Problem with older #2 Hand Held Remote Control Starting up my P2 2-8-0 Engine.

Dave,

Does the engine have the same DCS ID# in both remotes?

Have you tried deleting the engine and reloading it into this remote?

 This seems to happen to all of us once in a while...  As Barry mentioned delete and add again will probably  cure the problem but we still will probably  never know why this happens... I don't know  if  using  BCRs would have any influence. 

 have you upgraded to V 5 yet Dave?

Barry & Greg,

   In the newer remote it's #4 in the older remote it's #3, have not deleted and re-loaded it, will also give this a try.  The 263E however is #1 in both remotes and works with both remotes perfectly.  Is there some programming reason the 2-8-0 needs to be the same number in both remotes?

PCRR/Dave

Dave,

Is there some programming reason the 2-8-0 needs to be the same number in both remotes?

It must be the same because the engine only has room in its memory for one address, and the one it has is from the last time it was added to a remote.

If you have it in 2 remotes, you can edit the one where it works so that it has the same DCS ID# of the one where it doesn't work. That will make it work in both remotes.

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition", available for purchase from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

Barry,

   I must have missed reading that the numbers must be the same in all remotes, what page is it on, in Vol #3, I will re-read it now.  Seldom do I miss something like this in your book, must have read right thru it, and not obsorbed the directions.  Attention to engineering detail, thanks much for the continued education!  Will comply.

PCRR/Dave

Dave, I recently had a remote that was acting up intermittently.  Opened it up and found that the antenna wire center core soldered connection to the board had failed.

As Barry points out, a loco MUST have the same ID# in all remotes.  This is why I strongly recommend only adding locos to a designated remote, and then using the Loader program to clone others.  Then all locos have the same IDs in all remotes, and all softkeys are the same and in the same order.  (Also comes in handy when my grandson hits the read button while 20+ locos are unpowered

I hate to say it, but it is also possible that overvoltage was applied from that unregulated recharge system that you plug, and damaged internal components.

But all in all, I think the ID issue is the problem.

Barry,

   Thanks much for the education, deleted the #3 and it re-added as #4, both now being #4, both remotes work perfectly controlling the 2-8-0 engine, I still can not find this directive in your DCS O gauge Companion book, it may be there but I have not been able to reference it at this point.  Got to admit I have been very lucky adding engines cause this never happened before. When I add the GG-1 to the new remote I will definitely pay attention to the number picked, and make sure they are both the same in both remotes.

RJR,

    No over charge took place, you have to remember I just picked up this new Rev L with the Hand Held Remote and had Bill (Willygee) upgrade it to fully rechargeable this summer, to match my other older upgraded hand held remote.  Got to admit it's the best upgrade I have ever had done to my DCS.   I am now entering my engines into the new Hand Held Remote Control, of course I put the 263E in as my #1 engine, and it matched the old remote, was not so careful about the other engines, because I believed the individual engines had a bigger memory and the number on the remote did not really matter, as usual I had to come back to Barry and get further education, course that has been going on sense  DCS came out, even before there was a book.   From now on however, all engines will be the same number on all my Hand Held Remotes.  Man if you have a lot of engines and your boy plays games with the read button you better set up the cloning operation and keep it handy.  Maybe MTH should upgrade the Hand Held Remote Control with a way to lock out the Read Button, like entering a security number or something before usage.

PCRR/Dave

Read button lockout

RJR posted:

Dave, I recently had a remote that was acting up intermittently.  Opened it up and found that the antenna wire center core soldered connection to the board had failed.

As Barry points out, a loco MUST have the same ID# in all remotes.  This is why I strongly recommend only adding locos to a designated remote, and then using the Loader program to clone others.  Then all locos have the same IDs in all remotes, and all softkeys are the same and in the same order.  (Also comes in handy when my grandson hits the read button while 20+ locos are unpowered

I hate to say it, but it is also possible that overvoltage was applied from that unregulated recharge system that you plug, and damaged internal components.

But all in all, I think the ID issue is the problem.

RJR..over voltage impossible as we are using a 6 volt battery to charge a DCS remote that runs on 6 volts.

 I thought you were referring to having a engine added to  2 remotes using the same tiu and having the same id number.  The engine  runs ok  with  one remote but not the other one....  this  happens occasionally as well. 

  As you know an engine  ID  sticks with the engine  and doesn't  change unless edited or factory reset.. 

Willygee,

    Bill the problem with the manual lock out is not with adults, the kids are going to remove it, but it is a way cool lock out, if I remember correctly you showed it one time before, when we were talking about the Read Button.  Still a great idea!

PCRR/Dave

RJR,

   This is why I leave the DCS upgrading to Electrical Engineers like Bill, he knows his stuff!   My own electrical engineering knowledge only goes so far, at NASA we had guys like Bill that I relied on heavily, not going to change the way I do things now.  Bill's upgrade is some of the best money I have ever spent on my DCS package, in fact MTH should put Bill on staff and make all the new Hand Held Remote Controls fully rechargeable.

PCRR/Dave

Dave,

I still can not find this directive in your DCS O gauge Companion book

In the 3rd edition, it's on pages 53-54, as follows:

If a DCS engine is added to more than one remote, it will not necessarily be assigned the same DCS ID# in all remotes, but rather, a DCS engine will have the DCS ID# assigned to it by the last remote to which it was added. This is the DCS ID# by which the engine must be addressed. Any remote that has the engine with an ID# different from the one in the engine's memory will be unable to command the engine and will get errors when it attempts to do so. Therefore, it is always advisable to keep DCS Remotes in sync by ensuring that DCS engines have the same DCS ID# in all DCS Remotes.

If engines are to be added to more than one remote, it's important that they always have the same engine ID# in each remote. When adding an engine, first add it to one remote and then repeat the ADD ENGINE command for each additional remote. If you follow this process starting with the first engine you add to DCS and continue it with all subsequent engines, your remotes will always be in sync with regard to engine ID#s.

When changing an engine ID# of an engine already in one or more remotes, ensure that the engine ID# to which you desire to change the engine is available in all remotes where the engine resides. To keep DCS engines in sync when changing their DCS ID#s in multiple DCS Remotes, first change the engine ID# in the first remote. Once the engine ID# has been changed in the first remote, delete the engine from the second remote and re-add it to the second DCS Remote. Repeat these steps for each additional remote in which the engine's DCS ID# is to be changed.

For additional technical explanation of DCS engine ID#s, refer to Appendix E: The Truth About DCS Engine ID Numbers.

As noted, Appendix E, on page 229, has a more detailed, "under the hood" discussion of DCS ID#'s.

This and a whole lot more is all in MTH’s “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition", available for purchase from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at MTH's web store!

Pine Creek Railroad posted:

Willygee,

    Bill the problem with the manual lock out is not with adults, the kids are going to remove it, but it is a way cool lock out, if I remember correctly you showed it one time before, when we were talking about the Read Button.  Still a great idea!

PCRR/Dave

I inadvertently hit my "READ" button and it completely scattered individual member settings in a 5 engine MU...easily fixed but a pain. Both of my remotes now tamper proof

Barry,

    Thanks much for the reference point, and I just went back and yellow high lighted that information, on page 54 in Vol 3, thanks much for the on going DCS education, and thanks very much for participating here on the OGR forum, I have always considered us lucky to have your engineering expertise here.

PCRR/Dave

Willygee,

   Bill its probably something I should do also, great idea!

PCRR/Dave

Both of my remotes now tamper proof

 Obviously, you don't have grandchildren of all ages.  They will find some feature to change you don't even know exists.