Loco stops when selecting it using NCE

[rockershovel]

Experimenting with DCC at the club test track using an NCE controller, I find that;

 

1) select a loco code, operate the throttle and the loco will move

2) select another loco code, and the first loco will continue as before

3) operate the throttle, and the second loco will move

 

So far, so good

 

However re-selecting the FIRST loco, results in the SECOND loco continuing as before, while the FIRST one comes to a stop and awaits further commands.

 

Is this usual?

[SRman]

It is usual!

The first loco continues doing what it was last told to do. If you re-enter it on the NCE cab, that returns all settings back to zero as it is like selecting a new loco.

To use the recall stack on the NCE, you need to press the 'recall' button once before selecting a second loco. Depending on how many recalls are enabled on the cab (two is the default, but you can have any number between one and six recall memory slots on newer Power Cabs of version 1.65, or on Power Pro systems), you can add further locos in this way - just press 'recall' once before adding the next loco until all 'slots' are full.

Assuming two 'slots', you can now toggle between the two locomotives described above by pressing 'recall'.

 

Using the recall stack is useful particularly if you have sound and lights, as the locomotives will continue to play the sounds regardless of which loco is selected from the recall stack.

Read the manual to find out how to increase or decrease the number of recall slots. It's not difficult to achieve. The manuals are available online as PDF documents if you don't actually own an NCE system and are only using it at your club.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Worth mentioning that this is not a feature of DCC, but a design decision made for that system. There are systems that maintain operation on previous settings whether the decoder is recalled from a stack or entered numerically. (That was a biggie for me in deciding what system to choose.)

[Pete the Elaner]

Once in the recall stack, it knows what the last command sent was so displays this & maintains movement.

The system cannot read settings so in order for you to see what the loco is doing, it sets all commands (speed, direction, sound, lights) to zero, so there is a logic to it.

This is known as SELECT LOCO REFRESH & can be disabled if your PowerCab uses v1.28b or later.

This can be changed as follows, but discuss it with the system owner first.

 

Press ESC on the throttle until SET COMMAND STATION appears.

Press ENTER to accept the current settings for each of the options displayed.

After SYSTEM RESET you should see SELECT LOCO REFRESH. Options are Y=1 & N=0.

The default setting of 1 switches everything to off when a loco is selected.

The default setting of 1 will switch lights & sound off when a loco outside of the recall stack is selected, though the loco itself will keep moving if it is already in motion.

 

This is straight from my PowerCab's release notes for the manual but I am not convinced the italic sentence is entirely correct. I can't test it easily because I have not used my PowerCab as a command station for several years.

[rockershovel]

That sounds like my project for Thursday... the club is often open on Thurs afternoon, and when I'm home my time is my own, so I go then rather than compete for the test track on Mondays