The loco goes onto the track during the read process. Yes, it
is in the middle of a read, but that way I know that the full
DCC power is off the track.
When the PowerCab finishes its read, I press ENTER which
moves it into reading the decoder type. Since the loco is
on the track for this entire sequence, the number returned
should be accurate. I check for a good read back of the de-
coder type number. For example, “64” if I’m working on a
SoundTraxx Tsunami.
I then follow through the sequence to read the short ad-
dress (default 3 for new decoders), write a new short ad-
dress (frequently the right two cab digits), and read and
write a long address.
If all of these reads and writes give the expected results (the ad-
dresses I asked to write read
back okay), then I move to
programming the decoder.
Otherwise, I check my decod-
er wiring for opens, shorts,
bad motor and such.
Reopening the file in Deco-
derPro, I walk through the
Programming a New Loco
sequence in the program-
ming track mode. Then I do
a READ ALL SHEETS, so that
DecoderPro has exactly the
MRH-May 2014
