Nigelcliffe

This is the Common Return version of wiring: It is VERY IMPORTANT to have a consistent rail-side for the return (black), so as a loco moves around the layout, the same side of the loco is always on the return (black) rail. If not sure, start at one power connector, and select one rail as "return" (black). Follow that rail around until you get to another power feed, and mark the same side as "return/black". Keep doing this tracing for every power feed. (For a circular layout this results in the "return" being "inside rail" or "outside rail" - doesn't matter which, so long as you're consistent). Isolated rail breaks only needed in the switched rail (green), but most would put isolators on the return (black) as well. And, yes, this does all work, you can have a loco in Sidings-1 on Control-A going in the opposite direction to a loco on Inner Loop on Control-B. Kevin's suggestion of using the outer control knobs on the QS seems very sensible; much more likely to grab the "correct" control knob. DCB suggested adding additional on/off switches for sub-sections. This shows two additional on/off switches for the "Sidings 1" area. The first feed (A) has power all the time from the main on-off-on switches, the other parts (B, C) are individually switched with an additional on/off switch. That would allow a locomotive to be isolated in either B or C, whilst another locomotive worked the other parts. Similar on/off switches could be used for other sections as required.

You probably need "Zimo input mapping". That allows you to swap anything to anything. eg. Swap "project writer's F5" to "throttle F2" and also swap "project writer's F2" to "throttle F17", etc.. As you indicate, for the ESU decoders, DecoderPro will do exactly the same changes, with everything laid out in a very similar table to that for the LokProgrammer.

May work, or may be a disaster, I don't fully understand what you're proposing. And doesn't save anything. The earlier proposal is four switches, not dozens of them. You must already have the wires as you're proposing to connect one controller to each section. So, wiring is a matter of connecting up four switches to the existing wiring, and those switches to two of the controllers. Each switch is: Switch "up" for Control A, "down" for Control B, or "centre" for Off. Four switches, either controller can control anything or anywhere. ( There's an similar switch arrangement for four controllers, but it goes back to needing two M1 transformers... And that does seem to be overkill for the available running spaces ). - Nigel

That's good progress. I'd have a bit of tape around the orange/grey wires at the motor brush connections to be certain they can't touch anything when things are assembled. (I'd have used heat-shrink on the wires for that, but that's more complication). If you have a multi-meter, you should be able to show no connection between the motor brushes and the motor body. Then move to the next assembly stages. You should be able to have assembled chassis, with the decoder red/black not wired to chassis, and test that with the "lash up" contacts. And then finally, connect the red/black to the chassis block - could even do that checking one wire at a time, with the other wire going to the lash-up connections to prove things, provided you keep your "red/black" to track arrangements very clear in your head.

Chrisb74's various running suggestions are between "won't work" and "could damage stuff". As buying two M1's is considered too expensive, and only two trains running at any one time, I come back to the "only use half of it". With the four sections of track, put the wiring feeds for each to a Double Throw Centre-off switch. This selects between the two controllers in use. Thus, you can drive any section of track with any of the two controllers in use. If going between two sections, you just set the two switches to the same controller. If wanting to isolate a section, set the switch to the centre-off. This could be done with either: - Single Pole switches, and "common return" wiring (name one rails, eg. "outside" as "common", and all wires to that rail come together, and go to one side of both controller's output, the other rail goes via the switch). - Double Pole switches, and swap both rail feeds between the two controller outputs. Suitable switches will be two or three pounds each. Look for " on - off - on " to indicate the centre off position, and the words "on" must NOT have brackets around it, ie. NOT " (on) - off - (on) " as that indicates a switch which has to be held in position. Some people have difficulty getting their heads around "common return", even though its been standard practise for 60+ years on model railways, and its recommended in the Gaugemaster instructions for their controllers. - Nigel

Hmm... Gaugemaster's information is a bit suspect, for their own products.. The UQ four-track controller needs four independent power sources. So, that's either four of the small WM1 power-bricks, or two of the cased-in-metal M1 transformers (the M1 has two independent outputs). The instruction sheet says two of the M1 cased transformers - that's what they use in the fully-assembled version with a mains plug. If only wanting two-tracks, then only power half of it, and ignore the other two knobs. Which means one M1 cased transformer, or two WM1 bricks. The M1 would be fine for running point motors, the WM1's might be marginal. Unless budget is really tight, get the M1. - Nigel

I'm unsure on addressing. It might use "blocks of four" addresses. Thus, CV1=1, means the outputs are 1,2,3,4, but CV1=2 would be outputs 5,6,7,8, and thus CV1=20 would result in addresses 77,78,79,80. And regardless of which addressing scheme, there's "how does your DCC system maker interpret accessory addresses", so a value of 1 in CV1, might result in outputs being accessory addresses 1,2,3,4, or they might be 5,6,7,8. If applicable, the shift will always be +4. (There's an ambiguity in the DCC standards). The use of CV9 is non-standard, and with no other information to go on, its more guesswork.

If the track had DCC power, that's a toasted decoder. Its not a matter of "turning up the throttle" - that's just a data signal of 1's and 0's. The voltage and current is available at all times. Motor wires don't matter. Other than motor may go the wrong way, ie. "forwards" when you want "backwards", but that's easily dealt with. Basic testing and assembly. 1) does the motor work on DC (no decoder in sight). Not sure ? Use a 9v battery connected to the motor terminals. If it spins, motor OK. 2) connect orange and grey Decoder wires to motor. Connect temporarily the red+black decoder wires to *programming track*, and read back some CV's (eg. CV1, or CV8). You should get a value which is not zero and not 255. That indicates decoder responding to commands. No sensible reply, decoder is toast, or wiring wrong this far. 3) If you pass step 2, move the red+black temporary wires to the live DCC main track, and try running the decoder on its address (probably 3, you'd have read it in CV1). Motor should spin up and down. 4) Now, connect the decoder red+black to the pickup screw terminals, and re-assemble the loco, being absolutely sure that no stray metal parts of the orange or grey can touch the metal of the chassis - ie. if you weren't tidy at the motor terminals, you could cause a problem.

Agreed, and I doubt anything was needed to be done with this model. Originally it was supplied with a decoder socket, a previous owner took that out and connected the motor wires direct to the pickups, so works on DC. Simply disconnecting those wires and inserting a decoder would be all that was needed. (As I explained earlier). But, I expect the decoder is toast due to wiring things up the wrong way round.

Unfortunately, connecting the decoder outputs (orange and grey) to the track power can destroy a decoder. When you did that, did you put the loco onto a full power track ? If so, suspect "destroyed decoder". If you only put it on a "programming track" which is normally off, except for programming bursts, then it should have survived.

As others have said, you can have a conventional handset. From the Roco Z21 product pages, the Z21 supports: Roco Maus (numerous types, including the old basic LokMaus devices), Lenz LH30/LH100 (and I'd expect LH101), Digitrax DT402, DT300, UT4 (and I expect DT500, DT600, UT6), Uhlenbrock Daisy II and Fred (and the Piko badged DaisyII version), And a few others... You should be able to find an acceptable handset in that lot.

The "other sockets" on the PowerCab layout socket device area all the same, so secondary handsets (ProCab), or an extension to another set of sockets can be added to any of the spare sockets; front or back. What is critical is the primary socket, and the correct NCE cable for the PowerCab (as its the Command Station). That's got the entire layout power going through that cable, up to the PowerCab, and back down again. This document from NCE shows one arrangement for extensions, which I think matches Colin's description above: https://ncedcc.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/200259415 - Nigel

I doubt it matters, because you're bringing the second cab up "on power" and changing it before it does a cab-network connection to the command station (the PowerCab). What does matter is the socket and cable used; First handset is "PowerCab" and uses the correct socket and cable for operating, and will work on its own. Second (optional) handset is now a "ProCab", and uses the other socket and other type of cable. ( You can also extend the socket for the second ProCab to other places around the layout, and the ProCab will be OK if plugged in, start a train, unplug, replug somewhere else. Whereas the PowerCab MUST stay connected to its socket at all times. You might want, in time, to change the access and ease of unplugging the PowerCab to avoid mistakes of unplugging the wrong one. ).

try this https://bearwoodamrg.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/fitting-dcc-to-a-tenshodo-or-hanzono-motor-bogie/

Have you read your system manual on how to set addresses ? Most systems have a command for setting addresses. If you're going to set things manually, then you need to set CV29 correctly as well as setting CV1 or CV17/CV18. The text around the calculator attempts to explain how they all work.

Arguably from a safety point of view you may have ditched the wrong one.... The Morley Vector twin, at under £100, might make a very good replacement for the Duette (Morley has centre-off detents, just like the Duette, but also chucks in some remote handsets for free). Or there's a Gaugemaster Twin with separate direction switches at closer to £140.

CV29=38 is a long address (see calculator also referenced below). 1) Check its not in a consist. If CV19 is anything other than zero, then CV19 is setting the consist address. Change CV19 to 0. 2) Assuming your system has a programming track, the consult the system manual on how to read the loco address. Most have mechanisms to do this for you. 3) If your system cannot read on a programming track, then use "service mode programming" to Write the address you'd like, following the instructions in the system's manual. This will overwrite any address currently in the loco. 4) If you want to work out a long address manually, the you need to decypher CV17 and CV18. See calculator I wrote over a dozen years ago. But you shouldn't need this.

You don't need the common positive blue. The positive of the lights should connect to one of the chassis pickups. That gives "half-wave" power into the lights, and they then connect to the decoder function outputs (white, yellow, etc..). ( It will be in the manual for the Lenz decoder, or any other properly documented decoder. ).

It looks like a "doddle" as these things go - the red and black wires on your photo clearly connect the chassis (pickups) to the motor. So, unsolder those wires from their screw tags, if you can, also unsolder the red+black from the motor because that will keep wiring colours consistent. Then its the simple: - decoder red+black to the solder tags on the chassis (pickups) - decoder orange+grey to the motor, ideally all the way to the motor, but if you have to joint onto the existing red+black, use thin heatshrink to slide over the joint when done.

But some evidence of something previously fixed to the top of the chassis block.... which would have been the lighting and decoder plug circuit, perhaps removed by a previous owner ? (Perhaps someone who wanted "DC" and didn't trust the electrickery of the circuit board). See this article with picture of chassis https://www.trains.com/mrr/news-reviews/reviews/staff-reviews/roundhouse-trains-emd-model-40-is-an-ho-scale-workhorse/ That article suggests the lights were on wires from the missing printed circuit board. How to DCC-it ? Any reasonable quality decoder, and hard-wire it. If wanting lights, you'll have to fit those yourself. - Nigel

You appear to not appreciate the difference between two very different devices. (Its as if you said "I don't need a new car, I already have a dishwasher" ). A Sprog is a mini DCC system, designed initially for reading/writing CV's, and controlled by a computer. And you don't need to know the decoder's address, because the system will read it from the decoder (amongst dozens of other things). The ESU 53900 Decoder Tester is a harness in which a decoder can be placed (thus resembling a desk-bound locomotive). The two are totally different devices, and I'd expect to use my older-version ESU Decoder Tester with my Sprog.... Or, just as often, I'll connect an existing loco to the Sprog for programming changes/adjustments. - Nigel

Unfortunately, if an older Lenz system (eg. LZV100), and not the current LZV200, then the computer connection hardware has the "reassuringly expensive" tag of almost all Lenz kit. Unless there is a reason to want computer control of the Lenz layout, its not worth it at between £150-£180! A stand-alone Sprog for programming/testing is half the price, and likely easier to setup. - Nigel

A newer handset plugged into the LocoNet connection will give you full 28 (29) function access - there are several options for handsets, not just from Digitrax. Or a smartphone/tablet, with free/cheap software plus computer link will do the same. A Digitrax PR4 or a LocoBuffer will give computer access. Remapping functions is easier in Zimo than ESU, but neither would be simple on the Zephyr's keypad. But, via a computer interface, and it all "just works"; tools like JMRI take care of all the high-number functions, indexed CV's (ESU), etc.. All work just fine on a Zephyr. Only downside is the Zephyr's "read" is a little slow if reading in dozens or hundreds of CV's - the answer there is either get someone else to do it, or use the PR4 and its "program" connection instead as that's quicker. Only thing you can't do with a DCS50 Zephyr is RailCom(*), which I really can't see the need for with O gauge and a small layout. I still regularly use my DCS50, which must be approaching 20 years old now. Its one of those very solid designs where the internals did allow expansion of features, even if the keypad is limited to functions up to F8. (* OK, you can, but it needs some odd hardware, only does "channel-1" and other than for tinkers like me, its not worth going there ) - Nigel

A NCE PowerCab is not a modern system. Its ancient. I'd suggest you search for systems compatible with your LH100's, of which there are several makers.

Glad its working again. Yes, things shouldn't be polarity dependent, but in this case it seems there is. Now, to try another test on the previously working drM Test-Board - does that misbehave with the decoders with the input wires reversed ? - Nigel