dcs user manual.qxp
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1. Locomotive amp Accessory Operation TMCC Engine Control cont d SPD Pressing the SPD softkey enables the dis play to show up to 128 speed steps 0 127 MOM Pressing the MOM softkey allows you to set the Momentum of an individual engine or a lash up REL Pressing the REL softkey enables Relative speed stepping This is particularly useful when operating items such as Crane Cars that have 360 degree movement Rolling up on the thumbwheel is the same as spin ning the knob clockwise on the CAB 1 CAB 2 remote while rolling down on the DCS thumbwheel is the same as spin ning the knob on the CAB 1 CAB 2 remote counterclockwise 111 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Universal Locomotive Control Edit TMCC Engine Address You can change an engine s TMCC address via the DCS handheld 1 Scroll through the active engine list and when the arrow is beside the engine you want to renumber press the S U softkey S2 to edit the address Select Edit Engine Address from the available choices 2 The LCD will prompt you to put the switch under the engine into the PROG position 3 Scroll to a TMCC engine address that is not already occupied by another TMCC engine Press the thumbwheel to select it 4 The LCD will prompt you to return the switch under the engine to the RUN position and the edit is complete 112 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Lo2. applied to the tracks Z4K or TIU con trolled by varying the thumbwheel up or down from 5 0 22 0 Volts 6 When you are finished and want to shut the tracks off you can press the TZV Track Zero Volts softkey and all the tracks you were controlling will go to zero volts 108 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Universal Locomotive Control TMCC 1 Wire the layout with MTH s TIU TMCC Connector Cable as described in the Advanced Connection section earlier in this chapter 2 Add TMCC engines to the DCS System as described in the System Add Engine section of the Menu chapter above 3 Press ENG and activate all TMCC engines you want to run by scrolling to them on the inactive list and pressing the thumbwheel 4 Select the TMCC engine you want to control next from the active engine list by scrolling to it and pressing the thumb wheel 5 Use the thumbwheel as a throttle and move between command mode engines DCS or TMCC by pressing ENG to select engines from the active engine list 6 All TMCC functions that have a corre sponding DCS one touch key e g smoke on off are controlled by that key 7 Auxiliary TMCC functions that do not have a corresponding one touch key e g blow down sounds are controlled by a softkey labeled with the TMCC Aux Number 109 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation TMCC Engine
3. will respond to the appropriate one touch buttons e g front and rear coupler and to the softkeys S1 S4 115 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Universal Locomotive Control Operating with Multiple Users cont d B Apply power to the tracks if any your handheld will control in conventional mode and add them to the handheld as described in the Track Setup section of the Menu chapter above You should not re add tracks your handheld is already programmed to control C Place each engine your handheld will control that has not already been added to your remote control onto the track and add it to the handheld as described in the Engine Setup section of the Menu chapter above You should not re add engines your handheld is already programmed to control 3 Once everyone who will be using the DCS system in a given operating session has programmed the TIUs and engines s he will be controlling begin operating normally 4 If you find that you have cross communication between some handhelds and TIUs renumber some of the handhelds as described in the Set Remote Addr section in the Menu chapter above Note A given TIU and engine can be programmed into more than one handheld at a time for control by multiple operators But all engines do not need to be entered into every TIU and handheld on a layout they may be entered only into the equipment that will be controlling them DCS Tip
4. 8 Chapter 8 Advanced Wiring 99 106 Wiring Thru Variable Channels 99 Connecting TMCC To DCS 100 Wiring For A Z4000 Remote 101 Large Layouts 102 One Gauge Layouts 103 Track Signal Improvement 104 Setting Up A Programming Track 106 ALL Mode Track 107 Universal Locomotive Control 109 Operating TMCC Engines 110 Editing TMCC Addresses 112 Operating Conventional Engines 113 Conventional PS2 Operation 114 Operating With Multiple Users 115 Switch amp Accessory Operation 117 Smoking Whistle 118 Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation DCS Command System User s Guide 98 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Advanced Wiring Wiring through a Variable Channel Only In order for the TIU to function Fixed In 1 must be connected to the transformer If Fixed In 1 is not required because Fixed Out 1 is not connected to any track two addi tional methods are available for powering the TIU 99 DCS Command System User s Guide Universa
5. Control DCS Version 4 0 has made a big improve ment to how you operate your TMCC equipped engines You will notice right away the screen looks different 1 AX1 AX2 Pressing AX1 or AX2 will highlight that softkey Once one of the AX softkeys is highlight ed the numeric keypad is available for input For example if you wanted to play the Steam Release sound Aux1 button 6 on the CAB 1 you would press the AX1 softkey so it s highlighted then press key pad button 6 on your DCS Remote The Steam Release sound will now play on your TMCC engine 110 If you press the AX1 or Ax2 softkey again it will disable the keypad the AX softkey highlighting goes away Below is the button sequence for changing a Train America Studios Engineer On Boardequipped engine from 32 to 128 speed steps select the EOB engine first from your engine list DIR AX1 AX1 AX1 AX1 AX1 keypad button 2 AX1 You should hear the engine s horn after the 5th AX1 button press and then again after the keypad 2 press It s important to note that it takes two presses of the AX1 softkey on the DCS Remote to equal one press of the AUX 1 button on the CAB 1 remote If you press AX1 2 so that it s highlighted but do not enter anything on the keypad with in 3 seconds the DCS remote will automatically disable keypad input Press the AX1 2 softkey twice to re highlight it Your numeric keypad will again be active DCS Command System User s Guide Universal
6. You can program each handheld to communicate with up to five TIUs whether the TIUs are all on the same layout or not For instance if you have two TIUs at home and three on a Club layout where you run regularly you can program all five TIUs into the handheld once and leave them programmed rather than re programming every time Press READ whenever you change layouts so that the remote will know which TIUs it is communicating with in a given session Note that the more TIUs are added to a handheld the longer the READ process will take as the handheld searches for each TIU to determine whether it is there DCS Tip Engines will respond to the last command given allowing more than one operator to control the same engines in the same session 116 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Switch and Accessory Operation Using an Accessory Interface Unit AIU Item No 50 1004 turns DCS into a com plete layout control system Once you have wired an AIU switches and accessories to the DCS system you can control them via the DCS remote control 1 Press the SW for switches or ACC for accessories button 2 Scroll until the arrow is located beside the switch or accessory you want to control 3 Press the appropriate softkey below the command you want to send softkeys described below Switches ALL Selects ALL switches connected to an AIU S U Shortcut to the Switch Setup scr
7. comotive amp Accessory Operation Universal Locomotive Control Conventional Mode 1 Wire and name tracks according to the instructions in the Advanced Connection Section earlier in this chapter and in the Track Setup section of the Menu chapter 2 Place a conventional mode locomotive on the track connected to a Variable chan nel of the TIU or to a Fixed channel being controlled by a Z 4000 remote receiver 3 Press the TR track button scroll to the track you want to control and press the thumbwheel to select it 4 Operate your engine according to its conventional mode operating instructions using the DCS remote s thumbwheel instead of the transformer to adjust the locomotive s speed DCS Tip To program Proto Sound 1 engines select the MPG softkey S5 Scroll through the list of programming options and press the thumbwheel to select the option you want The DCS system will send the power variations needed to activate the option and the engine will respond with the appropriate clinks and clanks To set a starting minimum voltage and maximum voltage for tracks connected to the Variable channels select the softkey under MTV and scroll to select the starting and maximum voltages 113 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Universal Locomotive Control Proto Sound 2 0 Engines in Conventional Mode Because the DCS remote control defaults to command mode set
8. een within the menu system Throws a switch straight Throws a switch curved Accessories ALL Selects ALL accessories connected to an AIU S U Shortcut to the Accessory Setup screen within the menu system On Turns the selected accessory on for continuous operation Off Turns the selected accessory off Act Activates the selected accessory for one time operation 117 See the AIU Operators Manual for com plete instructions on wiring and operation DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Proto Smoking Whistle This feature allows you to enable a smok ing whistle feature that adds more realism to your model by blowing steam smoke out of the whistle whenever the whistle sound is activated It works in conjunction with the Proto Whistle feature Like the Proto Whistle feature the Smoking Whistle is not available on all DCS equipped engines This feature will only work on those engines that have the prop er hardware and an actual whistle smoke unit 1 Select the Proto Whistle Smoking Whistle equipped engine from your DCS remote 2 Press the SPW softkey It will highlight 3 Your display will change to indicate that Proto Whistle is active 4 Press the FSW softkey to enable the Smoking Whistle Feature This softkey will also highlight 118 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation 5 Now watch your whistle d
9. etail on your engine as you scroll the thumbwheel up and down You will see that the intensity of the smoke varies with the intensity of the whistle sound 6 To disable the Smoking Whistle feature press the FSW softkey again and it will no longer be highlighted 119 Note When Proto Whistle is active your regular Whistle Horn button is inactive Pressing on the thumbwheel Select will allow you to control the speed of your engine Pressing Select again will return you to Proto Whistle control Proto Smoking Whistle cont d
10. iable Channels can be set to Fixed see Menu System DCS Set Up and all 4 channels of the TIU can be used AC power only For layouts with more than 1200 feet of track and wire MTH recom mends using multiple TIUs set to SUPER MODE to maintain a good DCS Track Signal It is important to understand the DCS remote sends a command to one TIU or multiple TIUs at the same time and the digital command for one locomotive is sent to all tracks connected to all TIU channels simultaneously Therefore the train will receive the digital command wherever it is on the layout provided that section of the layout is connected to a powered TIU It is also important to remember the DCS Remote can send commands to one TIU or multiple TIUs depending on the TIU addresses you instruct the DCS Remote to communicate with see Menu System TIU Set Up Add TIU Wire Management Track Blocks Since DCS puts the digital signal on the center rail digital signal strength may become an issue as the track and wire length increase When more than one TIU channel is used the track should be separated into blocks This is easily done by insulating the rails between blocks In addition the wire lengths on a terminal strip should be balanced the length of wire should be the same wherever possible to maximize the DCS signal on the track Therefore placement of the TIU and Terminal Blocks should be centralized to minimize the wire length going to the track 102 Top View 40 1029 Bo
11. l Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Advanced Wiring Connecting the TMCC Command Base to a DCS Layout 100 Note While the TIU TMCC Connector Cable Item No 50 1018 looks like a standard computer DB 9 cable two of the pins have been reversed to allow the TIU and Command Base to communicate A standard DB 9 cable will not work in this application DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Advanced Wiring Wiring with Z 4000 Remote Receiver for Conventional Control of Fixed Channels 101 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Advanced Wiring One of the great features of the DCS system is that it is expandable and can be adapted to each layout The installation of the system to each layout may differ as the size and complexity of the layout increase Here are some general guidelines for installing DCS on larger more complex layouts Please see MTH s website www protosound2 com for more articles on layout wiring Multiple TIU Channels Multiple TIUs Depending on the size of your layout you may need to use more than one TIU channel If your layout contains more than 300 feet of track and wiring or more than 5 engines on the track at one time MTH recommends using more than one TIU channel to maintain a good DCS Track Signal see System Track Signal Test for more information If you are running engines in Command Mode only remember the TIU Var
12. l carries the digital signal You may have to place the engine on the track in the opposite direction if the engine does not have a polarity switch It is also very important to keep in mind the positive output from the DC power supply must be connected to the positive input terminal on the TIU Fixed channel to carry the DCS signal to the track 103 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Track Signal Improvements A simple method has been discovered that improves DCS track signal quality on layouts wired according to the MTH DCS wiring recommendations The method can be employed on any layout where track quality fails to exceed 8 when measured using the DCS Track Quality test found in DCS s remote control features 18v bulb track signal improvement 1 104 to transformer power or red to transformer ground or black to center rail to outside rail Track Signal Improvements cont d By attaching an 18 volt bulb to the output ports red and black of the TIU Output Channels Fixed or Variable or onto the DCS Terminal Block input ports red and black the track signal quality measurements will increase The solution does not boost the signal it simply cleans up signals reflected back into the TIU from the track In effect the solution eliminates any noise caused by signals already present on the layout which lower the effectiveness of any new signal produced by the TIU as comma
13. nds are sent out 18v bulb track signal improvement 2 The solution is only effective on layouts employing the recommended DCS wiring meth ods as described on the Proto Sound web site www protosound2 com or in the DCS Operator s Manual DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation 105 to transformer power or red to transformer ground or black to center rail to outside rail to track TERMINAL BLOCK M T H Item 50 1014 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Advanced Wiring Setting up a Programming Track 106 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation ALL Mode Tracks ALL Mode for Tracks has been added You now have the ability to select either All TIU or All Z4K tracks and have them power on off simultaneously Lashups and Record Playback can now be included in All mode operation 1 Press the TR button 2 Select the ALL softkey 3 Select either Z4K or TIU tracks 4 Press the TSV softkey Track Starting Voltage The remote will tell all the tracks Z4K or TIU depending upon which one you selected in Step 3 to go to 18V Similarly you can roll the thumbwheel up one click and you will get to 18V as well 107 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation ALL Mode Tracks cont d 5 You can now control the voltage
14. tings you must tell it when you want it to control a Proto Sound 2 0 locomotive in conventional mode Follow the steps below to operate a conventional mode engine via the DCS handheld 1 Wire and name tracks according to the previous instructions in the Track Setup section of the Menu chapter 2 Place a conventional mode locomotive on the track connected to a Variable chan nel of the TIU or to a Fixed channel being controlled by a Z 4000 remote receiver 3 Select the Proto Sound 2 0 engine you want to operate in conventional mode 4 Scroll through the softkey list until you find More in the forth softkey screen Press the More key to access the extended softkey list Scroll and press the thumbwheel to select the Conv Mode function to put the engine into conven tional mode see the chart in Appendix A 5 Follow the conventional mode operat ing instructions above 6 When you are ready to control that engine in command mode again re enter the softkey list and turn conventional mode off 114 DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Universal Locomotive Control Proto Sound 2 0 Engines in Conventional Mode cont d When in Conventional Mode the yellow Bell white Whistle and red Direction buttons operate the same way on the DCS handheld that they do on other transformers and remotes Horn Whistle To sound the whistle firmly press the Horn Whistle bu
15. ttom View 40 1029 Remove Wire to insulate center rail DCS Command System User s Guide Universal Locomotive amp Accessory Operation Advanced Wiring Conventional Command or Both If you plan to run trains in conventional and command mode on the track at the same time you will need to use a Variable channel of the TIU Using the Variable channel of the TIU you can run conventional engines vary the voltage to the track and command engines send digital commands on the track at the same time to vary the speed of the engine for example It is important to remember that the top speed of the command train will be limited to the voltage on the track Note The variable channels require 22 volts AC power at the Variable Input to pro vide the voltage displayed on the DCS Remote If less than 22 Volts AC is provided to the Variable Input the voltage output to the track will be less than that displayed in the DCS Remote The TIU Variable Channel will NOT vary DC power Using DC Power Supplies It is important to remember the DCS system was designed for inside layouts If DCS is used outdoors on One gauge or G gauge layouts please make sure the system is pro tected from the weather rain and snow for example In addition DC power will NOT pass through the TIU Variable Channels Therefore use only the Fixed 1 amp 2 Channels with DC power supplies Also remember the polarity is critical to DCS Command opera tion The positive rai
16. tton The whis tle will sound for as long as you continue to depress the button It will stop when you release the button Bell To sound the bell firmly press and release the Bell button To turn the bell off press and release the Bell button again The bell will continue to ring from the time you turn it on until you press and release the button again to turn it off Direction To change the locomotive s direction firmly press and release the Direction button Most 3 rail O Gauge locomotives are designed not to go directly from forward to reverse they go into neutral between directions If the train has been moving forward the first press of the Direction button will put the train from forward into neutral the second press into reverse the third press back into neutral and the fourth back into for ward Be sure to see your engine s operating instructions for more detail Operating with Multiple Users 1 Wire the layout as described previously 2 Each handheld must be programmed to communicate with the TIU s and engines it will control at any point in the operational session To do this A Apply power to the TIUs your handheld will control and add them to the handheld as described in the TIU Setup section of the Menu chapter above You should not re add TIUs your handheld is already programmed to control Be careful not to attempt to assign more than one TIU to the same TIU address DCS Tip Proto Sound 2 0 locomotives
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