General question -mth

Adam - You really need to get a copy of Barry's book and read it.... There are so many possibilities - he can help you via the book - step by step....

Hello,

I have bought Barry's book, and I have read it. Star wiring and sections is all well and good when I go to lay down my real track which is going to be gargraves with ross switches. however that's going to take me an incredibly long time as I am in the preparing those pieces stage. and since that consists of weathering the rails a deep rusty red, graining and sanding each of the ties, and then spiking them down with tie plates and spikes, (One piece of 14.5 inch gargraves track-cut to ross sizes- has 23 ties, so I need 92 code 148 tie plates - laid sidewise with 4 per rail creates a realistic effect of the plate running under the rails, and 184 spikes per piece -8 per tie. then weathering the tie plates and spikes.)

It's a lot of work. I'm looking at least 6-8 months most likely before I'm ready to start laying track. In the meantime I just want to run some trains in a circle, hence the fast track loop.

Is there really no way to make the tiu work simply until it becomes time for me to wire everything?

Here's a picture of the layout

Has that TIU been tested elsewhere? There are some known issues with Rev L TIU's that can cause that type of error. The museum where I am active just got back all of ours from being repaired and upgraded at MTH. If you haven't used it before, it could be a DOA, or sometimes the problems develop after the unit has been used for a while. Also make sure the batteries in the remote are good. Depleted remote batteries can cause all sorts of weird behavior. Also be sure that the remote is communicating with the TIU. The remote has to be set to register the number of the TIU. You can check whether your remote sees the TIU by using the READ button. That will tell you what the remote sees. 

The power is on. The red light is on, and I'm using the TIU to power the track with the legacy base, and I can run the legacy engines fine.

When I had the TIU set up on my kitchen table, on a little oval, I was able to program and run the mth engines fine.

Is the red LED on in the TIU when powered up?

Does the engine start up in conventional when power is applied? If not, it is seeing the watchdog signal, which means the TIU is working to that extent.

The rf board in your handheld may be dislodged from its socket; this can happen if the handheld is jarred or dropped.

Try tethering the handheld to the TIU using a phone jack type cord. If it then works, the rf board is the problem.

The setup you have should be dead easy and work just fine.

Rod 

Maybe the DCS signal is lost in the Legacy. Try wiring TIU out straight into the track.

I think you are saying you are going TIU into Legacy and then onto track.

Also,try breaking the oval.

Nope the TIU is wired straight to the track. The legacy base is wired separtely to the track. When I press the read button on the remote, I find the TIU.

The red light on the TIU is on. Maybe it's a battery issue for the remote. I'll have to try new batteries. I'll also try the tethering as well.

I would try disconnecting Legacy completely and then try DCS on it's own. I had some issues with my rev L when I hooked up Legacy.

Nick 

the engine does not start when power is applied to the tiu. It does start when I disconnect the TIU and plug in the z1000 controller.

If tehthering the remote gets it going, there is a great procedure in Barry's book for reseating the rf board. Its not hard to do at all, but heed the warning about not completely unplugging the rf board!

Rod

This means the engine is seeing the watchdog signal. Thats a good sign that the TIU is working. My bet is the rf board is unseated as described earlier. Do the tether test and see what happens.

Rod

Have you tried other PS-2 engines?

Rod

It's across the board with all my engines. PS2 and PS3.

Are you trying to add DCS engines when there are more than one engine on the track?  Is there any lighted passenger cars?  Any Atlas O cabooses with the flashing light on the end

We could all give U answers that are right, about what to look for. The best way is to make a simple setup and start from scratch. First, you need to make sure the system is working.

 Connect the tiu to a short piece of straight track.

 Tether the remote to the TIU.

 No other equipment on this track, just one engine at a time.

When you get the system to work, then you can connect it to the layout.

I had this happen one time and it was a simple case of me switching the black and red wire at one point that I missed.

Since engines come up dark and silent, the engines are seeing the watchdog signal.

Remove all TMCC/Legacy engines from the track and tether the remote to the TIU. Then, Factory Reset first the TIU and then the remote.

Now, attempt to add and operate a DCS engine.