Sprogs

[yelrow]

hi, have sprog 2 and 3, and have an MTH loco, that refuses to POM, using my Hornby Elite.  Can anyone advise in very simple terms how to set up, and do it, with a Sprog. thanks.

[dhjgreen]

Just bumping this in the hope Crosland, Mr Sprog, sees it

[Butler Henderson]

Sprog 3 needs a 2.5 amp regulated power supply of between 12 and 18 v and decoder pro running on a pc

Sprog 2 needs needs a 1 amp( minimum) regulated power supply of between 12 and 15 v and decoder pro running on a pc

http://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/faq.shtml

 

Drivers for your pc can be found at http://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/download.shtml and note the installation instructions for differing operating systems and versions.

[Nigelcliffe]

For the MTH loco, suggest googling the specific model in question.  Some MTH products have a reputation of not programming easily on DCC because MTH use their own proprietary digital control system which isn't the same as DCC.  This old thread (which goes on to talk about Elites may help) - it implies the loco may need to be "turned on" before programming an address change.

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122463-mth-locomotives-and-dcc/

 

And this page from NCE may also help, giving alternative CVs which can be set to change addresses if directly changing CV1 or CV17/18 isn't possible:

https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201499765-MTH-Protosound-2-CV8-27-

[ColinK]

I too have a sprog and power supply, but never used it as I’m not sure what to do.

[Nigelcliffe]

I too have a sprog and power supply, but never used it as I’m not sure what to do.

 

At the EM Gauge Society AGM in Hexham in a few weeks time, I'm doing the DCC Demo Table.  I can go through Sprog basics if you come along. 

[Crosland]

Just bumping this in the hope Crosland, Mr Sprog, sees it

 

I have been away

 

If you want to POM (as with the Elite) then you need to set the JMRI preference for the SPROG to SPROG Command Station mode. You can only write (not read) when programming on the main.

 

I am afraid I can't offer specific MTH help, but Nigel's reply looks helpful, although I'm not sure of he's refeering to POM or programming track (service mode) programming.

 

Or maybe I've missed the point completely

[ColinK]

At the EM Gauge Society AGM in Hexham in a few weeks time, I'm doing the DCC Demo Table.  I can go through Sprog basics if you come along.

 

Many thanks Nigel, that would be really useful. Its one of my rare Saturdays off work but I’m already booked on a railtour.

[Butler Henderson]

I too have a sprog and power supply, but never used it as I’m not sure what to do.

Look up my previous posting in this thread and download the requisite drivers and decoder pro, and follow the appropriate instructions for installing the drivers - you will need an appropriate usb lead to connect the SPROG to the computer, Connect the output of the SPROG to a spare length of track, put decoder fitted loco on the track and launch decoder pro - see page 19 onwards of this pdf http://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/downloads/SprogIIUserGuide.pdf (note the earlier bits in the pdf re driver installation are largely out of date unless you are using a c 2007 operating system.

[Butler Henderson]

One thing to add is if you have a SPROG II (not a SPOG IIv3) then if you are using W10 after every major update to W10 you have to reinstall the drivers - a long winded progress as you have to reboot the pc first of all and disable driver signing as per the first time you installed the drivers on W10  - the same applies to the initial install for all SPROGs on W8 or W8.1 (should any one still be using that awful operating system)

http://www.sprog-dcc.co.uk/downloads/Win8-10Installation.pdf

[yelrow]

Hi, thanks. Will need a lot of time to understand all this, but have loaded decoder pro on laptop. Its a pity that my Elite on POM, does not appear to be able to talk to MTH loco. Whatever i do, it remains on 03. Runs and chuffs happily on DC, but nothing works on DCC. Cant be decoder, as cab chat also works on DC.

[mikeg]

My O gauge loco has a switch that changes from mth to DCC mode to allow changing the address and programming the CV’s but it has to be done in POM on any system according to the manual that comes with the loco.

 

Hope this may help, mike

[yelrow]

mIked, hi, thanks, better class of loco, 0 gauge.  Does it tell you in your manuel, how to POM, and what controller, do you use. john

[Butler Henderson]

Christmas present from Andrew Crosland (he of SPROG) as he has published details of how to avoid the necessity to reinstall a SPROG II after every major W10 update. The details are on the sprog-dcc@groups.io group.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Butler Henderson

[ColinK]

On 08/11/2018 at 19:34, ColinK said:

I too have a sprog and power supply, but never used it as I’m not sure what to do.

 

Last week one of my friends came to see me and we downloaded DecoderPro onto my iMac and set up the Sprog.

 

I’m having two problems for which any advice is appreciated.

 

First a computer problem, I’ve used the Sprog to download all the DCC settings from four locos, but having great difficulty finding where it has saved them on my computer. Is there a default place it uses?

 

Second, after doing three non-sound locos,  last loco I got it to ‘read all sheets’ was a Hornby Class 50 with Biff’s sounds on a ESU v4, it took 52 minutes to download all the settings into decoderpro, during this time the loco shuddered while the chip was read. Is the long time and shuddering normal?

 

Thanks

[Nigelcliffe]

Answering the questions from ColinK

 

There is a folder for a "user" of JMRI - should in the documentation, I know where it goes in Windows, but not MacOS.  Within that, will be your preference settings and the "roster" and a roster folder with all the loco's details.   So that's where they end up, but you only need them if wanting to share them with another machine for some reason.    Search for "roster" might find the relevant folder, and work out from there ?

 

ESU LokSound V4's.  Yes, will take ages, the shuddering is the "ack" pulse back from the decoder: some loco/decoder combinations pulse more than others.  
There are 6400 settings for ESU's function map alone, and well over a thousand individual CV's to read, many of which require two other's to be set before they can be read.     Once all are read in, you have the settings for that loco, so shouldn't need to read everything again for that loco.  There are a few tricks to speed it up a little, but bottom line is a V4 (and presumably the new V5) take a very long time to do the initial read.     The Sprog is fairly quick at this, some other systems are slower. 
The only thing which is a lot faster is the ESU LokProgrammer, but that uses a proprietary method to communicate with the decoder, which ESU don't document for anyone else to make use of (so the hardware method isn't available even if Mr-Sprog-maker wanted to use it, and the software isn't available so JMRI could include the LokProgrammer).   So everyone else has to read things by CV's. 

 

 

 

- Nigel

 

[ColinK]

Thanks Nigel.  I’ve located the folder with the roster in it, although it was a bit difficult to find.

 

Thanks too for confirming the time and juddering are normal.  Just need a few days to do all the locos.