Lgb Mts With Railroad & Co? (mts Vs Dcc)

S

stevenfitch

I'm New, Please Be Gentle
Hi

I'm new to G Scale but been using the smaller indoor scales under DCC for years.
I have 2 LGB locos (a Stainz and a 'LOK 1' shunter) and one Aristocraft Dash 9.

I am using Railroad & Co software from Freiwald with Digitrax hardware as i have done for years, i can control the locos but have come across a few issues which i'm hoping someone may be able to throw some light on.

Stainz - Works fine, i can move it back and forward and turn the light on and of using Function 0. I fitted a new LGB recommended decoder to this a few months ago.

LOK 1 - This worked fine using an LGB MTS controller and was on address 3, i never controlled the loco with the PC i just put it straight on the programming track and attempted to change its address to 2 using the Railroad and Co programmer - now the loco will not respond to anything (no movement, no lights) except the horn will sound on Function 1

Dash 9 - I am told by the previous owner that this has 'an MTS decoder fitted'. Looking inside it has a decoder board fitted to the original control board and it works on its address (i forget the address number), however the lights only work on/off via the internal switch and not a decoder function. I am assuming the same is true for the smoke generator which also has a switch, i just have no fluid to test this.

The big question... Is MTS the same as DCC so this should all work or do i just need to strip out the LGB decoders and fit some other true DCC decoders to these... If the second is true then feel free to recommend a decoder brand, id also like some level of 'stay alive' to cope with dirty track and plastic point frogs.
 
MTS is fairly outdated now but the decoders work well enough as long as you don't expect too much from them.
If you are used to DCC then you'll be familiar with ESU and Zimo both of whose large scale decoders both offer onboard stay alive capacitors.
You'll also get motor control tuned to your actual motor and 128 speed steps for fine control.
Both also supply decoders with a continuous rating of 1.2A which is suitable for 0 4 0 LGB engines as well as higher output ones for your bigger toys :).
The difference comes when you want more than standard with the smaller Zimo MX632 non sound and MX645 sound decoders coming with stay alive circuitry onboard - just solder a capacitor of your choice to the wires pre soldered to the decoder.
The biggest difference is the number and 'tuneabilty' of the functions, Zimo 'Swiss Mapping' allows you to control any of the functions together or separately with a wide range of effects including outputs for pulsed smoke on the larger decoders meaning a cheaper pulsing smoke can be used and easily connected. Additionally on the sound decoders you can change sounds ( make whistles playable or sound when moving off etc) without the need for any special programmer. The latest software even gives you a brake facility so that you can coast your locos then use the brake button to slow or stop your train!
 
Your "Lok 1" LGB shunter was (I believe) the first MTS/DCC chipped loco that LGB ever produced, back when they first introduced the MTS1 system with the LokMaus controller - it will almost certainly have one of the very first Lenz-made 55020 decoders (with no back-EMF). Having said that, there is no reason it shouldn't still work with any standard DCC system. As far as I'm aware (I'm sure some of the more tech-experienced forumites will correct this if I'm wrong or generalising too much) MTS has always been MOSTLY the same as (NMRA) DCC, and you shouldn't - in theory - have trouble operating MTS decoders on another DCC system.

Jon.
 
At an educated guess and having a quick flip through the manual at http://www.freiwald.com/pages/trainprogrammer.htm it appears by default the program, depending on which version, supports Direct Mode Programming, the 55020 decoders require Register Mode in order to program these decoders correctly, which appears to be available seperatley.
 
Check the speed step stettings - your early MTS "Lok 1" loco may only respond to 14 speed steps?

I'd be surprised if the Dash-9 has got an MTS decoder in it? The Dash-9 is a large loco requiring more amps than MTS decoders can handle, except possibly a 55027. If the decoder is a direct plug-in to the loco main board then I'd expect something like a Digitrax DG583AR. Can your programming software read and identify decoders?
 
Dear Steven,
I don't have any issue with LGB and MASSOTH decoders interfaced with TrainController via my MASSOTH Central station.
First, you need to check that everything is working fine for your 3 locos and your current DCC system (Digitrax?). Then it should not be any challenge connecting your G scale with Train Controller.
Most of the time the speed step number is the challenge (it should be the same for the decoder and DCC system).
 
RESOLVED

Yes the LOK1 had a 1st generation MTS decoder so this was replaced with a Zimo MX695 and also has some automatic uncouplers added.


Thanks for all the help, to keep things simple the Zimo X695 will be used in every loco.
 
Glad you got it sorted out. You won't be disappointed with your Zimo decoders, they are very good on default settings but are capable of so much more with a little CV fettling.
 
Do Zimo do all the sounds of the German/Swiss locos or is it mainly US.
 
It's less straightforward Alan. There is a pre loaded sound collection on all decoders as supplied which you can mix and match to suit your needs. There is also a selection of free to download sounds and also 'coded' projects which you need to buy a load code for. All of the above can be customised with CV changes.check out the sound files here.
https:// www.zimo.at/web2010/sound
 
So they are not digital recordings of specific locos then - you mix and match to your choosing?
 
You can mix and match using the sound collections or use specific recordings as per the sound database.
Even if you use specific recordings you can still change the way they are played to suit your requirements ie light engine or pulling a train controlled by a function button, chuff synchronisation etc.
As the sound projects are created using a 'template' you can make whistles playable, have automatic starting whistle blasts by changing a few CVs.
Coded sound projects tend to have pre configured function outputs too so for example selecting the uncoupling sound also opetates the uncouplers and triggers the 'waltz' sequence. You can of course set these up yourself again just by changing CVs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom