Up until just a few days ago my JMRI and Digitrax PR4 were working perfectly to program my DCC equipped locomotives. Yesterday I added a Digitrax decoder to one of my Atlas GP40's, programmed the decoder using my DT500 throttle and all went well. I then wanted to add my locomotive to my JMRI roster, using the "Read All Sheets" function and that is when things took a turn for the worse. I plugged my PR4 into my computer, plugged in the PR4 power supply, started JMRI, selected "New Loco" and since I knew the decoder I just choose it from the list and opened the "comprehensive programmer". I then selected "Read All Sheets" and something happened that has never happened before, the locomotive started moving down the programming track at a slow and steady speed. I had to grab the locomotive to keep it from running off the end of the programming track. When I looked at all the CV values on the JMRI sheet, the vast majority of them had the value of 255. What could have gone wrong? Has this happened to anyone else? if yes, what was the solution to fix this problem? Things I've tried so far: Re-installing the JMRI software Deleting and re-installing the PR4 driver software Checked the voltage of the PS14 power supply None of the above fixed the problem and the power supply definitely has an output voltage of approx. 15 VDC. A little info about my current computer, I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit on a Dell XPS 8100 with an Intel I7 860 @ 2.80GHz with 8 GB of RAM. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Hi Rich - I can't help you, but if you post your problem on the JMRI Users Group, I'm sure you'll get the help you need. The actual JMRI developers are members of the group. You'll have to join the group before you can post. https://groups.io/g/jmriusers - Jeff
A Quick update. A fellow modeler on the JMRI users group suggested I try a couple different locomotives to see what happens and that turned out to be a very good idea. As it turns out JMRI was able to identify the decoders in those two locomotives within seconds. I contacted Digitrax support with my problem and they did not have an answer why I could program my decoder in question with my DT500, run the locomotive on my layout without issue, but neither JMRI or Digitrax Sound Loader could read the decoder in question on the test track. The good news is there is nothing wrong with my PR4, the problem lies in the DN163A0 decoder. Since that decoder is currently working without issue, I'm going to call it good enough.
Well folks, back to the drawing board. My JMRI and Digitrax Sound Loader program can't read the locomotives today, that they were able to read yesterday. Now I'm beginning to wonder, is it an issues with my PR4, the PS14 power supply or both? The voltage from my PS14 without being plugged into my PR4 is 15 VDC. The voltage on my test track with the PS14 plugged into the PR4 and after starting the JMRI program with a decoder equipped locomotive on the test track fluctuates between 7.34 and 9.46 VAC. Can anyone confirm if these values are within reason, too low or too high? Yes I know the DCC voltage is actually RMS Volt / Amps, but my Fluke meter does not have a RMS setting, so I'm just reading the voltage in AC for a close enough reading. Thanks in advance for any and all help.
Just a quick update. A new PS14 did not fix the problem. It looks like I'll be sending the PR4 back to Digitrax for repair or replacement.
Update #2. The PR4 is not defective, it appears the problem is two fold and the second issues I stumbled upon by accident. A member of the JMRI users group sent me his port settings which indeed were different from mine. Once I change my port settings to the one he sent, JMRI and the PR4 were functioning properly. The next day I tried to use my PR4 and the JMRI software and I was back to square one, that is when I realized I had looked up a couple of things on the internet using Firefox before hooking up my PR4 and opening my JMRI software. So I rebooted the computer, hooked up my PR4, opened the JMRI software and it was running as expected. I have no idea why Mozialla Firefox Quantum 68.0.2 (64-bit) interferes with either my JMRI software or the PR4, but that appears to be the case. Now for the tech info: I'm currently running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit with 8 gig of RAM on a Dell Studio XPS 8100 with an intel i7 CPU running at 2.8 GHz. The Port Settings are: Bits per second = 9600 Data bits = 8 Parity = None Stop bits = 1 Flow Control = None FIFO buffers both set to high Hopefully this information will be helpful to anyone else who encounters this issue.
I'm not familiar with JMRI and not a fan of Digitrax, but seriously, a 300ma power supply? That's barely enough to run a single locowith out sound. It's no surprise the voltage drops a lot under load.
