RailMaster & DCC27 Omni Decoder.

[Chrissaf]

I received my E-Link earlier this week. My RailMaster is running the latest software version. After a bit of trouble setting the E-Link up I managed to read CVs successfully for my Class 47, Class 101 & Class 08 on my test track. I also successfuly wrote CV1 back to them to change their DCC IDs. When I connected the E-Link to the "real" track these new IDs were all picked up correctly. E-Link/RailMaster is also recognising accessory decoders and changing my points correctly.

However, when I came to reading the CVs on a new Class 50 which had been supplied fitted with a DCC27 Omni decoder, I had a real nightmare!. The first thing I noticed was that RailMaster did not recognise the decoder, although it did give numeric values for the 2 decoder CV entries - unfortunately I did not record these. Ignoring this I continued and it started to read the CVs fine until it reached CV201 (admittedly beyond the range of the DCC27, but I hadn't realised that at the time). At that point it failed with an error on every CV, so I interrupted the reads, the E-Link failed, lost connection with the laptop and it took several re-boots of laptop & E-Link to regain a connection!!

For the next attempt, I double-clicked on the decoder CV entry & selected DCC27 from the drop-down menu, but this was not recognised and all subsequent CV reads failed with an error. Interrupting caused the same E-Link failure, loss of connection and pain of re-booting etc.!

I then re-set the CV read schedule to only 136 entries as per the Omni decoder details obtained from the Gaugemaster website. I let RailMaster "loose" to try to recognise the decoder but it failed completely to do so - not even giving the numeric values as on my first attempt above - and wouldn't read a single CV. So, E-Link failure, loss of connection, re-boots etc.!

Finally I thought I would just try writing a new DCC ID to CV1. ERROR!

So, that's where I'm at ... other than I used my Select controller to successfully set the new DCC ID, which E-Link/RailMaster recognised when connected to the "real" track. But, I would like to be able to read/write the CVs with E-Link/RailMaster.

Any thoughts/help would be much appreciated.

[Chrissaf]

In order to give RailMaster & eLink the best chance possible of working correctly, I cannot stress enough how important it is to have the correct entries in your "railmaster.ini" file. You would not believe how many obscure issues are resolved by having the correct entries in the file.

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So before spending time trying to diagnose your OMNI Decoder issue, the first thing to do is to check your .INI file and correct it if certain entries are missing or wrong. Knowing that the .INI file is correct, can eliminate a lot of potential causes of your problem.

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Details of how to check your .INI file are in this previous post, read the section on "RailMaster.INI check" in the second post down on the page. However, do take note of the other comments in the post regarding eLink communication issues, as from your posted description, you may be affected by them too.

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https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/forum/railmastere-link-problems/?p=1

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Do the check and edit the file if necessary as described in the post above. Then retest for your issue. Report back here with the results.

[St1ngr4y]

When Railmaster read CVs 7 & 8, the values returned were not found in its database of decoders. You should have had a message on the screen telling you this, and asking you to send to HRMS details of the decoder e.g. a PDF manual for the decoder detailing the CVs used by the decoder and their uses. However, if you carry on trying to read CVs which aren't used by the decoder, you will get an error for each of these CVs. BUT, this situation should be handled correctly by RM and the Elink. You shouldn't lose connection to the Elink as a result of this. Therefore, as long as you have done all the checks suggested by Chris, if it is still happening, you should report this loss of connection as a fault by sending HRMS a Help Request through the RM software. Also, send them a copy of the decoder manual.

Ray

[96RAF]

As the DCC27 is in the drop down ‘forced decoder’ list then it can be presumed HRMS already has the datasheet for this decoder.

 

As soon as you select from this list the read cycle should recrank and install the correct Cv set for that decoder, then go about the business of reading again.

 

Why the eLink is playing up is likely to be as Chris has stated - the ini file.

 

Rob

[pd91223]

Weehee!

RailMaster .ini file had both values set to 0. Why doesn't RailMaster ship with these set correctly?!

 

To be safe I also changed the USB port - I couldn't identify whether the one I had used was 2.0 or 3.0, although the laptop user guide said it was "extra power", so I switched to one that was definitely 2.0. After much re-booting of both E-Link & laptop I eventually had a connection!

 

I can now read & write to the Class 50 with its DCC27, although RailMaster still does not recognise the decoder. I've sent the CV7 & CV8 values plus some details of the CV settings to RailMaster support as requested.

 

Thanks for your help.

[St1ngr4y]

I can now read & write to the Class 50 with its DCC27, although RailMaster still does not recognise the decoder. I've sent the CV7 & CV8 values plus some details of the CV settings to RailMaster support as requested.

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Hi PD,

There is an entry for a DCC27 decoder in the RM database. Its full description is "Gaugemaster DCC27" and it has Manufacturer Id set to 65 and decoder Id set to 32. If the values shown in your CVs 8 & 7 respectively are not 65 and 32, then HRMS need to know your values.

Ray

[pd91223]

For my DCC27 decoder:

 

CV7: VALUE: 003 STATUS/STRING: 99 20 7 3 115

CV8: VALUE: 065 STATUS/STRING: 99 20 8 65 62

 

So, I've sent these to support@rail-master.com as requested. No acknowledgement received so far.

[pd91223]

The DCC27 Omni decoder is a 4-function non-sound device. Is lights on/off the only function that can be accessed/utilised?

[96RAF]

2 x functions are used for directional lighting biving you F1 switched from the green wire if connected to anything as well as F2 switched from the flying purple lead again if connected to anything.

 

Your decoder may allocate other buttons than F1 and F2 to operate these functions - see the manual.

Rob

[Chrissaf]

Information below gleamed from Gaugemaster web site.

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Function 1 = Front facing headlights (White) - Directional lighting.

Function 2 = Rear facing tail-lights (Red) - Directional lighting.

Function 3 = Axillary function Green wire. Can be mapped to other functions.

Function 4 = Auxiliary function Purple wire. Can be mapped to other functions.

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The Auxiliary 3 & 4 functions could be used for lights, or any other electrical circuit provided they don't draw more than the current supported by the decoder function output (current value unknown, but assume 100mA). The Omni DCC27 supports a 'Flicker' CV, thus the Green or Purple wire could be used for a firebox flicker LED (just an example).