TrainController questions


Did you set that values for the pages "BOD 1-4" and "BOD 5-8" for WatchMan3?

Did you set the port type on page "I/O 2A" to "Driver"?

Regards WatchMan1 and WatchMan2 did you Confirm (in DecoderPro) that that Address was correct for each unit?
 
rzw0wr said:
If this one does not work I will give RR-CirKits a call.
Click to expand...

I spoke to Dick and here was there a minutes ago, Karen was out.

Just to be sure we are not overlooking anything:

- In DecoderPro you are Writing the settings to the WatchMan and all seems to go OK?
- In DecoderPro you can Confirm the settings and all seems OK?
- The WatchMan jumper is in the correct position (None)?
- When Scanning you can see activity on the WatchMan Yellow LED?

One other thing that we need to check with Dick are the values for the "Primary Event #" - to be sure that we are following the BDL168 pattern that TC expects.
 
Yes
Yes
I think it is. It is across 1-2 like it was delivered.
No. no blinking so far.

I read that in the instructions, BDL speak. Confused me.
 
rzw0wr said:
I think it is. It is across 1-2 like it was delivered.
Click to expand...

I think that is the same as "None" - so it should be OK.

rzw0wr said:
No. no blinking so far.
Click to expand...

The Yellow LED should flash when the WatchMan is sending/receiving data - if is not something is not right - but you won't see much when Scanning - but you should see something when Writing from Decoder Pro.

The LocoBuffer should have come with a flat cable for connecting to the SSB-Gateway - Yes?

You have power supplied to the SSB-Gateway and the LED is on?

What about the two switches on the side of the SSB-Gateway - are they in the "ON" position?

rzw0wr said:
I read that in the instructions, BDL speak. Confused me.
Click to expand...

Me too - I'm not sure that the values I decided on are correct - which is why we need to ask Dick.
 
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The yellow light does flash in Decoder Pro when cv are written.
Buffer is connect with a flat cable to the Gatway
Gateway is powered and green light is on.
Watchman are powered, green light is on.
Switches were both down or off.
Dick said to change resistor to a 5K and use pulse.
AC is too slow.
Primary numbers are set at the factory and should work as BDL in TC.

sigh..... scanning again..
 
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Regards the Switches on the SSB-Gateway: There are markings on the side of the SSB-GateWay that should show the ON direction - they need to be ON to the best of my knowledge.

I thought the DC Power Pack you were using did have a "pulse" mode.

Based on what Dick said the "Primary Event #" values of 1-8, 17-24, 33-40 as I first suggested should be OK then.


EDIT:

I posted too quick. The flashing of the Yellow LED when using Decoder Pro says the the computer-to-WatchMan connection is working and that the WatchMan address is correct for the Decoder Pro entry you are using.

That is a GOOD thing.


I ordered a set of boards (WatchMan, MotorMan, SignalMan, TowerMan) for myself. I will be back home the first part of next week. Once I have the boards I will be able to diagnose settings, problems, etc much quicker then working just from theory.
 
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Scan complete, nothing found.
TC run light is now on. Before all that was there was a grayed out INIT and a green com8.

Hmmmmm, I will do some more checking and guessing.

Thanks for your help.
Have a safe trip home.
 
rzw0wr said:
TC run light is now on. Before all that was there was a grayed out INIT and a green com8.
Click to expand...

That's good - you always should verify that TC has (or at least thinks it has) a good connection to the system.


I'm not heading home until next week - so I will be here online till then.

So lets recap:

- TC is now showing good communication with the system.
- When writing in Decoder Pro the Yellow LED flickered so we know the computer-to-WatchMan communication hardware is good and the WatchMan address is correct.
- You used the "Block Detector" mode on pages "BOD 1-4" and "BOD 5-8" and verified that setting was written to the WatchMan.
- You used the "Primary Event #" values I suggested and verified they were written to the WatchMan.
- You used the "Driver" mode on pages "I/O 2A" and "I/O 2B" and verified that setting was written to the WatchMan.
- You have a coil on one of the feeder wires to that block.
- You verified using a meter that you had good wiring continuity to the coil.
- That coil is connected to the WatchMan being tested.
- You applied power using your DC Power Pack to the DCC Bus.
- You verified that you had power on the Block being tested.
- You had a resistor connected across the rails of the Block being tested.


So what we don't know at this point is if the DC power pack is putting out a form of "pulse power" that the WatchMan can detect. The fact that you got a reading on the AC scale of your meter says to me that you have some form of "pulse power" but not much else. What is the position of the throttle knob on the power pack? Some systems put out the strongest pulses at low settings (to get the train going) and then reduce them at higher settings.

When you do the Scan are you setting the Block Contact Indicator Address/Input values back to 1 and 1 first?

Have you been letting the Scan run to completion to be sure we are testing all possible values? I'm pretty sure that that values for "Primary Event #" I suggested are at the beginning of the address range and the Scan should find the active coil quickly.

Any idea when your Digitrax system is coming back? If it is going to be quite a while I could send you one of my spare units.
 
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To the first Paragraph, all yes.
The power pack is on 100%.
Block Contact address is 1-1.
Letting scan run until it quits and dialog goes away.
I just sent the controller in yesterday.

Thanks for the offer to load me one.
I am thinking about buying another.
I would like to have one for my bench.

Dick said I was using the wrong version for the decoder files in JMRI.
I downloaded files from their web site that were not current.
I download JMRI version 3.10.
When I make a new Default and copied it to Watchman3 a lot of cvs seem to change.
Back in TC running new scan.

I will get this running.... I will get this running....... I will get this running.... :p
 
OK.

Try setting the power pack to 25% or so - use a 5K resistor or thereabouts if you have one - two 10Ks otherwise.

You should be able to test the reading of the coil using the Auto Sensitivity setting feature of Decoder Pro. The advantage would be is the we are taking TC out of the loop and we already know that Decoder Pro is talking to the WatchMan.

Glad you are trying the 3.10 version of JMRI - that's what I am using - if we had started comparing specific values we might have noticed the differences.

Whenever you create a new WatchMan DEFAULT in Decoder Pro and from that a new roster entry remember to always set the WatchMan pages "BOD 1-4", "BOD 5-8", "I/O 2A" and "I/O 2B".

If you want to stick to Digitrax for your workbench you might find the Digitrax Zephyr is good enough. My workbench unit is a NCE Power Pro 5.
 
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The scan is about finished.
I will try 25%. I have been using a 5K resistor.
I remembered to set the BOD and I/O.
I may look at the Zephyr.
 
I think I was editing while you were posting.

What I added was the suggestion to try the Auto Sensitivity setting feature of Decoder Pro.

We already know that Decoder Pro is talking to the WatchMan.

By trying that feature we are taking TC out of the loop.
 
No I didn't. I will try that.

I didn't see the instructions down at the bottom of the page.
When I read the back they had all changed to 255.
 
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Dick suggested that I put an engine on the track when using pulse.
Doesn't appear to hurt it and the light is on.
 
rzw0wr said:
Dick suggested that I put an engine on the track when using pulse.
Doesn't appear to hurt it and the light is on.
Click to expand...

That should be fine.

When doing the "auto" procedure you will save time if you only try it on the one input connected to the coil for the block under test.
 
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