DCS 2 engines on same frequency

You have both engines added with the same engine ID.  Go into the

SYSTEM

   ENGINE SETUP

    EDIT ENGINE

menus and change the ID # of one of the engines, they'll start working like they should.  This happens because you added one to one remote and the other to the other remote.  Since the remotes don't talk, they don't know that engine number is already in use.

Sorry, typo disregard the "How can I fix it ?' in the middle, supposed to go at the end.

If they're still confused, try deleting both engines from the remotes and starting over.  This is a common issue with DCS, you have to manage your engine numbers when you have multiple remotes.

As John said , with multiple remotes, manage your engines is the key. It can get even more confusing if you create lash-ups helter skelter ignoring one remote. The more engines, the worse it can get. The more engines, remotes, lash-ups…more chaos.

Its really not so bad once you realize you could be creating the confusion. I love creating lash-ups & just created so many conflicts adding & deleting from one remote to the next I decided to start with a clean slate. Your problem may not be so extreme & could be solved by just changing the engine address as John suggested.

That's one oddity of the DCS system, the engines all stored individually in the remotes can make a jumbled mess if you have a bunch of remotes.  I get them screwed up occasionally with two active remotes, I actually put the 3rd one away because it was more trouble than it was worth!

I call it housekeeping.

It's even tougher for me. I have O scale 2 rail, 3 rail, and G scale all running with MTH DCS.

The grandkids were learning how to add and run engines. Things got messed up pretty bad.

I finally realized that it was easier to put the G scale into their own remotes. Before that, it was a bigger mess.

I did make a chart of engines and their address. I let it get old and not up to date with changes. So it became useless.

Engine management can be tricky, especially if you have multiple remotes. With duplicate engines, the best approach is to delete both engines from the remote(s). Next, re-add the first engine to the remote, then with the first engine still on the live track, add the second engine to the remote. If the address is a duplicate, the address on the second engine will change to the next available address.

If you have multiple remotes, you should use the DCS loader program to clone the first remote. If that isn't available, repeat the process. When I've used the app, I generally clear it of engines and add them as I use them.

At AGHR, we have a whiteboard where members post the numbers they're using (including "lash-ups") under TMCC/Legacy and/or DCS so other members don't step on their engine ID's. Members check the board before putting an engine up on the layout. We have tethered TIU on a setup track to add/edit engines without sending an RF signal and potentially grabbing/changing another engine.

A written roster certainly helps if you are religious with updating it. I’ll renumber an engines address if I get sloppy with the “housekeeping” or delete & re-add.

Until you get that extra remote, engines will just populate the first open space in the remote. If you get sloppy & delete an engine from the remote, for some reason, maybe you just took it off the layout, you leave an opening in your remote, not your roster. The next new engine added jumps into that open slot on the remote. If at some point the deleted engine gets placed on the layout while you still have the engine that replaced it on the layout, an address conflict will exist. It’s just like you don’t have 2 ball players on a team with the same number. As other forum members have admitted to, it only gets worse with more engines & remotes.🙄

I keep a roster, new engine addresses 1-50, after created, lash-ups get renumbered 99-51, in descending order. I don’t own 50 engines but that’s just my system. Although I have 4 remotes, 2 as spares, I keep 2 active & try to keep them consistent to each other.

Don’t get frustrated, just have fun!

I've adopted the procedure of periodically clearing one remote and refreshing it from the other remote.  I try to add new engines to the layout with the "master" remote.  There is no right or wrong way to manage multiple remotes, it's just one of the little tasks that come with using multiple remotes with the DCS system.