RailPro > RailPro Specific Help & Discussion

New problem cropped up

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Antoine L.:
Well, I think they're all LM-2S factory version. They are certainly not up to date for one main reasons. When I try to update them it says "programmer started" and then nothing happens. Can someone tell me how to update?

As for interference, Maybe the smart TV? the wireless phone? could it be dirt near the track (1/2 inch away?)(I use real sifted dirt, maybe it has tiny magnetic things in it...?, could it be that? I use woodland scenics ballast for track tho.) I have no cellphone.

The locos run fine when not consisted, very smooth.

Antoine

nodcc4me:
Antoine, do you have any other locomotives that you can consist either of these two Katos with, one at a time and see if the problems persist? Although interference could possibly cause this erratic behavior, as Tim stated, it is unlikely because RP uses spread spectrum technology, which limits interference problems.

I'm also thinking a setting could have something to do with this. Try setting your acceleration, deceleration and start speed to default on both engines.

Alan:
I'll mention this only because it happened to me and I was able to recreate the problem on demand.

Whenever a switch mode power supply was in, on nearly in, the direct line of sight between a loco and the controller I would lose control of the loco, it became a runaway. Just prior to losing control it would often act erratically speed-wise.

I had a loop of track setup to break in new locomotives. Originally I used a wall wart to power it. Everything was fine. Then I switched to a SMPS. It was positioned next to the loop. On occasion I would lose control. On one occasion I noticed the SMPS was directly between me and the loop. The loco lost control when it passed behind the SMPS. I moved over so the SMPS was not between me and the loop. No loss of control. I found that I could force loss of control by where I was standing relative to the SMPS. Why the RF signal cared whether or not the power supply was between the controller and the loco is beyond me but it most definitely did.

I know what you are thinking - was the power supply properly grounded? Yes.

Josephbw:
I sent an email to Tim Ring the other day and got a reply this morning in regards to the problem of "Maximum number of locomotives are in use". I received this response this morning.

Hi Joe,

I am sure there is nothing wrong with either HC.  You get a 'Max. locos in use' when your HC is actively controlling more than 12 locos.  Although you can have dozens of locos loaded in the HC you can only control up to 12 at a time with a single HC.  The HC automatically removes unused locos form the actively controlled list. However, to get the HC to automatically remove an unused loco it has to be at speed 0.0% for more than 10 seconds before you turn off the HC and the track power.  If you don't do this the loco can stay active in the HC active loco list and can eventually give you a 'Max. locos in use'.  To start from scratch you can press the reset button on the back of the HC that is reporting this (that will clear the locos in use list).  Then be sure before you turn the layout off to set all speeds to 0.0% and wait over 10 seconds before powering off the HC and layout.


Please let us know your results because we are very interested in happy customers.

Thank you for contacting Ring Engineering!


So apparently there is a 12 loco limit in a consist. There are a lot of gotcha's that should be included in the manual, and this is one of them. I will send a positive report back to Tim, and also a suggestion for a manual update. BTW, I did what was suggested and it works like a charm.  :) I have also been running the 3 unit consist together pulling 30 cars plus 2 dummy engines and a caboose around my test loop whenever I'm down in the basement where I can keep and eye on it. It does seem to be smoothing out and they are playing together much better now.

Joe

nodcc4me:
I was not aware of the 10 second power-off delay Joe. Thanks for posting it. Glad you got your problem resolved.

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