DCC Impulses Column - 10
From Mr. DCC’s workbench
– A short guide to consists
Continued ...
can be added to or taken out of the consist by merely program-
ming CV 19 on the main. However, older decoders may not
support this consisting method.
Command Station Consisting
Here is where things get more complicated. Some command
station manufacturers offer a quick way to set up a consist (or
multiple unit block – MU). While command station consisting is
easy, there are some drawbacks. Let’s look at two systems:
Digitrax
Digitrax uses what it calls UniVersal (yes, that’s the way they
capitalize it) consisting. It is easy to set up on their DT40x series
throttles.
You select the lead loco on the right knob and the next loco
on the left. You adjust the direction of each loco until both are
going the same direction on the track. Then you press the MU
button, and then the + button. To add more locos, select the
new loco on the left knob, set its direction, and repeat the MU
and + button presses. The command station remembers which
locos are running together and sends the appropriate com-
mands to each loco. To remove a loco from the consist, select
the consist on the right knob and the specific loco to be removed
on the left knob and press MU, then the – (minus) key.
While this is simple to use, it takes up a system slot for each
loco in the consist, so if you have a limited system like the
Zephyr, you can run out of slots quickly. Also, the consist is
unique to the system where it was created. If you set it up at
home and then take it to the club, you have to start over and
set it up again. Since there is no memory of the consist in the
decoders, you don’t have to do anything special on the second
system to undo what was done on the first. But you do have to
start over educating the new command station.
NCE
NCE has what it calls Advanced Consisting. It automates the
setup of an Advanced (decoder-based) consist. If CVs 21 &
22 are already set up, they will help control the functions
the decoders respond to. It uses a single slot for the consist
address, which it assigns automatically.
However, here is the slick part. If you have a consist with 1234
on one end and 5678 on the other, you don’t need to know
the consist address. If you select 1234 and say “go,” the consist
will move together with 1234 in the lead. If you reach the end
of your turn and run around the train and get set to run back,
then you select 5678 and the train will run forward (the oppo-
site direction from earlier) when you select forward.
You can press the Kill Consist buttons and then enter 1234 or
5678 and the consist will be removed, as long as the locos are
still on the layout.
Consists set up this way and moved from layout to layout can
become problematic. I recommend that you kill the consist on
the layout where it was created before you remove it. If you
forget and move the locos without killing the consist, then take
the locos to the programming track and set CV 19 to zero on all
of them. You can then use them solo, or rebuild the consist on
the new system.
MRH-Feb 2014
