Accessory Deocders and JMRI

[Phil Brighton]

Hi all,

 

I may just be being silly here but I can't find a straight forward explanation despite a lot of Googleing.

 

I have an ESU Switchpilot accessory decoder and I simply want to be able to program it through JMRI/DecoderPro - I am using a Sprogg 3.

 

I simply cannot find how you get JMRI/DecoderPro to program an accessory decoder at all.

I have had no problems programming loco decoders...

 

Any help appreciated!

 

Thanks

 

Phil

[Vonzack]

Hi Phil,

 

I don't have any experience with that Accessory Decoder, but I've programmed some TT300 turnouts with JMRI and it's exactly the same as for a loco. Open the Programmer and get it to detect the decoder. It should show the ESU Switchpilot in the possible list and then you can select it and program.

 

I had to download the XML file for the TT300 config but I would have thought the ESU would have been included in the existing list.

 

Hope you get it sorted and also that this qualifies as 'any help'

 

Cheers, Mark.

[RhBBob]

I too had a problem with an accessory decoder for the lights on a Swiss 'driving trailer'.

 

Luckily Alpin Line has fitted a standard decoder - rather than a true accessory one - so I was able to connect a motor to it so that the JMRI (Decoder Pro) could identify the beast !

[Crosland]

That decoder doesn't appear in the list of supported decoders for DecoderPro. Is it designed to be programmed on the programming track?

 

If it supports programming via low numbered CVs (accessory decoder CVs normally start at 1024) then it should be possible to create a "new loco" and manually select the NMRA standard CV definitions. You will then need the manual for the decoder to figure out what each CV does. Not always easy depending on the complexity of the decoder.

 

Regards,

 

Andrew

[Grovenor]

Phil,

I suspect you are the one who asked us the same question on the MERG stand today, I suggest follow Andrew's recommendation above , you will need to study the manual carefully though these seem to be very complex decoders.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDwQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.southwestdigital.co.uk%2FPDF%2FSwitchPilot%2F04708-07029_SwitchPilot_51800_51801_51802_ESUKG_EN_Betriebsanleitung_Auflage_III_eBook_02.pdf&ei=4PAtU83HFMbt0gWxk4DgBA&usg=AFQjCNFmZiN-Dn13JDhjjXb_RbtxsuolOA&sig2=bE2iGPB0cbGdiKIS8s5feA‎

It looks to me like most of the info you need is in sections 7 and 8.

Regards

Keith

[Phil Brighton]

Thanks for the replies and help, much appreciated - I was indeed the one asking at the MERG stand!

 

I got back from the London show and gave things another go last night. - Success! I set the Sprogg unit in Decoder pro onto raw CVs like it was a loco and had a go at changing the address and this worked. I can't read the CVs back so apart from the address which you can verify I am assuming the other CVs I changed (needed to set up the switchpilot with peco motors) have also successfully been written.

 

As ever that's not quite the end of it! I can now change individual points but there is not enough grunt to throw 2 at once - which I want to do to keep decoder number s and cost down. I am using an old Hornby controller AC output for the power supply. Maybe a better power supply or maybe I will have to look at a CDU. I should have done more research before buying the switch pilots - they were on offer and the product I had decided on with a built in CDU had sold out...