Does an old Legacy base ever lose some of its functions?

Phil, I am wondering if you might be having some signal issues. Maybe gunrunnerjohn might chime on this. It may be a case for his and Dale's signal booster.

Ray

My 2 legacy bases have been running for about 11 years now with no issues, so I doubt it.

Maybe some interference issues?

You can have the track signal driver slowly deteriorate, your symptoms suggest a track signal issue.  I've sent several command bases back to Lionel over the years for low signal output.

The late Dale Manquen came up with a simple scheme to measure the relative signal strength of the track signal from the command base.  If you wire this up and compare your base with another Legacy base, you can see if you have a low signal strength.  You'll need to compare it to a known good command base to verify the readings as they vary based on the meter you use.  I added a .01uf capacitor across the meter to stabilize the readings.

I have found/diagnosed a couple low signal bases as well. Those bases went back to Lionel. The signal level went from around 6 vpp to about 1 vpp or a bit less. Not zero, so the results of the low signal can be confusing and somewhat selective as to different engines.

You'd be surprised at how many locomotives will run fine on many layouts with a very small signal on the track.

My club had a base that failed by producing streams of invalid commands (at full signal strength).  (I have software that monitors the command stream).  Other symptoms were engines doing strange things or not responding at all.  We replaced the base without further diagnosis, but a reload of the firmware might have been appropriate.

Joihn:  Thanks again for your help!!!  I have ordered the resister you indicate and will build the tester as per your diagram.  Since I do not have a second base to compare, readings with, is there a range of readings I could look for that might at least give me a clue if my base is weak?  Also,  do you have the signal enhancers for sale?  I am interested in trying one.  Phil

phil klopp posted:

Joihn:  Thanks again for your help!!!  I have ordered the resister you indicate and will build the tester as per your diagram.  Since I do not have a second base to compare, readings with, is there a range of readings I could look for that might at least give me a clue if my base is weak?  Also,  do you have the signal enhancers for sale?  I am interested in trying one.  Phil

It should read over 2 volts, and for Legacy, probably more like 3V.  If it's less than 2V, it's almost certainly low output.

Are you interested in an assembled or kit buffer?  I have several kits, and given some time, I can turn them into assembled units.   Send me an email and we'll discuss it.

John, any suggestion of how to check the Legacy Data Port for proper com, or are there any schematics for the Legacy Base to pins in/out put the Y cables?

Since the Legacy base is configured as a DCE device, pin 2 would be the TxD output transmit data and pin 3 would be the RxD input receive data.  Pin 5 is GND for transmit and receive.

Phil,

If you have the LCS WiFi module, get the LCS WiFi Monitor LE software.   It's based on older Windows technology which some anti-virus software flags as malicious, but if it loads and runs on your notebook, it will provide a lot of information on Legacy commands broadcast from the base.

True John, but it won't tell you anything about the quality of the analog track signal, that's the problem we're discussing here.