Thanks, thats good info. I had no idea what would happen and I was afraid that I might destroy my DCC equipment.
The PowerCab in programme mode will allow you to see the CV values before changing them. If the CV is what you need you just skip past by pressing enter. Add TCS to your list - ID = 153. Latest software update is 5.0 (50)
Unless your DCC equipment is horribly faulty, there isn't much of a way you will destroy it by using it. It should have an internal trip that will disconnect the power in the case of a short. Having said that, I would stand in a puddle and touch your bus wires with wet fingers... just in case the circuit breaker doesn't work. The likelihood of trouble is really low, but why push it?
That a Lenz decoder, I change enough of them to know what they look like. Look at the side of the Atlas box that the locomotive came in, it will tell you that it is a Lenz LE062XF. The only time Atlas use a Digitrax decoder was in 97 with the first run of GP40-2. Atlas change to NEC decoder last year and they should be better.
I was just looking at the Digitrax dn163a1 that is supposed to be a replacement for this loco, but it doesn’t look like this one i got, so I have no idea why the NCE PowerCab says its a Digitrax. I don’t know anything about this stuff, but is it possible that someone programmed a Digitrax ID in a Lenz?
I identified it as a Digitrax DN147A I came across the original plastic box while looking for something else and it is an Atlas #49204 SD-60M Decoder Ready Loco. It also has written on the side in pen the number DN147A. I looked it up and the drawing in the PDF looks just like it.:thumbs_up: I haven't had it in the case since I bought it on eBay and this is the first that I saw number on the side. cool:
CV 8 is our friend, it wouldn't lie to us. Writing to the manufacturer's id is used to reset the decoder, but it doesn't overwrite the id.
Finding the case made me remember that I have two or three other DCC Locos that I bought 3 years ago from a train show in Bakersfield that are still unaccounted for. I remember because I had the vender install a Digitrax decoder in one of them right from his booth at the show. I didn’t have a DCC system at the time and packed them away somewhere. So now I got to start looking for those. This whole ordeal has me thinking that I need to come up with a identification system so that I know what is DCC and what is not.
Johnny.... I use a fine point Sharpie permanent marker on the bottom of the fuel tank. Even on black tanks the marker is still visible...but not distracting. I use a small "/" for DC and when converted to DCC I make that "/" into a "X"...Just the way I do it... ;-) .
Thanks George, I was thinking about those colored stick-on dots, but your idea sounds like a better idea. :thumbs_up:
Hi Johhny, Well I store all of the locomotives in thier cases and I place a peel and stick colored dot about the size of a quarter or so on the bottom of the case. I do this so I can write the decoder info on the dot, and the mere presence of the dot means it is a locomotive with DCC. Since they come in different colors, I use a different colored dot to represent the manufacturer. A green dot means Lenz and the SM written on it means Silver Mini. I use Blue for Digitrax and it would have the Digitrax number on it (DN163K1B). It is a system that works well for me.
I used to keep everything in their boxes, but then I would have ten or twenty plastic boxes in my way every time I wanted to run trains and it just got to be more time consuming. This is why I’m building a new yard/staging layout so I can just leave everything out. I still keep all the boxes just in case I want to sell something and I think I will mark the boxes as well. I guess the ultimate solution would be to sell all the DC stuff. :tb-biggrin:
