Category Archives: Electronics

Digitrax decoders a problem

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Today I returned three Digitrax DH123D decoders that I had bought in January from the Hobby Smith in Portland. After installing them into new engines, I had recently purchased, they would not retain their long address. I coded their long address using my Digitrax Zephyr, unsuccessfully tried to run them and then found that they had changed to a completely different address. Happily (sort of) I was able to take them back to Hobby Smith for a refund. I will now be looking into identifying a more reliable decoder.

Adding DCC to my engines

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I’ve started adding DCC decoders to my engines. This can be a challenge as older engines frequently have very little room inside the shell for new equipment. 2016-01-09 engines (1) 2016-01-09 engines (2) 2016-01-09 engines (3)  As you can see these NP “F” units have a large weight over the motor, so I had to run the wire from the front truck and light to the decoder inside the weight and tape it to the inside top.

search engine errors

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I’m incurring a lot of search engine errors in my web site and have to figure how to redirect them. I remember reading in the WordPress book about redirects but will have to go back and look it up. Perhaps I can contact a user group for additional help.

I’m also trying to fix the Windows files for updating the operating system. Both club computers have corrupted these two files in the Vista system and need replacing. I’ll try using my installation disk in repair mode. I guess it keeps me out of trouble.

I’m going to replace the 4X8 plywood sheet on the layout under Yakima as I had cut it in two when trying to redo the layout. I can use the cut pieces in the upper level where the two towns are going to be.

JMRI 4.2 now out

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I just loaded JMRI 4.0.1 on the club computers last week and now they have published 4.2. It’s getting hard to keep up with the changes. I’ll have to read any new help files to see what has changed and how to use any new stuff. I finally figured out how to load either of the two setups we use for programming or WiFi throttles. I went to their Yahoo web site and asked about a new printable help file and was told to use the program help file. That’s great if you have two screens to read the help file while you work with the changes. I’ll have to set up my Digitrax laptop with a second screen to practice.

JMRI 4.0.1

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Yesterday I updated the Willamette Model railroad club’s JMRI program to version 4.0.1 and suddenly ran into several changes that I had no idea how to handle. After a couple hours of trial and error I was able to select the two profiles we use for programming and WiFi operations. When I visited the JMRI web site I found there is only an online help section and no downloaded manual for the 4.x updates. I’m hoping this will change soon as my ability to memorize the help files is somewhat limited and running home every time I have a question is the pits.