NCE Pro Cab question.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey folks,

So I fired up the Pro Cab this morning and all it does is displays:

NCE PROCAB V=1.3

CAB ADDRESS 2

Any ideas? or should I just call NCE on Monday There a reset button on the Black Box?

Thanks!

2

Repairman,

Sorry to have to ask this question: Is this a ProCab throttle, or did you mean Power Cab?

If you meant Power Cab, you may have it plugged into the RIGHT connector port of the PCP panel. The Power Cab only receives power from the LEFT connector port.

Again, sorry for the basic clarification question.

Tom

[Edit: Well, so much for that theory. I tried plugging my Power Cab into the RIGHT connector port of the PCP panel just to see what it would do. It actually powers up beyond the initial screen that Repairman got so I guess my answer is void.]

3

Will the cab respond to commands? I recall seeing this issue before, let me see if I can recall or find the resolution. You might want to try to NCE group on Yahoo groups.

jktrains

4

Hi Tom,

This is the Throttle for the Procab. I havent run it in an a couple months. I took the curly cord and plugged it directly into the Black ProCab box and I tried a different cable and it still did the samething.

JKtrains,

No response to any commands. I pushed every button on it and it never changes the display. I will try posting a message over there too. Thanks

Kind of frustrating as I got a new BLI loco for Christmas I wanted to see go.

Thanks,

Scott

5

Scott,

You might as well try a reset of your Command station. That would be in your ProCab manual somewhere - I think near the beginning? Keep us posted what you find out.

Tom

6

Scott,

Still researching the issue. There was some discussion awhile ago about this issue. One more question - Is this the first time you’ve used the ProCab? Have you check the cable? Is it loose? Do you have another cable you could try, you just need a 4 wire crossover cable.

7

Scott,

You must use the flat 6 conductor cable in the left socket to use it as a Powercab. It seems like it should do more than that even when you use the coiled cable.

Gary

8

Gary,

Scott is using his ProCab in the PH Pro Command station so he only needs the 4-connection RJ-12 cable.

Tom

9

Without going downstairs to check my NCE command station, it is 11 PM and I am getting ready to hit the sack, it seems to me that one of the ports is for the antenna rb02 unit, the other is for the cab buss. In fact, I know I had to use a splitter on it as I have two cab buss lines on the railroad. Make sure you are using the correct port.

Bob

10

OK, have an update, after reading the manual I reset the command station(black metal box part) with no luck. I read further and tried to reprogram the throttle. I held down the select loco button when I plugged it in. I was able to reprogram the throttle to a new address, settings etc. However as soon as I finished programing it went right back to the same display which is;

NCE PROCAB V=1.3

CAB ADDRESS 4

It did retain the different throttle address tho.

Anyways thanks for the help,

Scott

11

Scott,

You mentioned that you hadn’t used your Pro Cab throttle in a couple of months. Was the coily cord and the other coil that you used, the cables you’ve used with your setup before? And, as Bob inquired, you plugged your Pro Cab into the CAB BUS connector port?

The only other thing I can think of is to see if your Pro Cab throttle will go into internal mode:

  1. Unplug your cab at the base of the cab
  2. Re-plug it back in while holding down the SELECT LOCO button.

Does the cursor flash over the “0” of the cab address number? If so, try then pressing PROG/ESC to see what happens. If nothing changes then it maybe time for a call into Larry @ NCE on Monday. I’m assuming they will be open then.

Keep us posted…

Tom

12

I talked to Larry at NCE and he had me take the top of the black metal box and push down the top board. There are two PC boards that are piggy backed and this reseated the connection. So I am back running trains again. Ironically the BLI SW-7 I got for Christmas was DOA. Kinda works on DC and only reads the manufactor value in DCC. I called BLI and they gave me a RN number so I will box it up this weekend and send it in.

Thanks for the input.

Scott

13

Thanks for the update, Scott. [:)]

Tom

14

That is too bad about the SW-7, even if you know you can still play with your other trains using your restored system. I would be quite disappointed to have to return a loco right out of the box. [:(]

15

Scott, not to get too nosy, but did your new BLI loco come from Ebay? I have received several “new in the box” BLI locos from ebay that were DOA, then found that someone had set the short address to a value other than 3, and the long address to value different from the cab number. You may want to try to reset the loco. One Mike seemed dead and did not appear to be responding to the resets, then magically started moving, but with no sound. As I investigated further, I found that somebody had turned the sound potentiometer all the way OFF. I turned the sound pot up with a small screwdriver, and bingo, there was sound, although very poor and distorted, which I’m sure is why they turned it off. I adjusted the sound and the loco is fine. Not sure if this will help you, but it’s worth a shot. BTW, Larry @ NCE is great, he’s helped me several times.

16

No it was from 1st Place Hobbies. It didnt look like it had been messed with. With dc it goes about two inches and goes dead. In Dcc it doesnt do anything. Seems to work better if I push down on it real hard. I cleaned the wheels but didnt help. Oh well, it will be nice once it gets fixed! I am just happy to be running trains again.

Scott