TMCC with Cab-1L questions

PLCProf posted:

As previously discussed in another thread,  added TMCC to a  6-38641 Boston & Maine Pacific that I have, Lionel manual said it is prepared and ready to accept a 691-R2LC-C13 receiver. Bought the official part from Lionel, received it and installed it. Ran into a few issues. I have searched the forum and found a few answers and a few "counter answers." If there are previous informative threads on these topics please feel free to redirect me. Complete novice with command control.  For background, this layout is an L shape 14' x 9', all Fastrack, track power runs nothing else, switches are separately powered. Using new Cab-1L/Base-1L. There are a few insulated blocks, but outer rails are not broken except for a few control rails. Powered from Z-1000 at the moment, other sources available if needed. I have no other TMCC or Legacy gear, but I do have a full electronic bench with scopes and generators and counters and all that.

1. Headlight flickers; I see a few threads indicating that this may indicate a weak signal. Is that often a problem on such a small layout? Some other symptoms are certainly consistent with signal issue, very erratic operation, inconsistent behavior of controls etc. It almost acts like the loco receives data just often enough to reset the timeout, but not often enough to really work right. Checked the handrail antennas, seem OK.

Your conclusion seems correct. I cannot help you with this. Maybe some TMCC experts can assist you with this.

2. Virtually no smoke output. I pulled out the R2LC and reinstalled the E104 and the smoke and headlight worked fine. Is there an undocumented setting for this, or is this an enhancement? No mention of smoke volume in locomotive instructions. Smokes copiously in conventional.

Have you tried Aux 1, 9 (nine)? That should turn the smoke on.

3. Presses of Aux 1 and Aux 2 are accompanied by unexplained sounds not mentioned in manual.

That is normal. It tells you that you have pressed Aux 1 or 2.

4. Occasionally, the headlight flashes at full brightness, one second on, one second off. What does that mean?

I cannot help you with this.

5. Already had a few unexplained "full throttle" events. I did not enjoy those.

That is a symptom of the engine not seeing the TMCC signal and running as it is in conventional because it sees the 18v and runs at full speed. Believe me, I have had those incidents. Ask a TMCC expert for help with signal strength.

I have never liked this engine, not a good runner in conventional, and was hoping this would help me form a better opinion of it. We will see! Any help or direction to previous helpful threads greatly appreciated.

My reply is in orange. Thanks,

Nickstrains

Sounds like you have signal issues.  Does putting your hand over the antenna make the headlight go steady?  Check to make sure the antenna is connected securely and isn't sorted out.  Also, signal has no bearing on the size of the layout, but more on the wiring of the house since TMCC uses the house ground wiring as the transmitting antenna from the base.

Thanks to those who responded. Looks like the headlight issue is related to signal strength, I have done all the standard fixes to no avail, but I note that many forum members had troublesome Base-1L units repaired by Lionel; I think a call to them is in order.

Still puzzled by the lack of smoke, Tried the Aux1 + 9 thing but the smoke is so feeble it is hard to tell whether it is on or off.

Do any of the electrical gurus know what the track signal should look like? Took a look with a scope and was quite surprised at what I saw.

Is the Base 1L plugged into a properly grounded outlet, with the correct power supply, bypassing any power strip and surge protector?

Make sure the base and handheld are on the same channel, although I would think if they weren't nothing would happen.  See page 6 of manual 73-7147-250.

Other problem solving issues start on page 27.

My only TMCC/Legacy engines are all diesels, never had a signal problem with them or the CAB/BASE -1L.  It's a 2.4Ghz frequency set, I guess that's why there's no antenna on the handheld.

I spoke to Lionel this morning, took them about 30 seconds to decide that this was a warranty issue and issue an RA number!

Was that for the 1L units, for the engine, or for the receiver?

The Base-1L.

PLCProf posted:

Thanks to those who responded. Looks like the headlight issue is related to signal strength, I have done all the standard fixes to no avail, but I note that many forum members had troublesome Base-1L units repaired by Lionel; I think a call to them is in order.

Still puzzled by the lack of smoke, Tried the Aux1 + 9 thing but the smoke is so feeble it is hard to tell whether it is on or off.

Do any of the electrical gurus know what the track signal should look like? Took a look with a scope and was quite surprised at what I saw.

Just a question, did you put smoke fluid in the engine?

Yes, of course, smokes great in conventional, but almost nothing under TMCC.

Did you program the R2LC Code for an engine with Smoke?  Are you running with track voltage at 18VAC?   Yes, conventional mode let's full AC wave pass to smoke unit, while TMCC mode is half AC wave and so some smoke units perform better in conventional than TMCC, you can lower the smoke element resistance from 27omhs to 20 to 22 to help.  Unless this is an ACREG model, which I do not think it is. 

Is the handrail antennas plugged in properly, are they touching the shell of the engine?  They should be isolated from chassis ground, if not that kills the TMCC signal too.   G

GGG posted:

Did you program the R2LC Code for an engine with Smoke? 

Loco in question is 6-38641, identified as "Command ready." Followed the instructions to the letter, bought the official Lionel R2LC receiver, nothing was mentioned about programming the R2LC. Can you point me to the docs on that? There was something in the loco reset process about a code 43 (I think that was the number,) yes I did that.

All else checks out OK; grounds, antenna etc. Base-1L is back at Lionel, we will see what happens.