[Accrs-ho] HO Analog/DC operation for Fair - Update

[Wayne Toigo]

We have an update regarding DC operation for this year’s Fair.

This past Wednesday, we operated in DC / Analog mode for the first time in several years. We had a mix of good operation along with some very peculiar and frustrating problems.

On the plus side, Cab 1 and Cab 2 performed normally throughout the session. It’s surprising that these two older consumer throttles can still supply adequate power for most equipment throughout our layout. They are showing signs of age and don’t output like they did when new, but are still quite functional. I operated Cab 2 during the whole session and only ran into one “overload” issue caused by a strange shorting issue on one of the turnouts.

The MRC power packs operating Cabs 3 and 4 were a different story. Without going into all the long, boring details, we had several intermittent and annoying problems that seemed to come and go unexplainably. All the MRC Cabs tested fine prior to Fair with no issues. In a couple instances, the problems seemed to be related to shorts caused when turnouts were switched. Cycling the turnouts from the Dispatch panel sometime cleared the issues, but not always. Cab 3 was giving us a lot of frustration. Gary Lewis and I were working the issues as they came up.

At this point, I’d have to troubleshoot DC after Fair hours and that’s not really a good idea. The problems seem to be intermittent and clear themselves for no understandable reason. This doesn’t make for a stable operation. Gary and I discussed the situation with Jorg and we’ve determined that we will address the DC / Analog situation after the Fair.

That said…

We will be returning to DCC operation for the 1st shift on Wednesday for this year’s Fair.

For the folks who are scheduled for the 1st shift on Wednesday, please be sure you have DCC equipment to run.

Please leave the MRC handheld controllers plugged in to Cab 4 and 5. And please, do not make any further changes to any analog equipment; I need to troubleshoot exactly what happened with the exact configuration we used.

Let me know if you have any questions.

-Wayne


From: Wayne Toigo
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2023 7:27 PM
To: HOscale at accrs.groups.io<mailto:HOscale at accrs.groups.io>; ACCRS HO Scale <accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org<mailto:accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org>>; kjwil209 at gmail.com<mailto:kjwil209 at gmail.com>; dylanrolson1 at gmail.com<mailto:dylanrolson1 at gmail.com>; indigo.mcclellan at gmail.com<mailto:indigo.mcclellan at gmail.com>; burtonfamily101 at gmail.com<mailto:burtonfamily101 at gmail.com>; mrgaronm at aol.com<mailto:mrgaronm at aol.com>; leiko.vaher at gmail.com<mailto:leiko.vaher at gmail.com>; masonbaker98 at gmail.com<mailto:masonbaker98 at gmail.com>; cb835924 at gmail.com<mailto:cb835924 at gmail.com>; Joel Clark <clark.joel.a at gmail.com<mailto:clark.joel.a at gmail.com>>; zunigafregoso2105 at gmail.com<mailto:zunigafregoso2105 at gmail.com>
Subject: HO Analog/DC operation for Fair

Folks,

Here are a few notes for Analog / DC operation for Fair (1st shift on Wednesdays).

Here is the current analog operating Cab state:

                Cab 1 (left side of Dispatch panel) – Operational.
                Cab 2 (right side of Dispatch panel) – Operational.
                Cab 3 (Passenger yard panel, handheld mobile controller) – Operational.
                Cab 4 (handheld mobile controller) – Operational.
                Cab 5 (handheld mobile controller) – Operational.
                Cab 6 (handheld mobile controller) – Inoperative.

There is one working handheld controller currently plugged into the connection ports for Cab 3, 4, and 5. It is very important that each controller remain with it’s assigned cab. You may move the handheld controller to another connection port of the same number, but do not connect the controller to a different cab. In other words, always keep the Cab 3 handheld with a Cab 3 port, the Cab 4 handheld with a Cab 4 port, and the Cab 5 handheld with a Cab 5 port.

The reason for this is that some years ago, MRC changed the wiring for the handheld controllers. If you plug in a new-style controller into an old-style power pack (or and vice versa), the rotating speed control knob will behave backwards (full clockwise produces 0 speed and full counter-clockwise will be full speed). Unfortunately, the handheld controllers themselves look identical. We have a mix of old-style and new-style power packs. I’ve sorted out the controllers to work with their specific Cabs.

So the easiest thing is to keep each controller with their current assigned cab.

Sorry if this is a bit complicated. Let me know if you have any questions. I plan to be attending all analog shifts.


-Wayne

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