Getting ready for few days out of town but I thought I would this quandry out to you forum members since you have been most helpful in the past. I have a NCE dcc set up with the 1.28d2 vers Power Cab throttle. My programming track is simply a piece of flex track on a board away from the layout. Purchased the NCE interface with the hope of doing/learning decoder programming. This is powered by the wall wart that came with the Power Cab set. (2 amp I believe). Tried to set it all up to give it a try using an engine with a TCS decoder. This particular engine runs very well on the layout (and on the programming track). Hooked it all up and began the attempt to work some details on this decoder. The computer screen message came on and said no decoder found. I would be most appreciative for any hints that any of you may have that will lead me to solving this. Do I need more than 2 amps, or perhaps some decoders just don't register on this interface? Thanks Old Fat Robert
Were you able to run the locomotive on the test track using your Power Cab and the USB adaptor hooked up. You should be able to do this, If not check your wires, Loose ? Also check your track for any dirt, might just be dirty.
I believe it is the latest. I went ahead and bought the disk rather than download. But I may in fact just go ahead and download it anyway. Thanks for the advice.
You said the locomotive runs okay on the programming track, but can you read decoder CVs on the programming track with the Power Cab in programming track mode? I believe you use <prog>4 to enter the correct mode. If you can read the decoder with the Power Cab then check that the interface is installed properly and setup for Decoder Pro. The USB driver needs to be loaded. The jumpers on the USB interface need to be set to match how Decoder Pro is configured. I believe the default for the baud rate is 9600 which is JP1 off. In the preferences panel in JMRI you need to set the program for NCE USB, 9600, and Power Cab.
Markwr: Now we are getting somewhere! Thank you for the info. If you will allow me one more silly question: When you say that JP1 sbould "off" does that mean that the little shunt device should be on one of the posts amrked for those jumpers? I am assuming that if the shunt is on both posts then that jumper is "on". Thanks again. Old Fat Robert
Yes, if the jumper is on both pins it's "on". You can either completely remove the jumper or as you mentioned put it on one pin only. I usually put the jumpers on just one pin so I don't lose them if I need them in the future. Looking at the chart on page three of the instructions it looks like all the jumpers should be off for a Power Cab with version 1.28C. The chart shows jumper two on for a future version of the Power Cab. It doesn't state if this applies to version 1.28dv2. I would try it with all the jumpers off and see if it works. If not try jumper two only. Don't forget the configuration settings in the JMRI software. After making any changes in the software configuration you have to exit the program and restart it to get the changes to take effect.
I hope to have a few spare minutes this PM to try your suggestions. Thank you very much for your assistance. Old Fat Robert
Robert, FWIW--- I have a Power Cab 1.28C version and use the USB interface for JMRI. It had been so long back that I had set this up I had forgotten about the jumber pins on the USB board. The way mine is set up there are NO jumbers used. So maybe this will help.
