Prodigy Decoder Doctor

[banburysaint]

I have a DCC system (Digitrax) that does not read back CVs so it makes alteration of them rather hard bar addresses. I am considering purchasing the Gauge Master Prodigy Decoder Doctor which would allow me to programme and read/write CVs. Has any one had any experience of the product? It retails at around £75.

 

Thanks in advance of any advice you can provide.

[Nigelcliffe]

I assume you have a Digitrax Empire Builder, as all other Digitrax systems have a programming track capability.  

 

If you are happy using a computer, then I suggest either

( a ) a Digitrax PR3 - can read decoders back, and also acts as a bridge from your system to a computer allowing lots of additional control options

( b ) a Sprog IIv3 - can read back decoders far better than most systems available (PR3 included), very fast at it as well.  Can test run locos, and even run a small layout.  But doesn't connect to your Digitrax system.

 

Both are cheaper than the Gaugemaster product.

 

Both connect to a computer via USB, and then use the JMRI / DecoderPro software package.  The software stores all the CVs for you, keeps everything in a roster (database of your locos/decoders), so if a loco does get scrambled it can be restored, presents information in easier to understand form: eg. sliders for speed tables, and so on.

 

 

If computers are out of the question, then someone who has used the Gaugemaster will have to comment. 

 

- Nigel

[banburysaint]

Nigel - 

 

Thank you for the comprehensive and helpful reply. You are correct that i have an empire builder You have certainly opened my eyes to be possibilities of the two products that i was previously unaware of. I did not consider that computer control was a possibility. They are clearly superior to the gaugemaster product. 

 

I had a look through the Wickness models site which showed a few screen shots of the software in use (using the Sprog product), but i presume that this would be common to both this and the digitrax product, and it looks fairly easy to use - adding numbers to boxes and sliders for example from a tabular menu. Its good that there is flexibility with the PR3 to run it either connected to or isolated from the layout.

 

I have been discussing the options with my wife who doesn't find the current hand set particularly intuitive. I also have a daughter who is 21 months old who no doubt in time will want to run the layout under supervision. She enjoys watching the locos running round already especially those with sound! To this end is it possible to use the PR3 with a software product that would allow me to create a visual track diagram which can be clicked on the PC to operate the accessories (points/signals). Further more would this software allow the locos be selected from the roster and run from the PC where the loco can have a 'picto gram'/picture so that it is clear to a 'small person' which loco is being selected. 

 

Many thanks again for your time and assistance 

 

Peter 

[Ron Ron Ron]

If anyone's interested, there was a discussion about the Decoder Doctor on the Model RailRoader magazine forum, a while back.

 

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/t/243430.aspx

 

 

 

.

[Nigelcliffe]

Peter,
 
from what you've written, buy the PR3 Xtra, and install JMRI.  ( www.jmri.org )   That does everything you've mentioned (track diagrams, pictures of locos and loco features on throttles on a screen, tablet or smartphone, etc. etc..).   

     As a loco programming device, the Sprog is superior, but your list of requirements goes into layout control, so the PR3 wins.  I own both.

 

You will need to understand how to change the settings (in software only, JMRI doesn't need the push buttons on the PR3) from "stand alone" (used for the programming terminals) and as an interface to the Empire Builder.
 http://www.jmri.org/help/en/html/hardware/loconet/PR3.shtml

With your setup, I would use the PR3 as "stand alone" to read in the decoders to the JMRI Roster, then change over to a layout interface, and do all subsequent programming "on the main" through the computer to the Empire Builder.  JMRI will record all your CV changes. 
 
If you/wife have an Apple or Android phone or tablet, then install either WiThrottle (Apple, worth getting the paid version if you find the basic free works) or EngineDriver (Android, free) and connect it to the computer using the WiThrottle Server within JMRI - a 21st century throttle.   Any smartphone/tablet can connect to the "Webserver" process within JMRI for track diagrams (etc).   

The screen shots on the Wickness site give an overview, but don't get into any detail as the examples he's chosen for LokSound decoders have been massively re-vamped.
 
 

JMRI is an open source project, what gets added is what the developers are interested in.  Its a bit like a large meccano set (supplied without full instructions): there are a vast number of possibilities within it, often many ways to do the same thing, but you have to do a bit of work to get it to work.  The upside is a good support email list on Yahoo, and a developer community who will usually fix issues in days.  

There are numerous other software packages around which work with Digitrax hardware, including RocRail (mostly free), TrainController (costs money), Model Railroad Automation (free and looks interesting), and that's not a complete list.

(There is another thread running on the forum about JMRI and computer track diagrams, etc.).
 
 

- Nigel

  (User Interface Designer of the "Decoder Pro" roster view in JMRI ).

[banburysaint]

Nigel

 

Many thanks. I will take the plunge as you suggest. Here is to some more fun and learning

 

Peter

[ChrisG]

After a poor start, which turned out to be caused by an intermittent connection between the "Decoder Doctor" and the programming track, I am finding this is a useful piece of kit. It has revolutionised the job of setting up decoders, and a huge gain is that I can keep the layout running whilst doing so (it's still in test mode so I like to set locos off on long runs to iron out the gremlins).

 

There are a few glitches - I haven't been able to make the "test loco" function work - this is where you should be able to run a loco on low power and low speed on the programming track. And I have one loco (fitted with a DCC Concepts "Stay Alive" which I suppose may be the cause) which becomes a slow-moving  runaway on the programming track when I set a CV. In fact, most locos move a little whilst having their CVs read. 

 

Anyway, very quickly this morning I have made improvements to the running characteristics of a couple of locos and I feel this is going to be a very useful piece of kit.

 

In case you are confused, I had put up an earlier post full of doom and gloom - I've now deleted it having discovered the intermittent connection.

 

Chris

[Adrian Wintle]

. In fact, most locos move a little whilst having their CVs read. 

 

 

That is completely normal. Feedback from the decoder is by momentarily adding a load, typically by pulsing the motor.

 

Adrian

[Ron Ron Ron]

 

 

[Phil S]

In G Scale, certanly, if not for some other 'gauges'/sizes, the Stay-Alive device is Switched out-of-use when programming because of its natural tendancy to power the decoder/loco for a prolonged period.