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DCC Impulses: Tips for DCC motor control Magazine feedback
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MRH Media 2,999 posts MRH MRH Media 2,999 posts
MRH

2013-p21.jpg  Click to read this in landscape orientation …Click to read this in portrait orientation …

Read this issue!


Please post any comments or questions you have here.
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Geared Frequent poster 838 posts
Geared

Thanks

Thanks for the straight and narrow, Bruce. As always, well written and easily understood. The tips for setting the start speed are particularly interesting. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. 

Roy

Geared is the way to tight radii and steep grades. Ghost River Rwy. "The Wet Coast Loggers"

 
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ike8120 New member 4 posts
ike8120

DP Understanding

Now I have a better understanding of what the settings are and what they do in DP.

 

Thanks
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Kingcoalbill New member 4 posts
Kingcoalbill

DCC motor control

Bruce, Nice article on this subject. I have reviewed many others covering this topic, however yours in the most comprehensive. Keep up the great work. Best wishes Bill Middlemas

Bill
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BigJoe6401 New member 5 posts
BigJoe6401

Speed Matching

I've skimmed over your article and now can use this as a guide for DecoderPro someday.  Do you have an article or can you prepare an article for using DecoderPro to speed match locomotives?  I had a friend try the speed matching with JMRI and it ruined two of my decoders.  Thanks.
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joef MRH Founder 17,399 posts
joef

Shameless plug for TrainMasters

TrainMasters TV has an entire video in the archives that demo's speed matching with DecoderPro. For $5.99 you can try it for a month and save the cost of two decoders (~$20 x 2?).

Looked at that way, TMTV is a bargain. (wink)

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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Mark Tilford New member 5 posts
Mark Tilford

DCC Motor Control

Bruce, Thanks for good over look at DCC motor control. I liked that you show how JMRI works. I used it to program locomotives, always seem to be working in the dark trying to under stand what the setting are doing. Feel free to write more about JMRI. By the way this is the first time I been moved to give feedback. Mark
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Bruce Petrarca Frequent poster 920 posts
Bruce Petrarca

Joe's plug for Trainmasters . . .

may leave you in the weeds, trying to find what he is referencing. I tried a couple of searches before I found http://www.trainmasters.tv/video-player/tsl3-4 This segment shows you how to install and use DecoderPro. It was made several years ago - I'd guess about seven. The versions of the programs, as well as the looks, have changed. However the basics are the same. There are newer hardware options, too. My preferences in some hardware are not mentioned because they didn't exist then. Many folks report better luck with the SoundTraxx PTB-100 over the PowerPax. The Locbuffer-II has been replaced with the LocoBuffer-USB, negating the need for a serial to USB adapter. Also new since the video is the NCE PowerCab, which interfaces with your computer through a NCE USB adapter. This combination is the most cost effective way to run trains on a small layout and program them with DecoderPro. It is a new enough design to not need a PTB. The SPROG 3 will also allow you to program and run locos from your computer. But it has no internal throttle and relies on your computer or smart phone to control the locos through DecoderPro.

Bruce Petrarca, Mr. DCC; MMR #574
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Ken Biles Greyhart Frequent poster 551 posts
Ken Biles Greyhart

Speed Matching & Momentum

The video Joe is talking about was from his model railroad DIY DVDs, so the details are probably different, but the general idea is still sound. With Digitrax introducing their 16 bit sound decoders, and the PR3, I expect a lot of differences in the details.

I suspect that most of the people who don't like momentum, are those who never played with it much, or got frustrated with it. I've always thought that momentum helped a model train move like a real train. There's a lot of weight to move, even if it's just a locomotive, and the same amount of weight to stop. Both starting and stopping are going to take time. I've also found that realizing this, tends to keep engineers closer to scale speeds. It's much quicker to stop a train doing 30 smph than one doing 100 smph.

 

 Ken Biles

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joef MRH Founder 17,399 posts
joef

Finding the speed matching video on TMTV

Realized I never used the actual phrase "speed matching" in the description of the video, so I fixed that. Now a search for the words "speed matching" finds the video. Duh ... Sometimes you can get so clever with your descriptions that you overlook the obvious! Anyhow, all fixed - thanks, Bruce for pointing this out. P.S. Yes, all the DCC videos are dated. It's been 7 years since they were produced and they're badly in need of being updated ... The concepts are still valid, but some of the details could use a more current example.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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Read my blog
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splitrock323 Prolific poster 1,364 posts
splitrock323

Thanks Bruce

Great topic, now I just need to apply it to get my yard switchers to work even better.m I watched the speed matching/consisting video on Train Masters. It was a great starting point but could be updated. When the video showed the three unit- reversed consist, it did not show the progression of programming on Decoder Pro. I also am going to make a donation Bruce, as I have more than reaped ten dollars worth of use out of a free computer program that has helped my layout more than almost any other tool. Thomas. G.

Thomas W. Gasior MMR

Modeling northern Minnesota iron ore line in HO.

YouTube: Splitrock323      Facebook: The Splitrock Mining Company layout

Read my Blog

 
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Dave Heap New member 11 posts
Dave Heap

Speed Matching

It is impossible to ruin a decoder by speed matching (JMRI or otherwise). You may make it perform incorrectly if you mess up speed matching or motor control but that can always be fixed with a decoder reset. (The only decoders you should hesitate to reset are ESU LokSound decoders. If the sound project in an ESU decoder was not loaded correctly, it is possible to render the sounds inoperative with a reset, possibly requiring a return to supplier for reprogramming.)
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Blitzen New member 17 posts
Blitzen

Links make it readable and valuable

Great article and what makes it so is the embedded links to deeper information!  I could cruise through the article, get the "gist" of it all ( I see my fleet could use some attention to these details!) and I didn't get bogged down in the nitty gritty.  It's all there (drill down) for when I go to actually DO this.  But first, the rest of the issue...

Thanks!
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Bruce Petrarca Frequent poster 920 posts
Bruce Petrarca

DecoderPro

Several of you have mentioned DecoderPro. Things like, "Feel free to write more about JMRI."

Tell me what you want and I'll try to fulfill it.

Bruce Petrarca, Mr. DCC; MMR #574
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bnbayer New member 10 posts
bnbayer

Ruined decoders

There are various ways to ruin a decoder - plugging into wall socket is not recommended - but speed matching isn't one of them. Your friend no doubt messed up some of the decoder settings but that takes seconds to fix. Every decoder has provisions for a factory reset, or you can simply use Decoder Pro to write the original values back to the decoder. (Open a NEW roster entry for the correct decoder type, and choose "write all". You can also do this by sheet if there is some non-messed up programming you want to keep. Leave sound and light and address options alone, for instance, but have DP write the default file values on the motor control and speed table sheets.)
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bnbayer New member 10 posts
bnbayer

Please write about...

Bruce, any time you had to write "beyond the scope" or "read the manual" you've probably found a great new column! You have a knack for explaining this stuff which is not shared by the guys who write the documentation for a lot of DCC products. On the current topic, I'd love to see follow up on BEMF for instance - at least a whole column. And what is / how do you tweak Digitrax speed compensation? Brandon
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Thomas Active Member 32 posts
Thomas

JMRI plug

Nice to mention JMRI features in programming.
Thomas
DeSoto, TX
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Cajon Pass Jon Active Member 38 posts
Cajon Pass Jon

Meaning of "STICTION"

In the Mechanical engineering field the word "stiction" refers to static friction and is a derivative of those two words. Static friction is the force acting on a body at rest,i.e, static . This is distinguished from sliding friction which is the force resisting movement of a body when it is in motion,sliding on a surface . As far as I know static friction is always higher than sliding friction, however there may possibly be an unusual combination of materials that the reverse is true. 
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bigstump New member 12 posts
bigstump

DCC Impulses - Tips

Hey Bruce,

     Thanks for your practical insights here for us Tsunami users.  Now I'm off to 

try most of them out..without the aid of Decoder Pro (no computer available).

Superintendent

++++++++++++++
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bbruff New member 29 posts
bbruff

Great article, even an

Great article, even an electronic dummy like me can get lots of useful information.  I have wanted to know what's "in the package" of decoder pro and this article certainly fills that in.

Thanks
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steamer New member 2 posts
steamer

Perfect timing

I just got a sprog ll and have decoder pro downloaded in the laptop.  This article has answered some of my questions and I will visit your site for the Tsunami info.  Please keep up the good work.  One thing I have learned to do is to read the decoder sheets before changing them.  Good thing there is a decoder reset for the learning curve.                                                                                                                                                                                               Steve
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photojim Active Member 39 posts
photojim

Momentum

Thanks for a very informative column. The section on momentum with sound decoders was especially interesting to me.

 

Jim
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railfan08 New member 2 posts
railfan08

DCC MOTOR CONTROL-BASICS

THIS WAS AN AWESOME BACK TO BASICS ON DCC & MOTOR CONTROL. I'VE FOLLOWED YOUR ARTICLES

FOR PAST TWO YEARS. IN ADDITION TO WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE ABOUT DECODER PRO, MY EFFORTS ARE REDOUBLED TO CLEAN-UP LOCOMOTIVE FUNCTION AND IMPROVE RUNNING TRAINS.

BUT BEST OF ALL ENJOYING MODEL RAILROADING. THANKS FOR THE INCENTIVE TO HAVE FUN WITH TRAINS AGAIN.

Railfan08
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Bruce Petrarca Frequent poster 920 posts
Bruce Petrarca

DecoderPro

Just so folks don't have to dig through the article to find the link to donate to the JMRI package that includes DecoderPro, here it is:

http://www.decoderpro.com/donations.shtml

Bruce Petrarca, Mr. DCC; MMR #574
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Dogdad New member 2 posts
Dogdad

DCC Motor Control - Basics

Truly an awesome article and could not have come at a better time for me. I have been trying to make a consist, using basic speed CVs. Everything was good except the low speed. This will enable me to get a "crawl" speed for the engines in the "consist"

Thank you,  Bob
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