dj_crisp Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Hi. I have a Digitrax Zephyr and find programing decoders rather tricky. One thing that puzzles me is the return values the zephyr makes when reading cvs. Fir example I've programmed a loco address to 3770 yet when reading it returns 7934. Cv2 when programed a value of 15 returns d030.... Is this normal? Thanks for your help Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Not normal. It should give sane answers. First suspect is poor electrical contact from loco to track. Which decoders are giving problems ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_crisp Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 The majority of decoders are dcc concepts, although I have also used nce, Bachmann and Hornby all with the same results. I don't have a layout at the mo so I'm just using a test track. The reading of cv values are consistent across all decoders. Thanks Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Firstly, this is assuming your piece of programming track is clean, and the wheels to your locos are clean. Next check wiring from Zephyr. Prog A and Prog B go to a piece of track which is NOT connected to anything else. If this programming track is connected to a "test layout", then there is NO WAY WHATSOEVER that the live layout was ever connected to the programming track (for example, placing a loco over the isolation breaks without a physical switch to ensure that the programming outputs are not connected). Because, if you put track (from Rail A and Rail B) into the programming track outputs, there is a very high chance of damaging the programming track outputs. If you have a way of clipping wires directly onto the picks on the loco, then this can remove dirty track or dirty pickup as a cause. However, consistent behaviour over several locos does tend to suggest fault. Final test, try is a 1Kohm 1/4 watt resistor between the terminals "prog A" and "prog B", in addition to the wires to the track. If the reads still fail, then discuss a return/replacement with the dealer who supplied your Zephyr. The UK dealers I use will support customers for many years after any written warranty has expired. There are a few decoders which don't read at all (one or two Bachmann/Hornby types included), no idea about NCE decoders as I've never used one. DCC Concepts usually behave like a TCS decoder and should read fine. - Nigel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_crisp Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi Nigel, Many thanks for your helpful reply. I shall try your resistor suggestion and a direct feed to eliminate the test track.... good suggestions. I suspect it can't be the wheels as different types behave the same way. You sound very knowledgeable.... do you have any experience using a pc to do programming? Thanks Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelcliffe Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 .... do you have any experience using a pc to do programming? Yes. I designed the user interface for DecoderPro3, part of the JMRI software suite. However, if you can't get the Zephyr to read CV's reliably, then there is nothing that connecting a computer program to the Zephyr can do to fix the problem. - Nigel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_crisp Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Excellent. I was thinking of abandoning using the zephyr for programming and using something else. The zephyr seems fine for running but I find it hard to program with. Thanks again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.