I keep trying to say that… There is no CV that controls 29 vs 128, it’s all dependent on what the command station sends. All the oother NCE people are saying once they set a given loco address to 128 mode, it stays that way forever. For some reason, this setting is not sticking for Gary’s. Now I’m wondering if it is stored in the command station or in the cab with NCE. If it’s int he command station, gary may have a dead backup battery so the settings are loost every time he powers off. If it’s in the cab - no idea, since a non-radio cab wouldn’t have batteries and would turn off when the power is shut down, which should be no different than using the power off option on the radio cabs. That’s why I also suggested the test of setting a loco to 128, verifying it was using 128 steps, then selecting a different locoo, leaving it at 28 steps, then going back to the first loco. If nothing was powered off, that first loco should still be using 128 steps. If it’s not - there’s something definitely goofed up somewhere. If that test works as expected, but then the 128 step setting is lost after the system is shut down - I suspect the battery.
The command station has a back-up battery that needs replacement periodically. NCE suggests an average life span of 5 years, but that can vary depending on usage. Here’s a link to their page describing replacement. Would be worth the couple bucks to try it.
My system is NEW (November 2016). Could the battery be bad?
According to the NCE manual there is no setting you have to select 128 on the control. I just talked to Nick at NCE he first said what Randy said the battery or the memory in the command station. Then he said it may be that the loco decoder is too old and doesn’t accept 128. When I told him that it was a new 2017 BLI loco he said “Well that doesn’t suprise me, BLI is notorious for loosing memory settings.” He suggested i try to reset the Control station and if that didn’t wo
Geez, I certainly wouldn’t think the battery if it’s only 6 months old. I’ve had issues with my 4 BLI locomotives not retaining momentum settings. I’m sure others have examples too. Let us know what happens with the NCE decoder.
I have never used a battery in my system (Digitrax), but could it be the case that one forgets to power off something, even for a few days, and drains the battery?
I’m not an expert, but I’m pretty sure the info is not stored in the cab. When we have our club open houses we have to pass trains along from one operator to another. When I get a train I routinely change the loco’s 128 setting to 28 as I pass it along to the next guy.
With NCE the purpose of the battery is to retain info stored in the cab (i.e. consist addresses) when the power is off, so I would suspect that battery drain is minimal when the power is on.
It’s definitely not a 0 probability that the battery could be dead afte rjust 6 months - the question is, how long was the battery in NCE’s inventory before it got installed int he command station Gary eventually purchased? And it is still possible to get a brand new battery, open it up, and find it is dead or nearly so. Especially if you buy lots of 100 or so as a manufacturer like NCE probably does.
Selector, your DB150 does not have a battery. Only the DCS100 has a backup battery (and the rather rare DCS200, 8 amp version). DB150/200, Zephyrs, and the new command stations and boosters do not have batteries.
And dang it, the NCE tech is even perpetuating the idea that there is somethign in the decoder that changes for 28 and 128 steps. No. Pushing the 28/128 button (or status editing on Digitrax) doesn’t send anything to the decoder. Most decoders default to the 28/128 setting in CV29, so if the BLI locos would ‘forget’ something it would be if you programmed it to 14 steps, it would revert back to 28.
Just tested the Bachman with the NCE decoder. I turned the system on from the power supply, selected the loco and pressed the 28/128 button on the controller and the loco was in 128 speed step mode. I selected a different loco which removed the Bachman from the controller. Then I shut the power supply. Turned it back on and selected the Bachman loco. When I started to increase throttle it was STILL in 128 mode.
I need to check my other BLI locomotives and the Proto 2000 to see what happens. The NCE Tec was not fond of Quantum decoders either.
It’s a completely different DCC packet that gets sent by the command station. See some of the posts by passenger1955 who has been delving into the NMRA DCC standards.
I really don;t see how this can be the decoder’s fault. I don’t have any Paragon 2 or 3 locos, but we have a whole fleet of them at the club - following the run of Reading T-1’s. I already had 2 of the PCM ones with Loksound decoders so I didn;t buy any of the new ones (don’t need smoke, which is about all the new one did that my old one didn’t) and we run Digitrax at the club. Digitrax ALWAYS sends 128 speed steps unless you specifically configure a loco address to use 28 - ie, no button presses, you get 128. Some button presses and you can get 28). They’ve all worked, everyone’s that I’ve seen running. That it actually resets to 28 and goes to 128 when you press the button is still telling me the system itself is resetting because there is no CV in the decoder related to this. I would try a cab reset and a command station reset.
We did find that glitch with the Paragon 2 decoders where certain addresses messed up the 128 speed step packet and the locomotive would only run in the reverse direction.