Rapido APT-E with Rail Master

[Deepfat]

So.... I have an ESU decoder in my APT-e has anyone actually fiddled with this stuff for that locomotive at the moment I can do 0 or 152.3 mph and although I have sound the function mapping is all over the place. I would add that my other turbine powered train the lovely KR GT3 does seem to be OK out of the box and both locoes were added n the same way In fact the GT3 is amazing as it makes all the right noises before gradually starting off.

One other thing If I use the dials on my Elite the E train behaves as expected and I can get her up to 152.3 gradually as more turbines come on line

BTW Sorry to be mentioning other manufacturers on here I would love to be talking about Aberdeen Commonwealth but she is running really late.

[Chrissaf]

Not quite sure exactly what you mean by "although I have sound the function mapping is all over the place", but if you mean that the sounds played do not match the displayed function button labels. Then if you open your APT loco 'Locomotive Settings' screen, then you can edit the text of what is displayed on the function button label so that the function button label matches the sound played. What you can't do, is change the order of the function buttons displayed.

Just two things to be aware of when editing the button label text. There is a 'character' limit, so you need to abbreviate the label text to being as short as possible. Secondly, any sound that needs to 'latch on' also needs the text on/off at the end of the label text.

[96RAF]

The stopped or flat out problem is well known and requires you to delete the loco and re-list it in RM. You may have to do this a time or two to get it to work.

Although it is a known problem, it is not understood why it happens or why the fix may/may not work first time.

All very frustrating.

As it is an ESU sound decoder make sure RM is picking this up but viewing CV7 and 8. you can force RM to use a particular decoder listing by right clicking CV7 and picking from a drop down list.

Some function mapping is available in ESU sound decoders but you need to refer to the decoder manual to see which can and how to do it.

[Chrissaf]

Just to add to Rob's reply. The all or nothing speed issue is detailed in this previous thread. Be sure to read all the posts in the thread, especially the later 'in conclusion' one by 'seabass'.

Railmaster and ESU v5 speed control issue

[Deepfat]

OK So I need to disassemble to get PC1 on my rolling road and try again. I have so much trouble setting up and assigning loco ID is in Railmaster that I do this via the Elite functions directly as it is reliable.

It's also a shame that this issue affects so many of us and is clearly a bug in a later release, and especially sad for me where I make my living showing software engineers how to avoid these issues through carefully targeted automated testing and continuous delivery

[Chrissaf]

I think you misunderstand. It is the configuration in RailMaster that needs to be deleted and re-entered. This should work without needing to reconfigure the actual loco decoder.

As far as we can tell it is an issue with the way in which RM is recalling data from the decoder database. The key thing to do is double click CV7 to manually select the correct decoder. Of course the loco probably needs to be on a programming track [i suggest track piece rather than a rolling road**] else RM won't detect the decoder, but the fix is more about fixing the RM loco entry in RM rather than being a decoder configuration issue.

Note** A fixed programming track will have less reliance on the physical contact areas compared to a 'rolling road' for the transfer of power. The programming power is so low, it needs the best possible connectivity. The 'rolling road' when used to monitor actual motor activity is getting full power from the controller to counter any physical contact loses. Also, if you can get a track piece long enough, then there is less need to uncouple the APT coaches [i would not try to rejig your layout connectivity to use that instead, it really needs to be a physically separate piece of track].

[Deepfat]

I have now added a 1500mm programming track to my layout which doubles as the home for my APT-E. It is isolated and controlled by a DPDT centre off switch to flip from program to track so I can run it directly onto my layout (the manual is quite clear on not picking it up!).

However what annoys me about the the RailMaster problem (which I still have) is that the the throttle control on my Elite works fine and for me is the only reliable way to enter and check loco IDs.

[96RAF]

Think about why that is Deepfat.

RM sends commands to the track via the Elite.

Elite sends commands to the track direct. No comms required with RM.

The error is twixt RM and the Elite, likely USB comms timing.

We often see skipped function commands in RM e.g. the RM command to turn on a sound or fire a point is missed by the Elite then the next turn off/change point command is seen incorrectly toggled, then its all out of synch from there. This also puts the Elite selection contra the RM screen indications, etc. Add a Select (without any screen indication of function state) as a slave into the mix and it can go totally down side up in no time.

Reading CV values in RM is doomed to failure unless Rm detects the decoder male and model and loads the correct CV table for it, hence forcing the pick list using CV7.