Hi, I am new to all this DCC++ stuff. I had used Roco MultiMaus, Z21 and ESU CabControl (Piko SmartControl) for many years. I am using an genuine Arduino Mega with Arduino MotorShield and 18V 5Amp Power Supply to the MotorShield. And I got a bunch of the new Athearn Genesis SD60E with Soundtraxx Tsunami 2 decoders installed (factory install). I am unable to read or write any CV to these Locos, JMRI won't even detect the decoder in them. So I created Roster entries by hand for them and I can control them on the Main Track just fine but I am unable to read or program these. I made the changes to PacketRegister.cpp as suggested in here https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/dcc-issues-with-d-h-10c-resolved.106064/ but still no success, decoder will not read nor write and JMRI returns error 308 all the time. Whilst other Locos with ESU Loksound decoders work just fine, I can read and write with no problem. Any suggestions on what I may do wrong here? The very same decoder respond to an ESU or Roco Base Station just fine, but DCC++ gives me headaches.
I reverted back to Base Stastion 1.2.1 as one of my Rapido Dash 8 started giving error 308 after a couple of CV read outs. And I took off the Body Shell of my Athearn SD60E only to find a onboard DCC decoder with 2 keep alive capacitors. It seems these 2 capacitors are not charging quick enough whilst reading or writing any CV on the decoder. SoundTraxx recommends this PTB-100 booster https://www.soundtraxx.com/access/ptb100.php which seems to me a bit daft since cleary this is an decoder issue and should be fixed in their decoder design. I wish Athearn would have installed a 21pin ESU Loksound instead of this SoundTraxx grabage. Any idea on getting these capacitors charged up whilst programing the Loco?
I have noticed that the current sense values (which are used to verify CV reading and writing) may need adjustment in the DCC++ code depending on which version of DCC++ you have. I was unable to read CV values in my Tsunami 2 decoder before I adjusted the values. Without knowing which version of DCC++ you have, and possibly which repository you got it from, I can't tell you for sure where to check for those values. But they should be located within CurrentMonitor.h or CurrentMonitor.cpp
I am using the file from here https://sites.google.com/site/dccppsite/home which is the same as this repo on github https://github.com/DccPlusPlus/BaseStation I believe. Would be awesome if I don't have to invest in this obscure PTB-100 booster only for a few Locos of mine.
Hello Joern, In an earlier thread around modifying PacketRegister.h I am the fellow relaying the story where I had purchased a new SoundTraxx Tsunami steam decoder (TSU 2200, 884007) and could not get it to read or write. Since then I purchased the Soundtraxx CurrentKeeper product but had not tried to read or write CVs. After reading your note I tested to see if I could still read/write with the CurrentKeeper installed. I am using the DCCpp controller Processing app, modified by Geoff Bunza, and in my case I can read and write on the programming track and write on the ops track. I did go back and look at the PacketResgister.h settings and discovered my settings are different from the base code on github. To the best of my knowledge these are the settings from github: #define ACK_BASE_COUNT 100 #define ACK_SAMPLE_COUNT 500 #define ACK_SAMPLE_SMOOTHING 0.2 #define ACK_SAMPLE_THRESHOLD 30 These are the settings that are working well for me: #define ACK_BASE_COUNT 100 #define ACK_SAMPLE_COUNT 250 #define ACK_SAMPLE_SMOOTHING 0.2 #define ACK_SAMPLE_THRESHOLD 5 Good luck! Marty
Hello Marty, I have applied your settings and it works like a charm. Already improted my first SD60E to JMRI, three more to do. And it still reads and writes ESU and Lenz decoders which is awesome. Many thanks for the fix it is greatly appreciated. Joern
Marty... I've been chasing my tail on the dreaded 308 error.... This solved it!!! THANK YOU!!! I had just pinpointed the issue to the Arduino R3 (not the motor shield or JMRI)... and after two days of troubleshooting, you've just saved me countless hours! I'm using DCC++ on an Arduino R3 and the Arduino L298P motor shield, JMRI and a soundtrack Tsunami 2200, EMD diesel decoder. I could blind write on the Main track, but could not read or write on the Program track. This fix solved the issue by providing readable ACK feedback. Thanks Again! Andy (BTW... This is my first post to this board)
