TrainController questions
- Thread starter rzw0wr
- Start date
I would say then Decoder Pro is working and completing the process but it is just not finding an active coil.
There is a test mode in the WatchMan.
Let me have some dinner, read up on the test mode and get back to you.
RR-CirKits has a small test board that you can connect to the WatchMan.
When you put the WatchMan in test mode by placing the jumper in position 2-4 the test board leds will light up when a coil is activated - so you can get immediate feedback.
Perhaps you should talk to Dick about getting one of these.
One other thing to check - more then once I inserted a wire into the screw connectors on the board but it failed to make a good connection - either because I failed to strip the wire correctly or I inserted the wire into the wrong part of the connector.
You measured the resistance of a wired-up coil as I recall - did you also make this measurement, after you connected the coil to the board, from screw terminal to screw terminal?
When you put the WatchMan in test mode by placing the jumper in position 2-4 the test board leds will light up when a coil is activated - so you can get immediate feedback.
Perhaps you should talk to Dick about getting one of these.
One other thing to check - more then once I inserted a wire into the screw connectors on the board but it failed to make a good connection - either because I failed to strip the wire correctly or I inserted the wire into the wrong part of the connector.
You measured the resistance of a wired-up coil as I recall - did you also make this measurement, after you connected the coil to the board, from screw terminal to screw terminal?
I have checked all of the connections thinking I may have put the wire in too far and caught the insulation.
I measured the resistance with the coil disconnected from the board.
Should I check it hooked to the board?
I just checked it, open. No resistance. OF
I measured the resistance with the coil disconnected from the board.
Should I check it hooked to the board?
I just checked it, open. No resistance. OF
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Yes you should enable Master Mode.
And you should NOT be getting these error messages.
Lets try:
- Enable Master Mode
- Cycle Power (may not be needed but it doesn't hurt)
- Click "Read Full Sheet" for this page
I see you are reading my mind. Let's not discuss what you may find there.
I mentioned these issues and made the suggestion to measure the coil when connected to the board in another post.
I have trouble reading my own mind. And I don't want to discuss what you will find there either.
I check ed resistance on the coil hooked to the board again. about 2 ohms.
I got the thinking it could not be open.
OK sounds like you have a good connection to the coil
Did you get the error messages on that Decoder Pro page to go away?
OK lets try:
- Enable Master Mode
- Cycle Power (may not be needed but it cannot hurt)
- Click "Read Full Sheet" on the page with the error messages.
I am not a expert in Decoder Pro. I don't know what the side effects are if Decoder Pro reports that it may not be a WatchMan device. Another question for Dick perhaps.
Still have error messages.
Opened up new file in JMRI.
Loaded a default.
Made a Watchman3.
Auto select in sensitivity tab now appears to work.
I selected auto on all slides and it took a few seconds then read them back. Nothing changed but at least it didn't just set there.
Opened a new file in TC. made a test block.
scanning again.
Opened up new file in JMRI.
Loaded a default.
Made a Watchman3.
Auto select in sensitivity tab now appears to work.
I selected auto on all slides and it took a few seconds then read them back. Nothing changed but at least it didn't just set there.
Opened a new file in TC. made a test block.
scanning again.
But this time "Master Mode" was enabled?
What is it reading on that page for Manufacture, Hardware ID, Firmware Version?
The change in behavior of the "auto" procedure sounds promising.
Sometimes you are too fast.
What is it Decoder Pro reporting now on that page for Manufacture, Hardware ID and Firmware Version?
Manufacture 87, Hardware 0 , Firmware 1
I don't understand the addresses we are looking for in TC.
What are they and where are they.
Why do we give an address to the board if TC isn't going to use it?
I understand these are stationary decoders that work like the mobile decoders.
When I input a new engine I can type in the address I want.
Will TC handle a 5 digit address?
I think I am going brain dead here.
I don't understand the addresses we are looking for in TC.
What are they and where are they.
Why do we give an address to the board if TC isn't going to use it?
I understand these are stationary decoders that work like the mobile decoders.
When I input a new engine I can type in the address I want.
Will TC handle a 5 digit address?
I think I am going brain dead here.
This was after a "Read Full Sheet" on that page in Decoder Pro?
LocoNet devices that SEND status to TC send an Event ID - which is just a unique number. It doesn't matter what the number is, it just identifies the sender of the event.
In this case it is an "occupancy event".
Now TC bases its entries for Contact Indicators on the Digitrax BDL16 family. With this product the BDL16x is assigned an Address. When an input is activated an Event ID is generated that is derived from the board Address and the active Input.
These are the values you see when configuring the TC Contact Indicator for the Block.
Instead of entering the raw Event ID (which is what is actually sent by the BDL16x), you enter the BDL16x board Address and the Input you wish the Contact Indicator to respond to. TC does the same computation that the BDL16x does to compute what Event ID the board is going to send.
All manner of these Event IDs arrive at TC. TC needs to know what Event ID corresponds to what piece of hardware, or in this case, what occupancy sensor. When TC sees the Event ID that is configured for a certain Contact Indicator it marks the Block occupied. Actually the Event ID is sent in such a way that TC can determine if the occupancy sensor is turning on (the block is occupied) or turning off (the block is unoccupied).
With the Digitrax BDL16x all of the Event IDs sent are going to be sequential, let's say 1 through 16, corresponding to Input 1 through 16.
Now the WatchMan simply sends an Event ID that is not in anyway associated with the WatchMan board address. This is the "Primary Event" value that you enter. They can be sequential, as the BDL16x does, or random. Since TC expects to see the Event IDs as a BDL16x would send them you need to enter Event IDs that match what the BDL16x would send for a given BDL16x board Address and Input.
This is the information I am not sure about as I have never used a BDL16x and have never examined the values it sends. I am assuming that it takes the board Address, subtracts 1 and then adds the Input number. So for a board with Address 1, Input 5 would generate an Event ID of 5 (1 - 1 + 5). For a board with Address 32, Input 3 would generate an Event ID of 34 (32 - 1 + 3).
I really need to track down the BDL16x documentation and see what it actually does.
I didn't think we needed to do this here as I fully expected TC to find the active coil and simply tell us what Address and Input it "found" for the "Primary Event" value we entered for a given WatchMan input.
Now that is a lot of information so let me try to sum up.
You configure a TC Contact Indicator with an Address and Input. From these two values TC computes the Event ID that a BDL16x would send. When TC receives this Event ID (with the ON or OFF modifier) it marks the Block as Occupied or Unoccupied.
The WatchMan simply sends the Event ID that you enter for each input, independent of the Watchman board address. As long as this Event ID is the same as a BDL16x would send then everything works as if TC was receiving Event IDs from a BDL16x.
Contrast this with the situation when TC is controlling a loco. You configure a TC Engine with a certain Address. TC send commands to this address to control the loco. When loco decoder sees it's own address it responds to the commands from TC.
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Yes that was a lot to throw at you and I don't expect that it will all make sense in the first go round.
If we were sitting at your layout (and your DCS-100 was working) I could demonstrate all of this with the real hardware and show you what is going on behind the scenes.
It would all go so much quicker. Solving problems via forum can be tedious. Perhaps we should just resort to conversing over the phone - that would allow for more back and forth.
JMRI has a feature called "LocoNet Monitor". With this tool you can see all of the data that is being sent back and forth across the LocoNet. You could see the events sent when controlling a turnout, or a loco. You could see the events sent when an occupancy sensor as triggered.
I'm afraid that the problem here is that the DC Power Pack is not putting out a signal that is detectable by the WatchMan. A DCC signal is a fairly high frequency string of pulses. I would not be at all surprised if the pulses from the DC Power Pack are just too different from the DCC pulses for the WatchMan to work with them.
Is there anyone you could beg/borrow/steal another DCC system from? It could be any brand that could control a loco.
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