unusal activity with mu'ed together engines

 What version of DCS are you using?

on the box the latest version, most of you talk about, and the bx

is up in the attic, believe 5.2,  just bought remote,  Legacy station, approx. 3 months

ago, Tiu from Trainworld,  ah now maybe just less than 1 yr

thanks

  edit ,  I know there is an "L ". on the green sticker on the box

Hi Terry,

I think Joe is on the right track asking about your firmware version.  You can check by turning on your remote and looking at the screen before the engine appears.  Given the dates you mentioned, it will probably read "version 4.20."  There is a know bug in versions 4.00 through 4.20 that adversely effects lash-ups.  If you grade the remote and TIU to version 4.30 your problem will likely go away.

Dave,

Ah ,  I am too quick, for hitting that backlight button, when remote, 1st comes on

But ,it are a 4.2,  I guess, I need to find upgrade, on MTH, website, 

Do you use a cat 5 cable, for the computer and remote, and you are saying the TIU,

would need this as well,    HAVE, NEVER upgraded anything concerning trains!!!

Go ahead and use the word "lashup" if you want. I long ago gave up trying to educate people on the improper use of this silly word.  

 Dave's right. I asked because you have to start with the basics to figure out why there's a problem.

 However, I prefer 4.2 myself. I have had a lot of issues with 4.3, including loss of some engine communication.

One common thing that pops up, is when the remote and tiu was bought at different times. Some don't realize they're running different releases of DCS in the remote and tiu. Sometimes it works. Sometimes the remote is fighting with the tiu and strange things happen.

 I don't know all of the problems. So I do the basic stuff to figure out why the system acts up. Having to start with what DCS is loaded, is there a problem between the TIU and remote? Etc., etc.

 Lash up and consist is the same to me when talking with toy train guys. It has been used in the manuals and adds to the confusion. We usually spend more time discussing terms, than fixing problems. 

 No one answered your post for nine hours, so I thought I'd start helping.

Mr . Melvin is funny, 

Joe, thank you for saving my probably what could have been future frustrations.

I just downloaded the MTH, DCS consumer, program, and was really waiting till

I felt comfortable, with the 4.3 download, ( which I was NOT).  Your saying, strange things happen, ( I have no need for that), and I dont have a laptop to reach over to the tiu, To download, and I have wires running everywhere, and with YOUR experience,  I aint changing!!!!  and good to know from  Dave,  said that the issue is real.

Thank You folks!!!!!!!!!!

FYI, there are a couple of bugs in DCS 4.20 that affect lashups:

• If one attempts to add an engine that just happens to have the same DCS ID# ()from being added to a remote previously) as a lashup that's already in the remote, the engine will not add and will display ENGINE ERROR. The workaround is to delete the lashup or edit its DCS ID# to some other value.
• This one occurs whether operating in Normal TIU mode or Super TIU mode. If an engine is made Inactive in a DCS Remote while on a track that's connected to a TIU other than the one with which it was associated when it was added to the remote, the engine will not come out of the Inactive Engine List. Since when a lashup is made active it automatically relegates all of its member engines to the Inactive Engine List, this can present a problem.

Both of these bugs were corrected in DCS 4.30.

TGP, you can remove a TIU from the layout and bring it to your computer.  All you need is any wall wart that outputs between 13 & 18 volts, either AC or DC.  That's how we do the upgrades at York; persons bring their TIUs and remotes and we have the computer to TIU cables, the telephone handset cord, and the 1/8" stereo jumper cables.