax user, but I realize there are other good systems out there and I try to help people when I can, no matter what system they have.
Back to the issue at hand. My understanding is that with the lighting harness in it's original location, the lighting is controlled by the sound decoder, and with the harness in it's alternate location, the lighting is controlled by the motor decoder. If this is true, and you have the lighting harness in the alternate location and the decoder plugged in backwards, then the lighting functions likely won't work, and here is why: When you plug the decoder in backwards, the track pickup pins get swapped and the motor pins get swapped(this is why the engine will still run but in reverse from what you expect). The front headlight pin gets swapped with the rear headlight pin, and the headlight common gets swapped with the "optional" pin. The "optional" pin usually has no connection, so with the decoder reversed the headlights have no power to their common pin and will not light.
Do you think there is enough room to raise the decoder some? If there is, you might be able to get enough clearance to install the decoder the right way by using an
Extension plug.
To CSX Robert; Thanks a million. I'll get one of these on order and let you know how things turn out.
I have no problems with my Prodigy system. I bought it because I wanted a walk around, it was in my price range for a beginner to DCC, and it does what I need.
I guess it's just like the argument "Which is better Ford or Chevy."
Agreed. My MRC A2 is great for my small home layout. I will never need all the expandable options that the other high end DCC controlers have. there is good and bad with everything so im keeping my paperweight for now
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website
(Learn More Here)
