Model Railway Forum

I have been running my locos on tracks controlled by my Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance 2 DCC control system. After reading lots I decided to create a completely separate accessories bus to control my points. I opted for a control panel using DCC Cobalt Alpha switches and box etc. The (mimicked) control panel has been built and works .... up to a point ... all the Alpha switches light up. However the first point that I set up is working the wrong way round and I cannot get a second crossover point (both points have the same cab) to respond to my control panel, one does the other doesn't. Research tells me what I need to do but ... the way to reprogram points needs me to have my Prodigy handset connected to my accessories instead of the track. Now I am lost, do I try to integrate both systems or is there a way to just program my IP Digital point motors?

Yours confused of St Clears

Hi

Not sure if this will help? Form around 2min 40 Seconds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs6KzOYIpHo&t=63s

If I remember correctly you send accessory address 197 to the Cobolt with the switch in learn to reverse the direction.

IIRC that is, but I have just been diagnosed with early altzimers so I may not be remembering correctly, some will be along to correct me soon if I am wrong.

Paul

Video link i posted above shows the reversing of a motor from around 4 minutes on. 197 is the address used.

Brian, I have seen that and tried plugging (just) my Prodigy handset into the Alpha Box. However even though I knew the points cab (16) I couldn't activate it via the Prodigy. It looks to me that I need to connect the whole Prodigy system, having disconnected it from the track, to my points/accessories system so that I can program/reprogram the Cobalt Digital IP points. I can see the wisdom of completely separating track and accessories buses, however it is looking like I need to merge the two so that I can use the Prodigy handset to program the whole system of track and accessories.

Then I need to find out how to use the Prodigy handset with a crossover where both points have the same cab (18).

Nokonium wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 8:21 pm Brian, I have seen that and tried plugging (just) my Prodigy handset into the Alpha Box. However even though I knew the points cab (16) I couldn't activate it via the Prodigy. It looks to me that I need to connect the whole Prodigy system, having disconnected it from the track, to my points/accessories system so that I can program/reprogram the Cobalt Digital IP points. I can see the wisdom of completely separating track and accessories buses, however it is looking like I need to merge the two so that I can use the Prodigy handset to program the whole system of track and accessories.

Then I need to find out how to use the Prodigy handset with a crossover where both points have the same cab (18).

Quite possibly. Addressing them individually seems to me to be a good option, but I have no experience of the Alpha system. An email to DCC Concepts may resolve?
Set both motors to the same address individually this will ensure both move with the one address being sent. If one moves the wrong way use 197 to correct only that motor.

When I installed the Cobolt Digital iP point motors on my layout I found it much easier to use a set of flying leads from the prodigy controller to each motor one at a time, so that they were all programmed with their correct address and their direction of throw set before they were all connected to the DCC bus. Only use one bus on my layout though and that feeds everything.

I don't understand the two bus concept, how does it work, do you have to use two separate controllers ?

Paul

Paul-H wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:01 am <SNIP>
I don't understand the two bus concept, how does it work, do you have to use two separate controllers ?

Paul

Dual DCC bus is designed to keep all the accessory decoders fed directly from the main 'Track' output terminals of the DCC system.
A second bus pair, call it the 'Track bus', also goes from the Consoles 'Track' output but via an electronic DCC circuit breaker, whose trip current is set to below that of the main console trip rating. Then the CBs output terminals feed onto a bus pair of wires as normal and track droppers connect onto these.

The idea being that if a loco runs into an unset point and causes a short circuit the CB will trip and cut off the rail power, but the accessory bus is still powered from the console as that hasn't tripped. So the offending point can be moved over by the DCC system and then the short is removed, in so doing the CB self resets and you have control back of the loco without having to move and push the loco back clear by finger.

Its ideal where points are fairly remote from the operation position or generally on larger layouts.

Thanks Paul-H, I will be doing that for all the remaining motors. Unfortunately I had to install three points at the rear of the layout onto their board with their motors before I fixed the board down.

The Alpha Encoder has already allocated the point addresses that I will need to set the points to. It has allocated the same address to both of the crossover points as I can see on the Alpha display. I have already had some help from DCC concepts in getting the control panel to work.

Thanks Roger
What I am now going to do is as follows but run the track bus and the accessory bus from the Alpha Box:
I think that the c/b's are already built in, if I find that they are not I will be able to add one as per your diagram.

Brian wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:54 am

Paul-H wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:01 am <SNIP>
I don't understand the two bus concept, how does it work, do you have to use two separate controllers ?

Paul

Dual DCC bus is designed to keep all the accessory decoders fed directly from the main 'Track' output terminals of the DCC system.
A second bus pair, call it the 'Track bus', also goes from the Consoles 'Track' output but via an electronic DCC circuit breaker, whose trip current is set to below that of the main console trip rating. Then the CBs output terminals feed onto a bus pair of wires as normal and track droppers connect onto these.

.

Dual Bus.jpg

Thanks for that most useful

Got any links to a suitable DCC Electronic Circuit Breaker

Thanks

Paul