E-link boot up behaviour with point motors?

[Jim-R855]

I've been using Railmaster/e-link for a few months now and there is one thing that I have just been taking for granted, but probably should ask about.

When I switch on e-link (whether or not Railmaster is running, so nothing to do with RM), the lowest numbered point motor (all mine are Cobalt Digital IP) throws all the way in one direction, then all the way in the second direction, and then most of the way in the original direction.

Is this normal behaviour?

As long as I switch e-link on before starting RM, the RM option to set points ensures that this point is completely set before I run trains, but if I have a short and need to switch e-link off and back on after clearing it without also restarting RM, I sometimes forget about the point and derail a train. Hence wondering if it is just normal and I should continue to live with it, or if I have something set up wrong and need to investigate further. I have already tried renumbering points (i.e. setting new IDs and changing the track plan to match) and if a different point motor becomes the lowest numbered it will throw instead of the normally lowest one.

I can appreciate that some self-diagnostics on startup is a good idea, but why throw the point 2.9 times and not 1, 2 or 3 times?

[96RAF]

What happens if you press the eLink reset button - a small red square in the big red stop button in RM. do you get the initial start or restart symptom.

Do you have reset eLink on startup enabled in your .ini file.

[Jim-R855]

E-link goes through the same routine with the points every time whether I use the red reset button or switch the power off and on again.

Reset e-link on startup is disabled in the ini file, but I can't see how it would be relevant since e-link goes through the routine every time even if railmaster isn't running or the USB lead is unplugged.

Do other people find it throws points whilst powering up? Is it possibly something to do with the way cobalt digital IP motors work - they are supposed to have a very small current draw all the time, I wonder if e-link senses this demand and goes through some kind of testing cycle? Is it common to all points, or all servo points, or all cobalt digital IP points, or is it just mine that does it?

[westernwill]

I hear the point(s) clicking whenever I turn the power on, even if I just power up the Elink with the USB lead not attached to the PC.

I don't use Cobalt motors so assume it happens with all types.

I have never checked which point(s) it happens to, but will have a look next time I start up.

It has never caused me a problem as all my points go through the startup list anyway and get set correctly.

And, if I remember correctly, my lowest point is in a set of sidings and I have small programs to set the routes out which are always run before a train departs.

I will do some checking later on and try to see what happens.

[St1ngr4y]

This afternoon I connected my DCC monitor to my accessory bus and started the monitoring before switching on the eLink. No DCC commands appeared on the monitor at eLink power on. Not until RM was loaded and it went through the “set points at startup” routine, did any DCC commands appear on the bus. What you are seeing has to be down to the decoder itself reacting to having DCC power fed to it. Are all of these point motors connected to the same decoder unit? Otherwise I can’t understand why it is the lowest numbered motor which is activated. There must be something in the setup which is capable of recognising which is the one with the lowest address.

Ray

[St1ngr4y]

@westernwill

Do you have the latest DCC Concepts ADS n SX decoders which I believe can remember the last settings of points attached to each port. Presumably these remembered settings are reset as soon as the decoder receives power at the next eLink switch on, and that could be what you hear?

Ray

[Fishmanoz]

Are we getting some confusion here? Aren’t Cobalt Digital IPs slow action not solenoid?

[Jim-R855]

Yes, just to be clear, Cobalt digital IP are slow action (servo type) motors with decoders built into each point motor. You flick a switch to get each to learn its ID and then set it back and it remembers it permanently.

So instead of a click, the servo runs for about 2 or 3 seconds in each direction by the nature of the kind of point motor. They draw less than 5mA when static and 40mA when switching, and I guess it is something in this always powered nature that is causing something to happen when the bus powers up without an actual DCC instruction.

It has been a while since I tested, and my memory must be playing tricks on me because it turns out it is not the lowest numbered point motor, it is always the same one no matter how I number them (it is the highest now and still the one that responds).

I have always had this cycling going on, and this is the second point motor to have been in that position (both cycled), so I'm wondering now if it could be something in my wiring - I wonder if it is the shortest or least resistance cable route - it is not physically nearest the controller, but the wiring to the nearest goes in a different loop and may be longer.

I sense the fairly near future holds an evening crawling around under the baseboard with my multimeter... probably an email to DCC concepts very busy tech support too.

[96RAF]

Their man Richard Brighton frequents one of the FB sites and answers questions directly on the page.

Edit - the FB site is DCC Model Railways. Also DCC Concepts has their own FB page. I can’t make a direct link.

[westernwill]

@St1ngr4y

I use the Digitrains DS64 Point Decoder as I have Kato points with built-in motors.

I tried some tests this morning. I had previously been running trains. I then closed everything down and switched all power off and left everything for an hour.

I then disconnected the Elink from the PC and turned power on. I heard several clicks, I think 5. As my power switch is someway from my layout I could not see if any points moved. But I am pretty sure they were all as I had left them.

I then powered off and on again and just heard 1 click. I tried several times leaving time gaps but only 1 click heard.

I will run some trains later on and try again.

Does anyone know if the same thing happens with the Elite.

[RDS]

... it is always the same one no matter how I number them ...

 

 

Is it the first point you set up on the RM layout screen?

[Fishmanoz]

Rob, Richard Johnson not Brighton? Pretty sure he is richard@dcc …… etc too.

[96RAF]

Rob, Richard Johnson not Brighton? Pretty sure he is richard@dcc …… etc too.

 

 

This is another Richard.

[Brew Man]

Rob, Richard Johnson not Brighton? Pretty sure he is richard@dcc …… etc too.

This is another Richard.

 

 

All the more reason why people should choose a unique nickname joy

[Jim-R855]

... it is always the same one no matter how I number them ...

Is it the first point you set up on the RM layout screen?

 

 

Yes it is. I take it this is significant?

[Fishmanoz]

BM, Rob and I are discussing DCC Concepts owners/employees, not forum members. Apologies for confusion caused by this aside.

[Brew Man]

I wasn't confused, it just slotted in nicely.

[Jim-R855]

BM, Rob and I are discussing DCC Concepts owners/employees, not forum members. Apologies for confusion caused by this aside.

 

 

No confusion, I haven't had correspondance with any Richards though, just 'someone whose name is a banned word' and John in tech support (not for this issue, I made a mistake a while ago and fried some decoders). This really deserves a smiley but I understand they are not well liked here?

[Brew Man]

Nobody minds the odd smiley, I use them frequently. It's just that when they take up half the page they become annoying.