Locomotive cv

[mallone]

When I try to read a locomotives cv's the time allocated to reading these is 4 seconds per cv. I'm sure this used to show 11 seconds. Any ideas?

[Chrissaf]

I do recall this being discussed before, but what I can't remember is - in what post? and why? A bit of forum searching might find it again.

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EDIT:

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What setting have you got configured in the red circled box. Presumably 4, what happens if you make it 10 or 11?

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[96RAF]

From memory the manual talks to 10 seconds but maybe HRMS has changed the software to a new default value.

 

if it still reads reliably then leave it as is, else adjust to a slower (higher) delay value.

[mallone]

Hi...thank you both for your input....the default time is 4 seconds on my system. I have tried to adjust it to 10 seconds but it reverts straight back to 4. Is this an issue with the .ini file?.

Again, thank you both for your input.

best regards,

John.

[96RAF]

Take a look in the manual - there is a full list of .ini file commands and their optional values.

I dont have immediate access to the manual at the moment, so it would mean downloading it again, else I would look it up for you.

[Chrissaf]

I've looked at the RM 1.64 user guide and the list of .INI options shown on pages 32 & 33 make no mention of a setting for this feature. If changing the value in the box doesn't stick, then one would have to assume that the reason for having an option box there at all, is that it is a 'use once' only feature. That is to say, HRMS define the default figure to be the optimum, but allow users to make an alternative choice if deemed necessary to suit a particular decoder on a 'use once on this particular occasion' basis.

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The fact that you are asking these questions at all, infers that you have some sort of problem reading and/or writing CV values. If you were to state what these are, then maybe more appropriate assistance could be offered.

[RB51]

I've been spending a bit of time this morning doing some decoder programming and have noticed that my "interval" is set at 8 seconds. I can change it but it reverts back to 8 before doing anything else.

 

What was more alarming was a CV1 reading different from what I expected, but when I read it again the correct (as input) value was returned.

 

Anyone else had that?

 

R-

[mallone]

Yes, mine reverts back to 4 before I can do anything, then it says error, retrying and then reads the cv.

I have also had the same as you. When I wrote a loco id cv and then read it, it wasn't the value that I put in. This has only happened twice to me but I know that I wrote the correct loco id number.

[RB51]

I did notice that the value put in CV1 was the decoder manufacturer code - which the programme always reads first. Although you would have thought 1 > 8 (or whatever other selection you have made) would be logical the field descriptions get altered for different decoder types which means that CV7 and CV8 need to be read before doing anything else. I think it's time for a cuppa and a Hob Knob. R-

[96RAF]

RM always reads CV7&8 first to establish what decoder dataset is loaded.

 

e.g. a TTS decoder will load a different set of CVs to a basic R8249 or a Sapphire or an ESU.

 

The problem I have seen is RM can fail to recognise a decoder on the first pass and either ask for you to send a pdf spec or it loads the wrong set of CVs.

 

Also if you try to bail out of the read it can take a while before the controller eventually gives up doing the read.

[RB51]

"Dataset" - see? I knew there would be a proper word for that somewhere. What is disconcerting is that the process put the wrong value in CV1.

R-

[96RAF]

The only thing I can suggest Rog is that when you click into the CV1 value box I found that you then have to backspace to delete the old value before you can input the new value.

 

If you just try overtyping onto the old value it remains as was and then corrupts what you write to the decoder using the pencil icon.

[RB51]

Hmmm... but I didn't get as far as deleting any values. This was in a straightforward "please read CV's 1-8". As stated earlier, 7 & 8 go first, and I see why then CV1 goes next and the incorrect value was "read" into an empty box. R-

[96RAF]

Apart from resetting the decoder Rog I cant offer anymore suggestions as to why RM misreads into CV1.

[St1ngr4y]

It has been a while since I bought a new loco decoder, so I haven't needed recently to read/write CV's either through the Elite or through Railmaster. Last week, I took delivery of a DCC Concepts Z360 decoder, which included a "stay-alive" module which could be wired into the decoder during installation. It was this latter feature which attracted me to it, but it was a disappointment to me in its operation. However, that could be the subject of a new thread.....I had difficulties in reading and writing CVs to the decoder. At this point I need to say that my RM/Elite setup has been working satisfactorily for the last few months with the INI file settings Alternative Comms and Elite Feedback both set to 0. I had tried settings of 1 for these parameters months ago, but they badly affected the operation of the Accelerate/Decelerate commands in my programs. While trying to get the CVs of my new decoder to read/write I decided to try variations of these parameters. I firmly believe that the problem lay between RM and the Elite, because whenever I was trying to read CVs, the loco would stutter forward a few millimeters showing that the Elite was "talking" to the decoder OK. I could also read/write CVs using the Elite alone.The bottom line is that the only way I could get RM to read/write CVs successfully was to have Alternative Comms=1 set in the INI file. The Elite feedback setting didn't seem to make any difference. ALSO, it would only work if I disconnected the track from the Elite.Something else I noticed while doing this involved the "Time to pause between reads" parameter. I entered this window with that parameter set to 11 and asked it to read CVs 1 to 8. It started off by successfully reading 7 & 8, recognising DCC Concepts as the manufacturer, but not recognising the decoder, so I got the message asking for its details to be sent to HRMS for inclusion in the database. It was having acknowledged that message that it proceded to read CV 1 and I noticed that the "Time to pause between reads" parameter had been changed to 8 !!! ...

Ray

[RB51]

Interesting Ray. A couple of us seem to have had some spurious readings and odd responses in the programming function. Like you I had not done much CV work for a while and struggled for a good moment or two wondering what I was doing wrong. Didn't give the .INI file settings a thought. I even switched to another Decoder Programming piece of software to get stable readings and responses. Someone will point us to the other entries on this matter soon I am sure. R-

[96RAF]

Seeing the problems associated with various RM ini settings it would be interesting if someone could do a comparison of programming capability with and without RM doing the work via Elite.

 

I cant help here as although I have my spare Elite with me the Prog output is duff nor do I have an unexpired demo RM to play with.