Cambrai DDC lights

richand26mhz

richand26mhz

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Hey,

im fairly new to DCC, i recently bought an MTS3 set up. I have tested it in analogue works fine apart form the horrible motor noise.
At the moment i do not have any digital locos so i borrowed my dads Cambrai he runs in analogue. I managed to set the address for it but can't get the lights to turn on for directional travel.
Im thinking as its an older loco with a factory fitted decoder its will not work with a parallel mts 3 set up.

Any help in getting the functions working is a great help.

Thanks
 
Does the 'mouse' (handset) have a letter 'P' on the underside? - It may be a serial handset.
Do you get a whistle if you press the '1' key? - Depends on programming.. AND if the loco has sound!
Do you get different things happening if you press different number keys?
Do the lights work when running on analogue? - switch in wrong position, blown bulbs.

If it is serial, then you press the '1' button 'n' times. - Where 'n' is the number of the function you want.
 
Parallel/Serial function operation should not affect the lights only function (2 and above) operation. Incorrect speed steps (14/28) will affect them!

Which handset are you using with your MTS3 setup? LGB Loco remote (with the dial), the LGB universal remote (no dial) [cant remember which is the 55016 and which is 55015] or the Massoth Navigator?

You are probably aware the 9 button on the LGB handset/Navigator will switch the lights on and off. If the lights flicker on and off as you increase/decrease speed then it is a speed step issue.
 
I have the loco remote with the dial. The loco lights work in anolgue. They do not come on at all in digital. It's not to much of an issue as I'm only borrowing it. Just want to know if it's compatible.
 
You need to very carefully read what Muns said in the post before your last one. The solution is there.
JonD
 
What is the loco address number, I have MTS 3 and for some reason any loco with the address no 3 the lights don't work, each time I've changed it from No 3 to something else the lights worked fine, I think its something to do with the MTS 3 as my Heidi's lights wouldn't work on my MTS 3 yet worked fine on Philban's massoth system , I changed the address to another one and the lights worked fine, this has happened again recently with my new RHB 2- 4 loco, again came with address No 3 , no lights , address changed, lights work fine -strange I know but it works :)
 
Just a quick thought re some of the earlier posts - if it's an MTS3 system, isn't it automatically going to be Parallel control? I thought the change came part-way through the life of MTS2, which is why some MTS2 units are stickered "P" and some are not (earlier, serial units) - I'd always assumed that by the time MTS3 was introduced, Parallel was completely standard. Of course any parallel MTS system can still be switched back into Serial mode to run locos with old 55020 decoders.

Jon.
 
It's been a long time since I had a MTS system, but from what I recall, the setting for parallel/serial is on a per address basis. That is, if you want loco 10 to be controlled with serial commands, you just change that address. I don't think there is a way to switch the whole unit. Certainly not on MTS 2, anyway.
 
HBBahn said:
It's been a long time since I had a MTS system, but from what I recall, the setting for parallel/serial is on a per address basis. That is, if you want loco 10 to be controlled with serial commands, you just change that address. I don't think there is a way to switch the whole unit. Certainly not on MTS 2, anyway.
Click to expand...

You're quite right, Tony - that's pretty much what I meant to say, but I didn't explain myself very well! What I meant, as you noted, is that even with a Parallel system you can still select serial commands for older locos - as, of course, you can when using a Massoth Navvy with an MTS3 system.

Jon.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Today my 1st decoder came and I have fitted it to my decoder ready stainz. Tested it working Ok on 02.but again no lights working!! I followed the instructions from here to fit it. All dip switched to off. Looking like it's the mts system rather than the loco's. Is there a way of resetting the mts system. Thanks
 
Could it be the handset - the light key (9) not being responsive?

Does the 9 key register if you try and selecting loco 9?
 
Just set it to #09. Worked with no lights. Googled the issue and others say it might be to do with the speed steps. But the lights do not flicker. Thanks for the help.
 
If it's a speed step issue then the lights would definitely flick on and off with every alternate speed step increase.

OK, this may be a silly question: but it's always worth asking the silly ones to get them out of the equation.... when you try to turn on the lights, are you pressing JUST the light key (9), or are you pressing the function key (0?) and then 9? The FORMER (key 9 only) is correct, but I know from experience that some newcomers to the system (yes, I did it myself!) think that as it's described as a "function" key, that you have to press the F followed by the 9 - you don't. In fact I think from memory that "F" followed by 9 actually toggles between serial and parallel mode?

Jon.
 
There can be another issue with s/h handsets. I bought a "p" version on Ebay. When it arrived I discovered that whilst the handset was marked "p" some joker had replaced the board with a Serial one! >:( >:( >:(
 
This sounds like the issue I'm having. In my case, I've tried 2 different handsets, both of which flash to acknowledge the '9' button being pressed. Other models work fine with lights working when they should. The lights do work on analogue though, so surely that would rule out a fault on the loco? Now confused...
 
Yes mine lights all work fine in anolgue. have tried 2 decoder fitted engines now. My stainz has a mossoth L decoder fitted yesterday. Also how can you tell if it's a serial handset? I'm in Coventry if anyone local has dcc.
 
Also the instructions that came with it are for the digital starter set with the black steam engine and yellow diesel and seem to be correct.
 
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