How do you work out the address of an unknown chip

[Multigauge]

Morning,

 

I'm a complete newbie to DCC and struggling with a couple of things that I can't find answers for by searching. Hopefully someone can help?

I purchased a Roco multimaus the other day which was split from a set and came complete with booster and mains power pack. 

 

I have a second hand Dapol n gauge class 73 which I bought in error - thought it was DC - over a year ago which has a hardwired chip in it, but I don't know what it's address was/is. In fairness, I don't even know that the chip is good.

 

How do I work out what it is so I can control it? I can't see in the manual that I have a way that clearly answers this. 

 

If the chip is no good, how could I tell? 

 

Thanks in advance

 

[RAF96]

If you can read CV1 ( controller dependant of course - I am not familiar with Roco kit) then you will see the decoder short address and essentially know the chip is alive - not necessarily that it is all good.

 

There is a chance it may have a long address held in CVs 17 & 18 but switched on from short to long via CV29. Again if you cannot read CVs on your controller then this info is not that much use to you.

 

Therefore if all else fails, simply readdress it to the address of your choice.

 

Edit - to find out what the decoder is you read CVs7 (decoder type id) &  8 (Manuf Code) then refer to NMRA list for the manufacturer and then to the manufacturer to decode the type..

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by RAF96

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Steep initial learning curve. Check your DCC system manual for how to programme an address.

 

As above, that enables you to overwrite whatever the current address might be, and also acts as the baseline test that the decoder is correctly installed. This is something that should always be dome with a new decoder installation, (so you need to learn how as a priority) and I would suggest worth doing to check a new acquisition with a decoder installed.

[Nigelcliffe]

As I understand the MultiMaus system, it cannot read decoder values.  So much of what RAF96 wrote isn't relevant to the owner of a MultiMaus.

 

Just program a new address into it, following the processes in the MultiMaus manual, and it should run. 

 

Unfortunately, identifying a decoder without the ability to read it (so you can get the manufacturer number) will come down to trying to visually match it to something.  Hard work.  

 

 

- Nigel

 

[grriff]

An alternative is to write the value 8 to CV8 (if your controller will do this). This will set the decoder back to 'factory' settings and the address of the loco will become 3.

[Tony Cane]

28 minutes ago, grriff said:

An alternative is to write the value 8 to CV8 (if your controller will do this). This will set the decoder back to 'factory' settings and the address of the loco will become 3.

Unfortunately this will not work on all types of decoder. For example Lenz gold requires the value 33 to be sent. And other decoders use a different CV.

[Pete the Elaner]

3 hours ago, Nigelcliffe said:

As I understand the MultiMaus system, it cannot read decoder values.

 

I considered a Multimaus when choosing a DCC system, so I remember some things about it.

I recall seeing that the red handset cannot read CVs but they also made a blue one which could.

When referring to a 'Multimaus', most of us assume this is the basic red control system.

 

After a little help from Google, it seem that Multimaus is a family of DCC control systems. The full system with the blue throttle (which I believe is also wireless) will read back CVs.

 

This old thread seems to contain more information:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/63147-how-to-read-back-cvs-on-the-roco-multimaus/&do=findComment&comment=818624

 

[richard brown]

I know that it might sound like a silly idea but why not pop down to your nears model show or model railway shop or model railway club someone there might be able to help. other idea will be to buy a sprog which will let you to read and write your decoder.

[grriff]

11 hours ago, richard brown said:

I know that it might sound like a silly idea but why not pop down to your nears model show or model railway shop or model railway club someone there might be able to help. other idea will be to buy a sprog which will let you to read and write your decoder.

But you will also need a computer running JMRI and a 12V regulated supply. I bought a SPROGII from ebay for around £28 and it's very good for reading and writing to decoders plus controlling DCC locos. However, there's not much point in the investment unless you want to establish a DCC layout.

[Ron Ron Ron]

18 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I considered a Multimaus when choosing a DCC system, so I remember some things about it.

I recall seeing that the red handset cannot read CVs but they also made a blue one which could.

When referring to a 'Multimaus', most of us assume this is the basic red control system.

 

After a little help from Google, it seem that Multimaus is a family of DCC control systems. The full system with the blue throttle (which I believe is also wireless) will read back CVs.

 

The system with the blue handset was the MultiMaus Pro, which was a wireless system (using the Zigbee wireless protocol).

The Pro could read back CV’s, unlike the regular MultiMaus.
It didn’t last that long as it was replaced by the Z21 only a few years after it first came out.

A red or grey (Fleischmann branded version of the red) handset can be plugged into and used with the Pro’s command station, but a blue handset cannot work with the regular MultiMaus system.

The Pro wasn’t a “full system” version of the MultiMaus, in the way that the NCE system is structured, but was an enhanced featured alternative to the regular MultiMaus, adding wireless handsets, a programming track output and the ability to read CV’s.

The system architecture was also different.

The regular red (or grey) MultiMaus handset has the Command Station function in the handset and the main system Booster in the base station, which Roco call an Amplifier. This base station also contains connections and switching for the handsets and the system power supply connections.

 

The MultiMaus Pro differed in locating the Command Station and Booster functions in the MultiZentrale Pro base station.

The blue MultiMaus Pro handset therefore doesn’t perform any Command Station functions. It’s just a wireless throttle, just as the current black WLAN MultiMaus handset is for the Z21 system.

 

I hope that makes things a little clearer.

 

As for the OP’s question......just perform a decoder reset and then program your own address for the loco.

 

 

 

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