ok i ve had jmri before on another computer and had some problems getting it running , but that computer died a horrible death (smashed it with a BFH big time ) any who i got a brand spanking new computer (yee) and i can not again for the life of me get nce and jmri working and this is not the first time ive had problems with jmri.. i really like it but im thinking it has to go. just way too many people having hard times getting this up and running. ok # 1 i did everything by text book OK. #2 i installed java the newest. #3 after i installed java i installed nce usb driver ok #4 i plugged in nce usb (it was not hooked up to track) and i could see the connection in the drivers page. #5 i installed jmri everything installed correctly. #6 hooked up nce usb to nce dcc board. but it will not connect to nce for nothing . i made sure it got the right usb connection com5 still it wont work. i know its something simple but everything ive followed just wont work. yes ive been to the forums and followed many different tactics ... so now is there any other programming software that works like jmri. because im sick and tired of jmri B/S most all day yesterday ive worked on this and have wasted enough time. like i said this aint the first time for me having issues and many many other people have the same dam problems. any ideas im frustrated at this already and its only been an hr today.
ok so now ive found the proble is not with JMRI but instead with NCE corps bad way of connecting wires (ill work on making a new better style connecting later ) any who the pins after time do not return to where they need to be . you plug in the wire and it wont make connection. i bent them out with a tini screw driver , but im afraid that wont last long because of the really bad way the wires plug in. all this frustration because of bad flippin connection. why cant they just fix it right. telephone type plugs are not good (ill change that later with my own ) photo of what im talking about.... so for now im fixed. but loco 103 is still very very slow.....witch is why i needed to reinstall JMRI in the first place.......
Glad you got your NCE system working, and can now focus on using JMRI to fix your (apparent) loco configuration issue. Too bad the thread title cannot be changed (or can it?) to no longer blame JMRI...
ya i think i had this problem before too. it always frustrates me. I believe that way back then i had the very same problem too. JMRI was not the blame it was my dumb self for not realizing it was a cable connection. as far as the loco goes nothing i have done has made it go any faster. its just slow (its probably set at the correct speed for n scale ) i dont know if it can be changed or not. SO JMRI IS NOT TO BLAME FOR MY DUMB MISTAKES
What kind of decoder is it? I've noticed that ESU has a few different CVs that can have an effect on top speed. The BEMF reference voltage and top end speed table both seem to change how fast a model can go. I noticed that a low reference voltage would keep a Kato model I had very slow. For that model, I set it a bit higher than I needed, adjusted the BEMF settings, and then went to the speed table. I'm not sure if that is the professional way to do it, but it worked for me. You might want to experiment with the same things if your problem decoder is also ESU. Is the model Atlas? The Atlas scale-speed motor seems to be too slow for some people, and that's to do with the physical characteristics of the motor, not the decoder. A motor swap is probably the only thing you can do in that case.
Have you tried resetting the decoder to factory settings? That's where I'd start, unless I already had it set for speed matching other loco's or something like that, that would take a lot of time to re-do. If you have done the factory reset, then I'm really at a complete loss, but I'm far from an expert.
Sidney, Howdy on this thread too. On your other thread regarding a very slow running Atlas unit and on this one you lean towards the decoder being the problem and IMHO you may be right, BTW I am not an NCE decoder fan but that's just my opinion. You can adjust cv's on the decoder until you turn blue and if something is wrong you will never know it. As I have suggested - pull the NCE decoder out and hard wire some clips to the motor leads and connect to an old dc analog power pack. Run the speed up and see if the motor responds or not. It could be the motor. If it was mine I would pull out the Atlas motor and install a KATO motor. But that is just my preference. Just trying to help, be well, Carl
I don't know why DCC manufacturers like to use those plugs because they are not good for anything that is going to be frequently plugged and unplugged.
CSX ya i dont either. im looking at some different type plugs too use that would be reliable for plug in an unplug a lot. in one way i want to just solder the wires right to the board. maybe a usb type cable would work for this. something along these lines any way. ive been quietly tinkering with pi4 and Arduino . i really like how it worked. then ill just park the nce system in the box of stuff. (thats my box name of crap and junk ). got another pi4 on order . i used my first pi4 on my 3d printer. i think there are 5 wires in a usb cable so there short one wire.
Modular connectors are inexpensive, mass-terminatable (with proper tool), positively retained, and when handled properly (not a consumer quality), quite reliable. They are not intended for frequent mating and demating in an uncontrolled manner. I thought about USB connectors as well, but it has no retention, and USB connectors are already used for USB in many situations, making cross-mating more likely, with potentially damaging consequences. I've used Harwin Gecko series connectors professionally in extremely rugged applications with excellent results. They are polarized, and offer screw-lock or latching retention (the latter hand-releasable). They are inexpensive (amazingly so for the quality), compact, and yet very high quality. Contacts rated at 450V, 2.8A (2A per contact on every contact in a connector) wire gauges 26-32. Operating vibration to 20G, shock to 50G (100G inline). The green Phoenix Contact pin & socket connectors on some equipment (e.g. SPROG products) are also a good option. They are offered with screw-terminations, and are polarized. While not latching, they have higher retention force than USB, especially with increased pin count.
Are there short Male/Female cables available. Plug one into the NCE facia connector and then plug throttle into the short cable. When it goes south replace it with another one keeping the traffic on the NCE connector down? Sumner
i like those connectors. there not to bad in price compared to the aggravation from the rj45 problems. the main problem( well only problem is those lil copper wire things dont spring back, maybe if they made them from spring steel they would be better ) As far as those Harwin connectors they do look good and light weight as well. I was looking at something close to these as i have lots of old computer parts an old laptops laying around for parts duties. they have the vga connectors on them . kinda was thinking that maybe i could solder one of these some how or passably make a new panel and fit one in that. im still waiting on my pi4 to show up as i think im gunna try that again (now that im better in knowledge of dcc++ system an pi4 setups ) Sense my last encounter with this system ive been doing much much more research . i do like my nce power cab but hate those wire connectors. ya i could just go radio but gosh there expensive now and my money tree is not producing much these days . Thank You all
A few years back I ran my first train in 40+ years at a club layout in Phoenix using a wireless NCE throttle and knew that is what I wanted. To actually get into a system with the components I wanted it was going to be about $500. Along comes DCC++ and now DCC++EX (hope that is what you are working on) and I can have a DCC Command Station a dedicated train room computer (Raspberry Pi) with Keyboard/mouse/monitor running JMRI and a wireless... http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/DCC/DCC-Index.html ... phone throttle with a physical speed/direction knob all for under $125. I'm a happy camper. Sumner
Yeah, I think proprietary radio throttles are destined to go the way of the dinosaurs. WiFi throttles on the de-facto standard throttle protocol are a much better deal, and programming decoders is much easier to do in Decoder Pro than any other system. With my R-Pi connected to the house-hold WiFi network, I don't even have to switch networks on my phone (throttle app) or laptop to communicate with it. And it makes keeping R-Pi OS and JMRI SW up to date easier as well.
haha sunmer thats exactly what ive been working on again and i have saved your 3d print for the phone and the knob thing. i have one of those someplace but cant remember where. i got boxes of parts /cables ect. now that im schooled better for dcc++ and the pi4, but im still reading more stuff till its wired in my head. ive also been working on an old laptop and finally got it working with linux on it. it was a mess but complete for the most part. still no pi4 in the mail box yet. by the way sunmer ive read your whole page you have on the web , man what all the things you have done in your life time. ive got to many things in the fire. i need to cut back and focus on just a few. mind is busy and hands are full sometimes im confused about what im working on.
bigjake im still learning about all this and i had it working at one time but i got myself frustrated and threw it all in a box. Now ive dug out some of it and starting to put it together again , but i used my pi4 for the 3d printer and now need a new one. im really liking those . i dont really need them cause ive got 5 or 6 computers running all the time here and a new one on order for the wife. my lil room is in over load . but this time around im going to think things through (i hope) normally i dive right in with out thought and thats where i screw up.
