Re: Repeaters

[Ken Z]

My layout travels through the whole basement.  My DCC radio controls occasionally seem to get lost when the basement is really full of people and I am trying to communicate to the other side of the basement.  Yesterday with the RailPro I did not see that happen however i would like to do more testing.  I am having a RailPro controller installed into a brass RS-11, I will see how it works.  Thanks for the discussion about how control of the locomotives gets consisted. 
About the horn, if I run the consist around the train and head back the second unit would sound the horn.  Well if that if the only drawback, I can live with it. 
I am building my RailPro fleet and we have another RAilPro user here in town so we will be able to push the envelope more. 
For my guests, this was the first live and in person opportunity to see RailPro in action.  They had seen you tube however I think waking around with the HC-2 and a train showed them how impressive the system is. 

Ken Zieska

[TwinStar]

Ken:

How many PWR-56's do you have scattered around the layout?

[KPack]

Ken, when you run the consist around a train you should break the consist and remake it with the new lead unit.  That way the new lead unit plays the horn correctly and the lights as well.

That is how the prototype does it.  My hometown is the last stop for the local, and when they finish their switching they run around the train and the previously following locomotive now becomes the lead.  The crew now occupies the new lead unit and the train is now identified by the new locomotive (ie the crew previously communicated with dispatch as "BNSF 1668" but now communicate as "BNSF 1836"). 

Load sharing will work better if you switch the lead after you run around.  Don't forget that load sharing is all based on what the "lead" locomotive detects (whatever locomotive you have set as lead).  Therefore when pulling a train you always want the locomotive in front of everything to be the lead in the MU on the controller.

-Kevin

[Ken Z]

Kevin, Thus is great information.  I am going to cut and paste this into a page I can keep with my notes so I can be sure to explain it correctly when I have visitors.  These would be good discusion pages to have in a file here for people to learn the neat details that are available with RailPro.

ken

[Ken Z]

for the question about the PWR being scattered around the basement.  My layout is full Digitrax's.  Divided into power blocks with a good bus wire system.  While I might see migrating away from it to the straight RailPro power supply I have all my frogs powered by Tam Valley frog juicers and I have a Tam Valley reversing module on my wye.  I will need to find out if there would be an issue.  It is not a big issue as i have a number of DCC locomotives that I will need to change out and everything is running just great now.  I don't see I am likely to add more DCC locomotives.

Ken Z.

[TwinStar]

Ken:

Don't forget that the PWR-56 also acts as a repeater for the RailPro communications network. I don't think you need to rip out your DCC but plugging in a few PWR-56's (to the wall, not the rail) might help with some of your dead spots.

[Ken Z]

Jacob, I was not aware of that.  I will do that.
Thanks,
Ken Zieska

[Dean]

Does the PWR-56 need to attach to the track, or can it just be plugged in to be a repeater?

[Alan]

Just be plugged in.

[William Brillinger]

I'm pretty sure you also have to also add the PWR-56's to each HC (find product) so they know about each other.

[Alan]

I'm pretty sure you also have to also add the PWR-56's to each HC (find product) so they know about each other.

It seems odd you have to do that. Don't doubt it, just seems odd.

@Dean - Can you verify this for us when you add the additional PW56s?

[William Brillinger]

Page 25 of the HC-2 manual covers repeaters:

http://www.ringengineering.com/RailPro/Documents/HC-2UsersManual.pdf

IMPORTANT: In the Advanced Settings of your HC you need to specify which RailPro
products will be repeaters.
Your HC can use from one to four repeaters. To Setup the Repeater from the Main
Page, press the “Adjust Settings” Button and then the “Advanced Setup” button. To add
a Repeater, touch the “Press Here to Select Product” button. Select a product to use as
a repeater. To remove a repeater, touch the “Remove” button under the product you
want to remove.

It's more involved than I thought!

[Alan]

So this means if someone takes their HC to a friend's layout they must add the friend's PWs to their HC?

[William Brillinger]

So this means if someone takes their HC to a friend's layout they must add the friend's PWs to their HC?

Looks that way.

[nodcc4me]

The HC will not discover any RP products for the first time without pressing the "Find Product" button. Once it finds a product it will remember it the next time it sees it. If your "Find" a friend's PWR56, and set it up as a repeater, I believe it will recognize that PWR the next time it is within range. I have no way to verify that. Perhaps someone in that situation can try it and report back.