Decoding Decoders

This week I have been working on the last two 442 class locos that I recently purchased second hand at the Brisbane Model Railway Show.  The first one had its motor replaced because it did not work.  I installed four LEDs and took it to the test track and for the life of me I could not get it to operate the lights correctly.  So I hit the Lenz decoder with a big hammer and reset it.  However, it was still giving me issues as I was using my portable NCE Powercab for the programming.  It was only today that I remembered that there was a documented bug with an old version of the Powercab that when you exited Program Track Mode, some function buttons were reversed and appeared to not work.  You guessed it, that happened to me.  I think I found that bug.  I could easily upgrade my Powercab to a later version but I only use it for programming locos and as a basic cab on my 5 Amp system.  Using it as a wireless radio throttle on my layout, that park of its features is rock solid.  So I think I was chasing my own tail on Friday afternoon when I was testing my loco on the programming track and I could not get some buttons to work correctly.  I thought the issue I was having was related to me not knowing what Lenz decoder was in the loco and me not knowing what CVs related to the various light functions that I had used.  However, on Saturday morning I took it to Shelton’s place to put it on his JMRI setup and see what that said when we put it on the test track and did an ‘Ident’ on the loco.  That didn't work that well.  Mind you it still did not detect it as a Lenz decoder, but that could have been operator error.

But eventually we got some of the lighting functions working on his layout.  So today I put it back on my layout and changed a few CV’s, recycled my Powercab, and gave it a new test and it seemed to work OK.  Through trial and error I worked out what value to set to a couple of CV's and now the lighting functions are all working correctly.  I just forgot about the known bug with the Powercab.  So that has been re-written to permanent memory in my brain for later retrieval.

The second Jumbo loco I was working on, was a dummy loco.  I just added a TCS 4 function FL4 decoder that I had laying around and wired up my standard 4 LEDs.  Everything worked first time.  So let’s say after this activity, that I am not a fan of Lenz decoders.  Finding Lenz manuals online and being able to determine if your decoder is of that type is next to impossible.  It might be different if you buy a new decoder and it comes with a manual and CV list.  Finding a list of their decoders online is also a waste of time.  We did find a CV list in Decoder Pro that says that the first function (F1) is directional and thus has two CVs associated with it.  I worked out the second CV that I needed to use and set it and it worked perfectly.

Today I thought I would give a few trains a run.  Let’s send a cheerio out there to Clinton, and yes the XPT got a run from Grafton to South Brisbane Interstate Station and back again.  It was running through Clapham Yard and it all of a sudden stopped.  On Closer inspection, there were two geckos dead on the track in front of it.  I have no idea how long they were there, or even how they got there.  So they were cleaned up and the train resumed its run.  I did have some issues with this train and I just hate it.  Wheels just derail for no reason.  

I did do some other pottering around.  I moved some wagons around on the narrow gauge and positioned the two Jumbos (in a consist in Cassino Yard.  I have also started fine tuning my presentation for the New England Model Railway Convention in October.