Cable for JMRI ???


railfan

railfan

junk collector
I have a MRC prodigy express DCC system and was thinking of trying to setup JMRI with it. I'm pretty sure the prodigy exp needs the version three software before it can run JMRI so I will need to make sure mine has V3 or get it.

The MRC cable to go between my laptop and the prodigy box sells for about $45. It has an RJ45 plug like a network cable on one end.....and a typical flat type USB plug on the other end. This MRC cable also appears to have some colored LED's on one end that perhaps indicate activity/throughput or something.

Here is the thing: I have two cables that came with APC battery backups. These cables have the same plugs like the MRC cable for JMRI. They used to call these a serial cable back before they went to using USB. I thought I may have heard this term serial cable used to describe a JMRI cable. I wonder if these leftover APC cables will work?.......or if the MRC cable would be wired differently even though the plugs are the correct ones?

Mike
 
A serial port is different, that's the old standard of a 9-pin connector (usually 5 on top row, 4 on the bottom).

The MRC could be wired differently (crossover, or even something proprietary) to the cables you already have, but it shouldn't do any harm to test things out.
 
I didn't think JMRI & MRC were compatible no matter what cable you have. You might want to do a little more checking. MRC guards their DCC like the Colonel guards his chicken recipe.
 
Hergy said:
I didn't think JMRI & MRC were compatible no matter what cable you have. You might want to do a little more checking. MRC guards their DCC like the Colonel guards his chicken recipe.
Click to expand...
Yes, I think I read something about MRC having their own proprietary type of software similar to JMRI. I may have to contact someone at MRC.

It would be a shame if MRC did not join with the rest of the JMRI group because the owners of prodigy systems would lose out on the shared knowledge base.


Mike
 
I just went to the JMRI website and checked the compatible hardware section and and MRC isn't on the list. While JMRI has the decoder files, and you can program MRC decoders, you can't interface with their base station using JMRI.

Looks like you're stuck with whatever software MRC has. I looked on their site and while the software is free, the interface for the computer is $45, as you stated.

It shouldn't hurt the computer or the Prodigy to connect the cable you currently have to see if it works.
 
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