Bought a DMU now I'm confussed

[Mark19]

hi

I have just bought a 156 DMU and I wo0uld be grateful for some help as I not sure how to sent them up each unit has a emu loksound 5 so my question is do they have to have the same number and just run them together as I have been told or should I be giving them different numbers and run as a consis. So as you can see I have got my self a little confused with this one as I am still relative new to DCC

and help would be great

Mark

info Realtrack 156DMU supper sprinter fitted with 2 x ESU loksound 5 decoders

[SRman]

I'm not quite clear here: are we talking about a single, 2-car DMU or are we talking two separate DMUs?

Assuming it is one 2-car unit, give both decoders the same number, after first checking and adjusting them if necessary to get identical running characteristics. This way, when you select the unit number, it will behave as one single entity.

If you are running two separate DMUs together, consisting would be the better option because you may wish to run them separately at times.

[centenary]

hi

I have just bought a 156 DMU and I wo0uld be grateful for some help as I not sure how to sent them up each unit has a emu loksound 5 so my question is do they have to have the same number and just run them together as I have been told or should I be giving them different numbers and run as a consis. So as you can see I have got my self a little confused with this one as I am still relative new to DCC

and help would be great

Mark

info Realtrack 156DMU supper sprinter fitted with 2 x ESU loksound 5 decoders

Program each chip separately on the programming track and give them the same chip address. You could give them different numbers and run as a consist but why complicate matters plus I believe consist addresses are limited between 1 and 127(?)

[Bigmet]

...do they have to have the same number and just run them together as I have been told, or should I be giving them different numbers and run as a consist? ...

Whichever method you feel is best, both will work.

Personally, I would give them different numbers, and once happy with the set up, run the 2 car set as a consist. Why do this? So that the two decoders can be individually addressed while both are on track during set up, particularly for matching speed and accelerations; so that once consisted the two units run as smoothly as possible together. This does require a DCC system offering 'Programming on Main', (PoM) and my top tip for convenience during set up: remove one coupler from a vehicle end so that you can see very easily when an accurate speed match is obtained in both directions.

[Mark19]

Hi thanks for your reply

just to make things a bit clear it is a single two car DMU and both units have a motor in them fitted with a loksound 5 decoder in each, just in case this makes any difference

Mark

[RAF96]

Deleted as I had duplicated previous advice.

[Mountain]

Hi thanks for your reply

just to make things a bit clear it is a single two car DMU and both units have a motor in them fitted with a loksound 5 decoder in each, just in case this makes any difference

Mark

I would program both decoders to the same locomotive address number, but have the second decoder reverse polarity via the relevent decoder CV setting so that it will both travel in the same direction of the first decoder at the same speed and any lights will be then set so the DMU will have its front lights on the front and rear lights operating on the rear. I have done this in the past with single motored Bachmann DMU's that needed a second decoder in the non-powered ends to operate lights. I used a pair of standard Bachmann locomotive decoders. The principle to set them up will be the same. It is basically to set them up to have the same address but to reverse the polarity of the second decoder via the relevent CV setting. Obviously each car needs to sit on the programming track seperately when setting them up. Therefore one ends up with one loco address to control both ends of the DMU. (As long as the other CV settings are similar to each other and both decoders are of the same type, and I am assuming that both motors will naturally match each other in speed performance (Which they should being the same type and of similar performance after having been run in together at the same time when new, all should be fine).
[Hint. if one buys more then one loco of the same type and has bought them specifically to run together (Double or tripple heading), be one using DC or DCC, always run them in together at the same time whilst coupled together so their speeds will naturally match each other. I did this with three class 03's to represent BP&GV workings, and one class 03I ran in backwards so that it would match the other two when reversed (One of the BP&GV class 03's when run triple headed was always run in reverse). This was with DC and I ended up with three perfectly matched 03's. I noticed that other class 03's (Or an 04) built to the exact same chassis design did not match the others as they were not run in at the same time despite having identical motors and chassis.

[Bigmet]

... I am assuming that both motors will naturally match each other in speed performance ...

That assumption cannot be guaranteed. I go speed and acceleration profile matching on all my traction, so that I can run 'any with any' in 'trots' off or on shed to save track slots, or because they were normally run in multiple. In the course of doing this I have had examples of the same product from all of Bachmann, Heljan, Hornby and Oxford, with mechanisms that didn't match, and this after many hours 'running in' which I do as standard to find any infant mortality and as a side benefit to obtain future performance stability. Sometimes you 'get lucky' and the matching is very close, or even so good that no adjustment is required, which is great; but you cannot depend on it!

[Mountain]

Can spend ages altering speed curves on decoders! Not going down that route if I can help it as been there and done that and hours dissapeared with not much to show for my efforts. Is like chasing ever moving goal posts as one introduces more and more locos and it ends up frustrating!

Setting CV's like speed curves and other small CV adjustments is what frustrated me with DCC because if it is there and can be done I will spend hours fiddling!
I am one who would constantly be trying to perfect things, which is why I decided to go back to DC, as it means I don't have all these things to adjust.