MTH DCS/Atlas Engine Set-up

You may not have the correct (latest)  MTH/TMCC cable .

Arthur,

If your cable has a "box" in it, it's the right cable for TMCC (although probably not for Legacy since the cable is 8 years old).

A few questions:

• When you put power to the tracks, does the Atlas engine turn on smoke, sounds or lights? If not, does it do these things after you press Startup on the DCS Remote?
• What TMCC ID# did you put in when you added the engine to the remote?
• Do you have more than one TIU? Regardless, when you add the engine, you must enter the TIU number of the TIU to which the TMCC command base is connected.
• Dio you have the cable connect properly? The ends are marked "TIU" and "TMCC". If it's reversed, it won't work.

Barry:

Yes the cable has a box in the line.

Engine turns on when I put power to the track.

I inputed the number on the side of the engine.

One TIU.

Cable connected properly and appears to operate OK when using the TMCC remote.

I'll be off line for an hour or so.

Thanks for taking an interest in my problem.

Arthur 

I inputed the number on the side of the engine.

A few more questions:

• Is that the same number (TMCC ID#) that you use to run it from the Cab-1?
• When operating i from the Cab-1, is it on the same track as when it fails to operate from the DCS Remote?
• Is the TMCC command base turned on when attempting to operate from the DCS Remote (it has to be for the engine to operate from either remote)?
• When you issue a command from the DCS Remote to the engine, does the LED on the command base blink?

I am pretty sure that it needs to be added to DCS with the same number it has in TMCC.  So, if your TMCC engine is still the default #1, it wont work if you tried to add it to DCS with the number on the engine.  What I would try is to follow the instructions to change the engine number in your CAB-1 to the number on the engine and then see if it works in DCS.

I'm sure Barry will correct me if I'm wrong.  He is way better at this than I am.

Eric,

You are correct!

That's why I asked the question, and this may well be the source of the problem. What needs to be done is to first select the engine and then press:

     Menu/System/Engine Setup/Edit engined/Edit Engine ID and set it to "1".

Barry

Eric

I changed the number on the CAB-1 from#1 to #95 (NYC 1295) and then I set it up on the DCS Remote using the new number (95).  In the process I also realized there is a distinction in the setup between the "name" and the "address" that I had not appreciated earlier.  When I hit the "start-up' button, I get the message that engine cannot be found (or words like that).  Getting back to one of Barry's earlier questions, the LED light does not blink when I try use the DCS Remote to operate the engine.  The engine works fine with the TMCC Remote.

Arthur

Arthur,

When I hit the "start-up' button, I get the message that engine cannot be found (or words like that).

Really, are you sure?

There's no way for DCS to know if a TMCC or Legacy engine is actually on the tracks, since all TMCC and Legacy communication is only from the command base to the engine. The engine does not talk back to the command base.

the LED light does not blink when I try use the DCS Remote to operate the engine.

In that case, there's definitely a problem in the connection between the TIU and the command base (defective cable or reversed ends of the cable), or when you added the engine you told DCS a wrong number of the TIU to which the command base is connected.

Barry

Perhaps another clue.  When I pull up the engine on the DCS Remote Control the top line reads "TMCC 32"  which seens strange.  That number means nothing to me and has not been at play.   The second line says "10 [the location on the DCS engine list] NYC 1295 [name I gave it].

Arthur

"When I tried to set it up on the DCS Remote Control, lights and sound worked but I couldn't make the engine move forward or backward.  As a result I haven't operated that engine much."

That statement regarding the first engine caught my eye, and I'll comment on it. It appears you could start that first engine up (presumably via DCS), but it wouldn't move. By any chance, was that first engine an EOB-equipped engine, and was it set to the 128 speed step mode? My recollection is that Atlas engines in that state won't respond to the DCS throttle unless you set the handheld for 128 step mode (there is a soft key for this). If that was the problem with that engine, you would not be the first to be puzzled by it. That doesn't explain the other problem, but things actually may have been working once.

RM

Thanks Rich

I'll take a look in the instruction book about speed step control as that term is new to me. 

In the meantime I am wondering if it is a TIU problem.  I have one TIU and it is listed as #1 when I pull up the edit TIU screen.  However, when I added the atlas engine, after it reports success a screen comes up that says on the third line "TIU 87 ADDED."  There is no opportunity that i know of to address the TIU except the edit screen that changes it for all engines, which I don;t think I want to do.

Arthur 

Arthur,

When I pull up the engine on the DCS Remote Control the top line reads "TMCC 32"  which seens strange. 

That sounds like an old (several years old) bug from DCS 3.x. What release is the software in your DCS? You can learn the remote's software level by looking at the screen when the remote is first powered on. TMCC operation on DCS releases older than 4.0 were somewhat less compatible with TMCC than are releases of DCS 4.0 and later.

However, when I added the atlas engine, after it reports success a screen comes up that says on the third line "TIU 87 ADDED."

I expect that the message was more like "Engine number 87 added".

I am wondering if it is a TIU problem. 

Based on the symptoms you've described, it's almost certainly not a TIU problem.

By any chance, was that first engine an EOB-equipped engine, and was it set to the 128 speed step mode? My recollection is that Atlas engines in that state won't respond to the DCS throttle unless you set the handheld for 128 step mode (there is a soft key for this).

Be aware that if you are operating DCS older than release 4.0, that soft key does not exist.

This and a whole lot more is all in "The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition", now available for purchase as an eBook or a printed book from MTH's web store site! Click on the link below to go to MTH's web page for the book!

Thanks for your continued effort to help.

It did say TIU 87 ADDED.

I'll continue to sort through the issues, but

Perhaps, as you suggest, I have an old version.

I really appreciate being led through the possibilities.

I have learned some things and am better for it.

Arthur