prh21, so glad to hear you got your powermaster up and running. I got my two in today and just finished setting them up. TR 1 and TR2 running on command mode. Lion chief plus on TR1 and legacy on TR2. Powered by my Z4000.
Many times we assume the basic things are ok and delve into deeper issues. Ok course, one must have a good connection to the track with a power and common. Did anyone suggest that you check that? No, we didn't.
The good news is that you can now enjoy the new equipment. A test meter is absolutely necessary if you are going to play with electric trains. Try that Mastech that gunrunnerjohn mentioned. That would have revealed the condition early on.
Good luck and thanks for reminding us to check the basics!
Originally Posted by Moonman:
Many times we assume the basic things are ok and delve into deeper issues. Ok course, one must have a good connection to the track with a power and common. Did anyone suggest that you check that? No, we didn't.
The good news is that you can now enjoy the new equipment. A test meter is absolutely necessary if you are going to play with electric trains. Try that Mastech that gunrunnerjohn mentioned. That would have revealed the condition early on.
Good luck and thanks for reminding us to check the basics!
I am with Carl on having a digital meter.
I ordered the Mastech from China on Jan 30 - it is still not here - the tracking number provided is useless.
You can see the Mastech here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/381099315037.
So, I went ahead and ordered a Tekpower meter from Electronnix fulfilled by Amazon and it showed up within a few days and works great for my use.
You can see the Tekpower here:
http://www.amazon.com/Tekpower...rds=digitek+dt-2844r
In any case, a meter is a good idea.
Have fun.
RickM46
I ordered one of the Mastech meters shortly after gunrunnerJohn posted the link and it arrived last week, no problem. Sorry yours seems to have been held up. It's working fine, BTW.
Getting a true-RMS meter for $43 with all the extra ranges it has was very nice. I've checked it against my bench Fluke, and it's spot-on. It's also handy to have all the extra features like capacitance, temperature, and frequency.
The question is, how can they produce and sell this stuff for that price and still make money?
Yes, I am awaiting the Mastech; the vendor is TomTop in SHENZHEN EMS, CHINA.
Bought it through Ebay on Jan 30 who dinged my account that same day and via an email the next day said it had shipped. A week later on Feb 7, I got an email from TomTop that said it had shipped on Feb 7. So, I think there is a communication disconnect between Ebay and the vendor. Nonetheless, today, the tracking number still indicates it is at a sort facility in Shenzhen, China.
No worries:
The estimated delivery date at the time I ordered it was before March 3.
Maybe the longshoreman slow down on our western ports has something to do with it. I was hoping that I would get it more quickly.
I have the Tekpower one that I have been using and it works fine - 2 day delivery via Amazon Prime.
I have been spoiled by the quick delivery times we have in this country.
RickM46
The tekpower one looks pretty nice as well.
Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:
The tekpower one looks pretty nice as well.
Yes,
I bet it and the Mastech are coming from the same place.
I like the idea of having more than one (as stated in another thread, you can never have too many of these things). I can see myself at various places on the future layout wanting to check voltage, continuity, etc.
The Tekpower has 'True RMS' printed on its body.
I noticed that the Mastech does not have that; but, per my EE nephew, all meters now have True RMS.
I have also noticed that there is a Mastech model 8226T at
http://www.goodluckbuy.com/mas...ital-multimeter.html
that is branded as True RMS.
Nonetheless, thanks to grj for pointing me in the right direction for a meter. Darn, I am in Indiana - great distance from the tech repair guys in the forum - but, we have all the corn fields you could ever want - lol!!
RickM46
1. Turn off track power, and then plug in the
LEGACY Base and connect it to the track.
2. Place your locomotive and tender on the track
and connect the drawbar as shown in Figure 1.
3. Increase track power voltage to full power
(no more than 19 volts AC
4. press ENG and 1 (or your selected ENG ID#) to address the
locomotive with your LEGACY CAB-2 Remote
Controller.
5. Press the Start Up key on your LEGACY CAB-2
Remote, shown in Figure 3. Then, throttle up
and move 'em out! And nothing will happen until you do this.
For operation in the LEGACY or Command Control environment, you will want to give your
VISION Big Boy a unique ID#. Your locomotive will respond to commands associated with its
ID# while all other units will disregard these commands. This procedure is not necessary
for conventional (non-Command) operation.
1. Slide the program run switch on your locomotive to the PROG position. See
Figure 9 on page 10.
2. Place the locomotive on the track.
3. Connect the Command Base and plug it in.
4. Power up the track.
5. Press ENG on the CAB-1 or CAB-2 remote.
6. Enter the unique ID#. Choose any number from 1 to 98 that has not been
assigned to another locomotive (ENG). We recommend using a part of your
locomotive’s road number.
All LEGACY locomotives respond to ENG 99. We recommend that you reserve ID# 99 as a
"universal" ID#.
7. Press SET. The locomotive’s whistle will sound, or the headlights will flash if
the RailSounds sound system is off.
Synchronizing stack smoke: Your VISION Big Boy is designed to give independent
smoke chuffs from each stack in relation to each set of drive wheels. This feature can be
turned off to provide a simultaneous chuff from both stacks. If you want to run your
locomotive with synchronized smoke, press the "AUX1" and "9" key now. To revert back
to the independent chuffs later, follow the steps above to reset your locomotive and slide
the Program/Run switch back to Run without performing this step.
8. Press AUX1 then 9 to synchronize smoke stacks.
Locomotive basics
Assigning your locomotive a new ID#
9. Slide the program run switch back to the RUN position.
The VISION Big Boy's ID# has been set. Be sure to record the new ID# for your reference.
You may also have a track voltage programing problem. If you have a lighted car or caboose put
It on the track and turn on the track power with your CAB 2 if you don’t have lights fix this first
David J
Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:
My final message upon hijacking this thread:
Getting a true-RMS meter for $43 with all the extra ranges it has was very nice. I've checked it against my bench Fluke, and it's spot-on. It's also handy to have all the extra features like capacitance, temperature, and frequency.
The question is, how can they produce and sell this stuff for that price and still make money?
GRJ,
Is your Mastech a MS8226 or a MS8226T?
I just noticed on the Ebay website that the TomTop merchant has a special message:
This seller is currently away until Feb 23, 2015. If you make a purchase, there may be a delay in processing your order.
RickM46
Mine is the MS8226T, it seems the price went up about $20 lately from my recent search.
