I just recieved and set up my NCE Cab 06. Plugged it right into panel and away I went..no address change, both 3...What my let down is, is (" It depends on what 'is' is. " Bill Clinton, circa 1999), I was under the impression that this satellite-like hand-held throttle was designed to be assigned a loco via the PowerCab acting like a train board (no pun) where an engineer comes on duty (his trick) and sees his assigned loco (say #1004) for the day up on the work order board. This engineer then 'climbs into his cab' and runs his locomotive..and thus can not run any other locomotive until he relinquishes it to another...But, apparently the user of the 06 can 'select' another loco, even the one I'm running (or not) elsewhere on the RR at any time merely buy 'select loco' ! I was alone doing this and even found one can have the SAME loco run from either throttle at the same time..Well, not the exact same time..I also thought, what if we forget (*%Y^! happens) and I am running it F and other man selects same loco, hits R and throttles up ? I didn't perform this experiment for fear of frying something...Sorry guys (and Candy Streeter, wherever she may be). I'm not whining nor am I flaming at NCE..I only was hoping it was the way I'd envisioned it...a seperate engineer comandeering only one loco assigned to him by the 'boss'... I do though admire the electronics and quality of the new unit..I know I'll get used to it and move on. It just concerns me that 'he' can run 'my' train, too; or any other train at any time. See what I mean ? I'll bet you guys out there will set me straight about all this; that there's something else I'm not yet realizing; perhaps a way to progam just that condition..In short, I thought the PowerCab, alone, assigns the engine to the engineer, and only that way... No, I'm Ok . I'm not angry..Really... Thanks, Mark
never seen this problem operating at large club layouts and conventions. I have seen a consist get programmed to the same address as another engine once, was kinda interesting! If somebody selects the same engine that is selected on another throttle you won't fry something. You'll have moments of "gee that was odd". The decoder won't try to run an engine in two different directions at the same time. Most DCC throttles are designed this way so its simpler, its much easier to have someone grab a throttle at a session and select an engine than wait for it to be dispatched. To my knowledge digitrax is the only system that offers a throttle that can only be given an engine via dispatching.
Fellow members, I was dead wrong !! No need to correct me. The logic of it occurred to me later in the night whilst describing my new throttle to my good friend, a model plane nut..I can only log-in at the library which was now closed and was affraid scores of you would have entered posts laboring over my misunderstanding of the 06-Cab by the time I got here today..Glad to see only 1, so far. ! Pheeew !.. So, here's what dawned on me last night: I'd given myself a mind-set of how a walk-around such as an 06 (above) is to operate. I realized this is stupid..It is first and foremost for one who is operating alone to be able to walk around the layout, my layout, running whichever loco/train I want, from wherever I want to . If we have say, a huge layout, to boot, it allows us to not have to continually walk back to the PowerCab to enter/recall another train..It's as if I am walking around with the PowerCab minus the majority of programming extras it contains..It would be nice though if one could menu/scroll and be able disable any walk-arounds one wishes, via PowerC, from accessing the 'select loco' so that someone else walking around can only operate one loco/train until permitted at the 'yard office' to change...And this is what I incorrectly imagined it was going to be...But that's OK and I get it...Thanks... I do have another simple question coming up>
Digitrax calls it 'stealing' another address or loco because that is what it is: you are stealing control of the locomotive away from another throttle that has that address or loco active on it.
Are you actually saying it is a technical, established name for this, 'stealing' ? Again, what if it's a huge layout and someone unintentionally comandeers yours or someone else's train ? Maybe, if there isn't, there should be a step(s)to prevent this..Or, is there ?
Hi Mark, I can't say for the PowerCab, but the NCE ProCab system can be set up to have locos dispatched to throttles, because a guy I know uses this system. As far as I know he doesn't have any Cab06 controllers, all of his controllers are the larger ProCab hammerhead types. Digitrax used to sell "Buddy Throttles" (BT-2) which had to have locos dispatched to them by the older full featured throttles (DT100 & DT200), but they haven't offered them for years now. Bill in FtL
Having been on the planning end of a few mega size NTRAK layouts, I have to say the extra steps are in the organization that goes on before the show actually begins. No one runs a train until he/she has been assigned an address to use. That train's address is programmed to the assigned address. There were no less then 5 Digitrax layouts with radio systems going at our large convention in 2008. The mega layout had 100 trains (addresses) running. No one had any problems with an engine being "stolen". Organization is the key. My own 60 member club uses assigned numbers for each member. Each member gets a 2 digit number. That two digit number becomes the first two digits of the four digit number that gets programmed to the engine. That effectively gives each member 100 address to use plus a 2 digit advanced consist address and a unique 2 digit address. Personally. I use my two digit number and the last two digits of the engine's road number. In 8 years, no one has had any problem as long as the rules are followed. So far there have been no train terrorists that intentionally stole an address to wreck a model train. I guess that's possible but so far there haven't been any cases reported. Martin Myers
We are slowly instituting the 2-digit prefix system that Martin describes in the previous post in two of the groups I belong to and we already have in the other group I belong to and it works just fine, using both Digitrax and NCE. If you have two locomotives with the same address you're going to have some problems whether you're running Digitrax or NCE. I actually find the "steal" feature very handy for preventing disasters. Not everyone pays great attention to their locos when they're running, and I have managed to simulate the guy running alongside, grabbing the running board, climbing into the cab, and applying the brakes more than a few times when, oh, someone has had a derailment and here now is coming a 25 car freight, or someone has left the swingbridge open, or... As far as throttles, I own a Digitrax UT-4, two DT300s, and one DT402. I also own an NCE Cab06. The Cab06 is okay. I think the UT-4 is a better throttle for just running and for training someone who doesn't know DCC throttles well how to get going and run something in a short time. My favorite throttles are the DT300s, being both compact, capable of running two trains at once, and having programming capability. Adam
Thanks to everyone for chiming in..I really didn't think anyone was going to give my concept here any credit, especially after I'd entered in the 2nd post stating 'mea culpa' about my original 'mind set' in thread start...So, I guess I'm not alone after all with this idea of accidental or even intentional address confiscation !!
