finally decided to add a couple of mth diesels to my legacy layout. hooked up the tiu unit to my cab2 base per barry's book instruction. everything seems to work except that the dcs system does not recognize the mth engines. just keeps saying " no active engines". I think I read that lionel legacy engines can block the dcs signal to the mth engines. is this true for both legacy and tmcc engines?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
just keeps saying " no active engines".
You need to add them to the DCS Remote before DCS can access them:
Menu/System/Engine Setup/Add Engine/Add MTH Engine.
 | This and a whole lot more is all in “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition!" This book is available from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at OGR’s web store! |
barry that is the problem. when I do as you suggest, It does not recognize the engine so can not add it. the remote screen reverts to the inactive dialogue screen. when I push "all", it then reads "no active engines". this happens even though the engine is sitting there lights running and full engine sounds. it is like the tiu is not communicating with the engine. my set up is with the tiu connected to the cab2 base via the 50-1032 dcs cable.
when I push the read button on the remote, it recognizes the tiu as number 1 which is verified by the tiu red led blinking once.
all my legacy engines run fine so know the cab2 is working.
can my tiu be bad? anyway to test it?
First, make sure that the TIU's red channel output is connected to the center rail and the black terminal to an outside rail.
Next, turn on the DCS signal for all channels: Menu/System/DCS Setup and press the AON soft key.
Last, remove everything else that's a TMCC or Legacy engine, or that has a light in it, from the tracks.
Try to add the DCS engine: Menu/System/Engine Setup/Add Engine/Add MTH Engine.
barry I have power coming thru my cab2 base to my tracks. my tiu is connected to the cab2 thru my tiu/tmcc-legacy cable via the rg plug. I am not using any of the tiu channels.
are you suggesting I should hook my tiu to my tracks direct via a fixed output channel in addition to being connected to my cab2 base.
if so why do I need to be connected to the cab2 base?
thanks for your help
The Legacy base and the TIU do not need to be connected to each other unless you want to run Lionel Legacy or TMCC locomotives using the MTH handheld remote. I do not have the TIU and Legacy base connected together on my home layout. I use the MTH remote to run MTH engines and the Legacy remote to run Lionel engines. This easier and in my experience generally works better. You lose the advantage of using one remote for all engines but it is more straight forward.
From your post it is not clear to me that you have the TIU wired to the track. You say that the TIU is wired to the Legacy base without mentioning that it is connected to the track. You must wire the TIU to the track per the MTH instructions to get a DCS signal on the track. Also, the TIU must have either an independent power supply or you must wire it through Channel 1 so that it has power.
I hope that this helps.
NH Joe
nhjoe presently I do not have the tiu wired independently to the track.
so if i understand you correctly, i can dispense with the tiu/legacy connecting cable, hook the output of tiu fixed channel directly to the track and run the mth engines with the dcs remote and the legacy with cab2 remote.
and run the tiu with an external power source, which i am doing already.
sounds like your setup is how i want mine. thanks for your help
many thanks to barry and new haven joe for their help. my 2 new mth diesels are running happily on my legacy layout. the protosound is so awesome. eliminated the tiu/legacy cable and hooked tiu direct to fastrak. works great
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
