NCE Power Cab - Operating Procedures; The Normal Display; Selecting a Locomotive or Consist

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OPERATING PROCEDURES
THE “NORMAL” DISPLAY
LOC:1234 2:00PM
FWD:108 L1-3---
TOP ROW OF DISPLAY
LOC: Indicates that a locomotive is being operated.
CON: Indicates that a consist is being operated.
2:00PM: Scale Time in either 12 hour or 24 hour format.
BOTTOM ROW OF DISPLAY
FWD: or REV: Indicates the current direction of loco or consist
108 - Indicates the speed step to which the active loco/consist is presently set.
L123456 or - - - - - - -
Indicates which function outputs are ON. Those outputs that are OFF are displayed
as dashes (-). The example above indicates that the Headlight, Function #1 and
Function #3 are on.
Other status information may temporarily be displayed is this area.
SELECTING A LOCOMOTIVE OR
CONSIST
First a word about locomotive addresses. A decoder can have 2 different addresses,
the Short Address (values from 1-127) and the Long Address (sometimes called 4
digit with a range of 0000-9999). A decoder can use one or the other but not both at
the same time. Some entry level decoders can only use the Short Address.
As you can see above there is an overlap in the address ranges between the short
and long address. You can have a Long Address of 6 and a Short Address of 6.
They are not the same. To use a short address (range 1-127) it is selected on the
cab by entering only the significant digits (no zeros before you get to the numbers).
To enter a long address in the range of 0-127 put a zero before the digits. A long
address between 0 and 127 will have an asterisk (*) before the loco address on the
cab display as below:
LOC:*006 2:00PMLOC:*006 2:00PM
LOC:*006 2:00PMLOC:*006 2:00PM
LOC:*006 2:00PM
ENTER LOCO: _ENTER LOCO: _
ENTER LOCO: _ENTER LOCO: _
ENTER LOCO: _
NOTE: You will notice that the short address 0 is not available but the long address 0
is listed as a valid address. Short address 0 is the “broadcast” address for DCC. If
you were to send commands to short address 0 all locomotives on the layout would
respond causing chaos. For this reason we don’t allow use of short address 0. Long
address 0 can be used just like any other locomotive address.
Loco or consist
currently being
controlled
Speed step
and direction
of current
loco
Current time
from system
fast clock or
display of
track current
Status of locomotive
decoder functions