CML DTM30 question

[TEAMYAKIMA]

Hello

 

I have a large roundy roundy layout (15 road fiddle yard and three separate tracks in)

 

On advice I have used Digitrax DCC

 

I have very little knowledge of DCC and TBH very little tech knowledge at all - I read the manuals and just don't understand the language used.

 

I need route selection.

 

So here is my problem ………………..

 

On advice I have installed two DTM30's.

 

I have been told that each can handle 24 routes and each can deal with 30 points.

 

I need more than 24 routes - hence two DTM30's let's call them BOARDS A & B - and I use PECO point motors.

 

So as I see it routes 1-24 will be handled by BOARD A  and routes 25 onwards will be handled by BOARD B

 

My question is can any given point be linked to both BOARD A & B ?  I have been told that if a given point is included in the 30 points controlled by BOARD A then it cannot also be part of the 30 points controlled by BOARD B - that doesn't make sense to me, is that true?

 

Apologies that my tech knowledge/understanding is so poor- as I have said, I do read the manuals and simply don't understand the language

[RAF96]

I am not familiar with this particular bit of kit but to my mind there should be no reason why a single point could not be controlled in parallel by either/both control boards.

 

Edit: to remove incorrect opinion per nigelcliffe advice following.

 

Rob

Edited January 24, 2019 by RAFHAAA96

[Nigelcliffe]

Hello

 

I have a large roundy roundy layout (15 road fiddle yard and three separate tracks in)

 

On advice I have used Digitrax DCC

 

I have very little knowledge of DCC and TBH very little tech knowledge at all - I read the manuals and just don't understand the language used.

 

I need route selection.

 

So here is my problem ………………..

 

On advice I have installed two DTM30's.

 

I have been told that each can handle 24 routes and each can deal with 30 points.

 

I need more than 24 routes - hence two DTM30's let's call them BOARDS A & B - and I use PECO point motors.

 

So as I see it routes 1-24 will be handled by BOARD A  and routes 25 onwards will be handled by BOARD B

 

My question is can any given point be linked to both BOARD A & B ?  I have been told that if a given point is included in the 30 points controlled by BOARD A then it cannot also be part of the 30 points controlled by BOARD B - that doesn't make sense to me, is that true?

 

Apologies that my tech knowledge/understanding is so poor- as I have said, I do read the manuals and simply don't understand the language

 

 

You've got a very powerful, but very complicated piece of kit in the DTM30's.  They are capable of creating really nice control panels, doing all sorts of things.   But saying you can't follow manuals or tech stuff is going to be a serious problem with setting up the DTM30's.  You're either going to have to learn, or end up getting someone else to sort them.   The manual is complete, but its long, and it has to cover a huge amount of ground.  

One way to work through the manuals is by taking a lot of notes, and trying to relate it all to what you're trying to achieve.   You may end up having to build a small test rig, with a DTM30, using some of its connections, so you can practise using LocoAnalyse to set it up. 

 

 

 

I can't see any reason why a turnout cannot be put on both boards.  I don't know where your information came from. 

It would be unnecessary to connect wires to both boards from buttons controlling a single turnout - ie. on one board the turnout might have buttons+LED, but on the other it could be in a cell for logical/route reasons, but have no connections to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

The following about a DTM30 are relevant to your posting

 

There are connections for 60 push buttons and sixty LEDs on each DTM30 board. 

 

For direct control or information about turnouts (ie. buttons/LEDs associated with an individual turnout).   For such a turnout, it occupies a "point cell".  

Each cell can have none, one or two buttons controlling it, and has two LED outputs to show its state.

There are 30 cells per board, which means if all are used for "point cells" the maximum number of turnouts which can have direct control buttons and/or indicator LEDs is 30.

 

Next Routes.   

Spare buttons, not used for directly controlling the cells are used to trigger routes.  Or routes can be triggered by other methods.

There are 24 routes per board.

Routes can "cascade" to each other within the board.   So, it may be more efficient to have bits of routes which cascade together, than a lot of routes which effectively duplicate everything many times over. 

A Route on its own has twelve entries.   The entries are either Points which are already defined in Cells on the current board, those occupy a single entry,  OR Points not defined on the Cells, those take up two entries.   Therefore, if a Route consists of twelve Points, they must all be in Cells on the board.  Or it could consist of six Points not on the board, or some combination in between.

There are normal routes (one button per route) and there are "To/From" (or Entry-Exit) routes.  They are very slightly different how they are set. 

 

 

Its possible to link (cascade) routes between two DTM30's.  As each route can also be triggered by a turnout address (24 of them, sequentially, for each route in each board),  one method to link boards is to include a turnout in the first route which is the trigger address for that route on the second DTM30.  

 

 

 

I've missed out sensors and other topics not covered in your posting.   

 

 

 

One way forward might be to see a track plan, and an explanation of the routes required.  

 

  

 

 

 

I am not familiar with this particular bit of kit but to my mind there should be no reason why a single point could not be controlled in parallel by either/both control boards. You may have to use diodes in the point motor feeds to prevent Board A firing back into Board B and vice-versa. It would depend upon the internal circuitry of the boards, which we do not have to view.

 

Not being familiar with them is significant here.   Ignore sentences two and three above, it makes no sense in respect of a DTM30.    The DTM30 is a control panel on LocoNet,  perhaps analogous to a throttle which only controls turnouts - ie. its output is turnout instructions to the command station, which in turn sends them to the DCC output. 

Edited January 24, 2019 by Nigelcliffe