Inventory on the layout: 19 diesel engines,mix of ps2 3v and ps3 which make up (one) 6 engine MU*, (two) 5 engine MU's and the rest smaller multi power on sidings. All MU's use a dedicated address in the remote.
Setup: 2 independent loops (one 2 rail and one 3 rail) each powered by its own Z1000 in passive mode using fixed 1 and fixed 2 . A 4.2 REV L (damaged by lightning) was replaced by a new 6.1 TIU and hand held remote hustled up to me from my friend and forum member Dave Zucal. Dave did his normal TIU prep, foam sandwhich the transceiver board,vertical antenna mod and secure all input output terminals..so out of the box and immediate deployment. Results as follows:
4.2 and 6.1* both offer very stable MU operation..member engine settings maintained for the most part. An occasional hiccup at slow speeds(scale 1 or 2 mph) over some ancient atlas turnouts(3 rail only,2 rail fine) will sometimes throw an engine from command to conventional. A brief shut down and restart of the layout restores things back to normal.
Common annoyances 4.2 and 6.1:
Cab chatter comes and goes as it pleases no matter how i try to kill it.Seems to abate the longer i run the layout..and yes my sand bins are full
Sometimes an engine in a MU will miss the WD* (rare) , the remote will remind you with a "check eng". The missed WD is partially my fault, single feed to each loop and sending out a WD to 19 engines at once. A quick TIU on off cycle always restores to normal command.
Additional comments: 4.2 taught me to never hit the read button,not sure on 6.1 as buttons on my remotes are disabled.
Loading engines into the remote: Out of habit and protocol, with 4.2 i used a separate programing track to load engines, Oddly enough 6.1 let me leave all the engines on the layout and all loaded in the remote with ease with the prior address and ID's .
*MU=multi unit/mth describes as lashup
*6.1 results based 3 months use and 50 cycles plus.
*WD=watchdog aka dark and silent ready for DCS command.
