Model Railroad Hobbyist | May 2016 | #75 DCC IMPULSES column Bruce Petrarca Demystifying DCC CV 29 There is a lot of DCC terminology I’d like to change. For example, programming should be something like “setting the personality.” Along that line, Configuration Variables wouldn’t be abbreviated as CV, but called “traits.” Just as you can take a ready-to-run loco or car out of the box and put it on your pike and run it, you can take a decoder equipped loco and run it, usually on address 3. Think of the basic programming (address and lights) as the equivalent of taking a car out of the box and tuning it up. The equivalent tune-up might include adjusting the weight to NMRA standards, changing out plastic wheels, and replacing or tweak- ing the couplers. The more you form (program) the personality of your DCC equipped loco, the more it begins to resemble a fully detailed and weathered piece [1] of cherished rolling stock. Pivotal to the basic personality adjustments is CV 29, sometimes called the master CV. XX DCC TIPS, TRICKS, AND TECHNIQUES • INDEX • TABLE OF CONTENTS