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N.C.E powercab add ons ?


Shedmaster 47
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Hi Folks..I have an N.C.E Powercab system ( handset , panel, 6 wire lead and power pack).....I am considering using a second powercab handset ( on special offer to me ) by using the coiled 4 wire cable purely as a second throttle ....

Would this idea work , or does it have to be one of these 06 cab things Ave heard about ??

Thanks

Allan

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Hi Folks..I have an N.C.E Powercab system ( handset , panel, 6 wire lead and power pack).....I am considering using a second powercab handset ( on special offer to me ) by using the coiled 4 wire cable purely as a second throttle ....

Would this idea work , or does it have to be one of these 06 cab things Ave heard about ??

Thanks

Allan

That should work fine, it will act like a ProCab throttle providing you use the coiled 4 wire cable as you suggest. You might have to adjust the cab address in ProCab mode so that it doesn't clash with the other Powercab.
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Hi Folks..I have an N.C.E Powercab system ( handset , panel, 6 wire lead and power pack).....I am considering using a second powercab handset ( on special offer to me ) by using the coiled 4 wire cable purely as a second throttle ....

Would this idea work , or does it have to be one of these 06 cab things Ave heard about ??

Thanks

Allan

 

It will certainly work - I've seen it done. But the lag on the second satellite throttle will be pretty marked

Edited by Ravenser
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A ProCab would be the natural extra handset, but a PowerCab handset will just act as a ProCab in this application.

 

(n.b. Obviously the built-in command station and booster will be isolated and redundant when used as an additional handset with the curly cable.)

 

 

.

Edited by Ron Ron Ron
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With version 1.28, the Power Cab would support one other throttle, be it Power Cab, Pro Cab, or Cab04, etc. That was the official line. Unofficially, at least later v1.28 Power Cabs would support two extra throttles; I proved this at an exhibition where I had three Power Cabs all hooked up, with one (address #2) on the six-wire flat cable as master, and the other two as throttles #3 and 4 on the four-wire coiled cables (using an extra UTP panel for the connection).

If you have version 1.65 (or have upgraded to this), then it should support three extra throttles. You can also program a slight delay on start-up for the slave Power Cabs so they don't try to fight the main command one for the initial start-up.

Currently, I use two Power Cabs and aPro Cab as 'slave' throttles on a Power Pro 5 amp system, with the third Power Cab attached semi-permanently to my programming track, so acting as a stand-alone Power Cab. All I have to do is unplug the latter and plug it into a coiled cable on the Power Pro system and it, too, becomes another throttle acting as a Pro Cab.

The beauty of this is there is no redundancy, apart from having a few spare six-wire flat cables lying around. :)

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Thanks very much for your detailed and informative reply SR MAN ..

My system is indeed the old

1:28 version and so too is the proposed spare cab ..I don't plan to expand more than the one "slave" cab anyway ....but like you say , simple enough to upgrade to version

1:65 with the purchase of a new

Eprom chip at some point from the likes of digitrains etc....

Many thanks again

Allan

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It will certainly work - I've seen it done. But the lag on the second satellite throttle will be pretty marked

 

 

Hi Ravenser;

Not sure what you mean by

"lag" on the second cab ...??

You mean there will be a delay between any throttle change made and the locomotive actually responding ??

 

 

I've seen nothing to suggest there would be any lag on the second handset, there certainly isn't anything noticable on my system.

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I've seen nothing to suggest there would be any lag on the second handset, there certainly isn't anything noticable on my system.

 

For what it's worth....

 

Before the layout went out to it's first show I invited my fellow operator round to have a play, as he was unfamiliar with the layout and relatively new to DCC . He brought with him his new NCE Powercab, and for the hell of it we plugged it into the spare socket to see how it would work - something I'd not tried before (as I only have one Powercab myself...)

 

There was a very noticeable lagged response when using the slave handset compared with the immediate response from the main one. So much so that we said "Blow that for a lark" and disconnected it, agreeing that we wouldn't try that at a show...

 

My Powercab is relatively old (2008) and has not been upgraded;  his was new (2015)

 

When I say "lagged response" - you could have counted to two before things  reacted.

 

Evidently this shouldn't happen - but it did, and I can offer no explanation why it did, only that it happened

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For what it's worth....

 

Before the layout went out to it's first show I invited my fellow operator round to have a play, as he was unfamiliar with the layout and relatively new to DCC . He brought with him his new NCE Powercab, and for the hell of it we plugged it into the spare socket to see how it would work - something I'd not tried before (as I only have one Powercab myself...)

 

There was a very noticeable lagged response when using the slave handset compared with the immediate response from the main one. So much so that we said "Blow that for a lark" and disconnected it, agreeing that we wouldn't try that at a show...

 

My Powercab is relatively old (2008) and has not been upgraded;  his was new (2015)

 

When I say "lagged response" - you could have counted to two before things  reacted.

 

Evidently this shouldn't happen - but it did, and I can offer no explanation why it did, only that it happened

 

I assume when the 2nd Powercab was plugged, it used the curly cord, not the flat cord?

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For what it's worth....

 

Before the layout went out to it's first show I invited my fellow operator round to have a play, as he was unfamiliar with the layout and relatively new to DCC . He brought with him his new NCE Powercab, and for the hell of it we plugged it into the spare socket to see how it would work - something I'd not tried before (as I only have one Powercab myself...)

 

There was a very noticeable lagged response when using the slave handset compared with the immediate response from the main one. So much so that we said "Blow that for a lark" and disconnected it, agreeing that we wouldn't try that at a show...

 

My Powercab is relatively old (2008) and has not been upgraded;  his was new (2015)

 

When I say "lagged response" - you could have counted to two before things  reacted.

 

Evidently this shouldn't happen - but it did, and I can offer no explanation why it did, only that it happened

 

I assume the second cab was using the correct (curly) cable and had its address changed to 3?

 

What happened if you used the cab with the latest firmware as the command station ?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I assume the second cab was using the correct (curly) cable and had its address changed to 3?

 

What happened if you used the cab with the latest firmware as the command station ?

 

We used the correct cable (I looked in the manual first) , but we didn't try using the newer cab as the command station, and I can't remember that we changed the address of the second cab

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We used the correct cable (I looked in the manual first) , but we didn't try using the newer cab as the command station, and I can't remember that we changed the address of the second cab

 

In that case I woud suspect that the delay you experienced was caused by both throttles having the same Cab address.

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using an extra UTP panel for the connection).

Hi Folks; Ave hooked everything up and used the curly lead plugged into the right hand socket on the main ( red led ) panel ..with the main powercab plugged into the left socket using the flat 6 wire cable ...

I have changed the cab address for the slave to NO 3 .....

The main cab works great ad it always has ; however I carnt get the slave powercab to run a train although the display lights up !!!

Must I use one of these UTP. panel things to make things work ??

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I would suggest booting up the NCE system using the throttle with the latest version of firmware, making sure the address of the throttle is set to 2.  Once the system has booted up plug the other throttle in using the curly cable and change its address to 3.

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Thanks Bromsgrove mods ....this is exactly what I have done , but the second cab won't run anything !!!

 

Did you plug the second cab in once the first had completely booted up?  What was displayed on the second cab as you connected it up? 

 

Where are you located?

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Hi bromsmods

The second cab is version 1:28 .

The " master" ( powercab ) is version 1:68 ....

It don't seam to matter if I plight them both in at once. Or plug the second cab in after a little pause ...it won't run anything !! Ave already set a delay on the second cab ....

My location is near Abergele north Wales....

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Hi gents;

              Thank you all very much for the detailed and informative help and advice to the questions asked about my N.C.E system.

 After rechecking through all the posts and following the advice given ;i appear to have solved the problem !!!!     I HOPE !!

     It seams that i had somehow got the two handsets mixed up .i was in fact trying to use the 1;28 version as the "power cab" ( set to address 3 ) and the other handset ( version 1:68 )  as the "slave" throttle ,set to address 2  !!!

             Having "swapped " over the handsets and double-checked the displays to be certain ; i have now marked the cabs so their  is NO mistaking them anymore !!!

                        ( this will teach me NOT to try to control model railways while  "dog -tired" after midnight !!! )

                 I  plugged the system in to the wall socket and let it  "power-up" and after a few seconds i then plugged the second handset into the same control panel( using the coiled lead )  and waited for it to power up also.

    Hey Presto !!    i entered an loco address and not only got movement at the throttle , but all function and sounds too !!      At last making me one very happy modeler !!

 

          THANK-YOU  once again for all your help, advice and patience  gents in getting this issue resolved .

 

                 Kind regards 

                                      Allan

 

P.S   I use my mobile to access this site mostly ,is there  a way of deleting this  entire conversation now its resolved ???

          OR  is it perhaps best left on here ,to possibly be of some help to others at some point ??

                                      Thanks again...

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