Well, it's a start, temporary layout

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.


oplholik

oplholik

Member
Just did this so that I would have a layout to run the trains on while trying to come up with what I really want to do. This is N scale on a 46" X 80" board. The first Loco is an Athearn, and the second loco is an Atlas that I just got off Ebay. Neither of them run at the moment, and I am trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong, but that's another story. So a little progress is being made.

Paul
 
Looks like you are using a Digitrax Zepher... Do the locos you purchased on Ebay have decoders? or are you running them on 00?
 
You've got a good start. As Ryan said, you've got a DCC controller but I doubt the engines have DCC decoders. Punch in "Loco" and then put in "00" and they should come to like. This is the address you use to run DC locomotives. As a word of warning, don't let them stand on the track with power applied for more than about ten minutes or you risk burning up the motor.
 


DCCinstalled said:
Looks like you are using a Digitrax Zepher... Do the locos you purchased on Ebay have decoders? or are you running them on 00?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is a Digitrax Zephyr, the Athearn was purchased at a hobby shop and it has a DC decoder. I have since bought a DCC, but haven't installed it yet. The Atlas was bought off ebay as nib, with a Lentz DCC decoder. When trying to read the address or program an address on the Atlas the controllers shows a d nd(open circuit). I haven't taken it apart yet to check out the contacts yet. The problem with that is, I don't know what it's supposed to look like, so not sure I'd recognize a problem there.

Paul
 
UP2CSX said:
You've got a good start. As Ryan said, you've got a DCC controller but I doubt the engines have DCC decoders. Punch in "Loco" and then put in "00" and they should come to like. This is the address you use to run DC locomotives. As a word of warning, don't let them stand on the track with power applied for more than about ten minutes or you risk burning up the motor.
Click to expand...


The temporary layout is not powered at this time. I have the controller hooked up to the test board, and I don't let the locos sit on that unecessarily while I am not working on them.

Paul
 
Paul, not sure what you mean by a test board but, if both locomotives have decoders, the most likely address is "03" or the locomotive number if it's used. It sounds like the Athearn has a DCC ready board but no decoder, correct? If so, "00" should make it run since it's still a DC engine. The "dn d" on the Zephyr doesn't mean you have on open circuit in the locomotive. It means the Zephyr isn't seing any current back from the decoder. This could be because you don't have it set to "Page" mode or you are trying to read back a CV from the main track, not a programming track. If you have a programming track set up, the Lenz and Bachmann decoders usually require a higher current to read back CV's. If this is the case, you can simply use the "OPS" mode on your layout and program a new address for the locomotive. Try a two digit address with the last two numbers of the engine. This should bring the engine to life. It's rare, although not unheard of, to have a new DCC equipped engine with a bad decoder. Rememeber, thought, that engine won't move or do anything else while the Zephyr is in Page mode and the engine is on an isolated programming track. You have to hook up the Zephyr to your main track to have the engine run.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
UP2CSX said:
Paul, not sure what you mean by a test board but, if both locomotives have decoders, the most likely address is "03" or the locomotive number if it's used. It sounds like the Athearn has a DCC ready board but no decoder, correct? If so, "00" should make it run since it's still a DCC engine. The "dn d" on the Zephyr doesn't mean you have on open circuit in the locomotive. It means the Zephyr isn't seing any current back from the decoder. This could be because you don't have it set to "Page" mode or you are trying to read back a CV from the main track, not a programming track. If you have a programming track set up, the Lenz and Bachmann decoders usually require a higher current to read back CV's. If this is the case, you can simply use the "OPS" mode on your layout and program a new address for the locomotive. Try a two digit address with the last two numbers of the engine. This should bring the engine to life. It's rare, although not unheard of, to have a new DCC equipped engine with a bad decoder. Rememeber, thought, that engine won't move or do anything else while the Zephyr is in Page mode and the engine is on an isolated programming track. You have to hook up the Zephyr to your main track to have the engine run.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Maybe I don't understand enough about test board and programming track yet. My "testboard" is a 4' board with track and the power hooked to it. When I first got the Athearn, it was DCC ready with a light board in it. I used the "test board to program it to DC, "00" to run it in analog. So this is the board I am trying to use to program the DCC board I bought.

Paul
 
OK, that should work as a programming track. However, it needs to be hooked up to the programming track teminals, not the normal track terminals to allow you to read back CV's. Do you have the the Zephyr in Page mode to program? Even if it won't read back CV's, you should still be able to set the engine address number. Check the Zephyr documentation and follow it step by step to set a new engine address. Since it's a Lenz decoder, use the two number address option and set the locomotive to last two numbers of the engine number. You'll need to test tun it on tracks hooked up to the regular mainline track terminals because the engine will do nothing but read and write CV's on the programming track.
 
UP2CSX said:
OK, that should work as a programming track. However, it needs to be hooked up to the programming track teminals

Ok, I think the fog may be lifting a bit. I see now the track programming terminals on the back of the controller. I will try that when I get some time here, along with doing some reading of the manual in that section. Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks :D Thanks.

Paul
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.




Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top