Tiny bit of movement on the dark arts (DCC) tonight but full implementation is something for a clear head so a post on a completely unrelated topic.
I've still yet to post stuff from the G scale society Annual show at Stafford from 24th March but one thing did impress SWMBO - the Easter trains. The Midlands group had a layout featuring a train specially prepared for Easter which was the following weekend.
For a still picture of it then here it is:
So, there were demands for something similar.
So, come Easter Sunday - Voila !
(The central Character is "Olivia the Pig" in a chicken costume that I converted from a felt toy sold by Poundland).
Ok, so Sunday I'm out with the rescue team but I take along a couple of locos which ultimately get some "testing" by the grandchildren whilst we are there. AFter about 30 mins, one decides to play up and basically refuse to obey any DCC commands..
Appears to run on DC (analog).
Loose wire is suspected.
Deep Breath time...
Open the chassis...
For those who know Paul (aka Stainzmeister) from other places then I'm deeply impressed by the neatness of the wiring and extra weight.
The downside is no obvious loose wires on the top part.
I'd previously tried a change the loco ID to no effect.
Tonight I tried a factory re-set on basic settings and motor functions on the chip. I'm not sure its registering as I'm not hearing the "click" I would ordinarily expect.
Before going further though its time to see if I can read the chip which means getting the SPROG 3 I bought for Christmas into effect. For various reasons (my health, elderly mum with dementia, complexity) then I've not actually loaded the software (tried to but the machine rejects the disc so it's going to have to be a download and install) and then checked all the wiring....
Growing up as a child in the 60's then if there were emergencies and crisis, then the solution was simple - Thunderbirds...
Today was spent off to see to a Garden railway where the owner is currently ill and not had chance to look at it for a while, there were a few problems and try and get it running. I was the DCC "expert" (in the land of the blind, the one eyed man with fuzzy vision is king...) on hand.
My aspect was soon sorted after some detective work, and I had along my own kit. I like to think of the car boot as the "pod" that Thunderbird 2 chooses....
The Massoth Transmitter was set for American frequency and trying to talk to a European receiver. There were a few other issues though - one loco appeared to have had its D changed, which was quickly sorted.
A shay posed other problems though. Again, by a process of elimination (Trying it on DCC, trying on DC) the decision was taken to open to it up and the teamwork came in here. Whilst the local organisor of the G scale society got to work with the soldering iron on some loose wires, I was back to probably my true place as track scrubber with the LGB track rubber. The Track had been given a fairly good clean, but I still think the LGB track rubbers are better than things like scotch pads etc...
Still, the rescue pod (i.e. car boot) had one more task to perform.... There was a effectively a tunnel (a space beneath some steps) that was a real problem to clean unless you had arms that were say seven feet long to be able to reach the middle.
Several passes with this (LGB Track cleaning loco) and the space was up and running on DCC. So, by the end all locos working, on wireless DCC, and all track available to be used.
