Cab Radio SW Updates

Notes:

1) There is no OPERATIONAL reason to upgrade any cab running a lower version of V1.5x software to newer version of V1.5x. They all play together just fine.

2) If you wish to replace a V1.5 cab that has a External Antenna for a version with an internal Antenna, then you will be automatically get a new PCB board with V1.5a or V1.5b software.

3) If you have a Cab06, you should make sure your RB02 is running V2.1 software.

2) PROCAB SOFTWARE VERSION vs RADIO SOFTWARE VERSION CONFUSION

When a given ProCab powers up, at the very start, you will see at least one software version number on the LCD display depending on the power up sequence used for the ProCab and/or DCC system. The ProCab will briefly show the software version of the ProCab.

However, if a Radio board is installed, you may observe two difference software version number on the LCD displayed. When you first turn on the the Radio Throttle in Radio mode and look at the LCD display during startup, the first Vx.x show the ProCab software version number followed quickly buy a second Vx.x showing the radio software version number. Then quickly the “normal” operating throttle display appears.

Fortunately NCE makes sure the Radio version numbers and the ProCab version numbers are all unique to eliminate confusion.

For this reason, I show as a reference the ProCab software numbers below so you can tell the difference of what your looking at.

The difference between the 33 and 34 key keyboards is the number of accessible features. Example: Only the 34 key keyboard allows you to:

1) Access to decoder functions above 9.

2) Shift key allows 2 commands for any given physical key allowing more access to more command features.

3) Programable Option key to allow one button press to any very important command feature you want to use.

4) Momentum Key to change the momentum of your train between switching mode and drag freight.

3) ENGINEER CAB SOFTWARE VERSION IDENTIFICATION

Unfortunately for the Engineer Cabs, Cab02 through Cab06, there is no label nor method by pushing buttons to identify the version of the radio inside. There is a partial method by looking at your antenna setup.

1) if your cab does NOT have an external antenna, then you have Version 1.5B.

2) If your cab does have an external Antenna, the only way to check is to take the cab apart as described below.

Procedure for taking radio cab apart to discover the radio version.

You will need to have a ProCab that has a radio installed. The ProCab will be used to identify the radio version in the Engineer Cab.

1) Take both your Engineer Cab and ProCab apart by removing the rear cover screws.

2) Unplug the battery pack.

3)

4) RADIO HARDWARE VERSIONS.

There are two version of the Radio PCB board you may see inside you radio throttle/Cab.

1) External Antenna. Discontinued.

2) Internal Antenna. In Production.

There are no hardware revision numbers that you need to know about. They simply have different NCE part numbers.

Both version of the PCB boards work the same way. However if you purchase a brand new Radio PCB board for a cab, it will be V1.5A or V1.5B with an internal Antenna.

The reason for moving the antenna internally was the elimination of all the antenna warrantee work due to broken antenna connectors cause by unintentional physical damage in handling the cab. Example: Drop on the floor.

5) HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF OLD RADIO PROBLEMS

If you have any of the following problems, you need to update your radio to at least version 1.5. See above for more information.

One of the cronic problems with the original NCE radio system was slow keypress response. You were sometime left guessing if you pressed the key or not. Pressing the key might solve the problem or create a double keypress command sequence. The slow keypress response and short range issues were directly related to an design problem on cab's radio module. The problem was traced back to the lack of clear Datasheet documentation. With the original datasheet, there were no specific signal interlocking rules about how to control radio transceiver chip when NCE designed the original radio module. An updated Datasheet acquired much latter showed said that the radio transceiver Tx data line must be held low (OFF) in receive mode. The interlocking signal fix was installed in all cab/throttle radios with version 1.5 radio software.

In the pre version 1.5 cab's the Tx data line was high in receive mode and as a result part of the transmitter circuitry was still on when in receive mode. Stated another way, the radio transceiver was attempting to transmit and receive at the same time and this caused the radio chip to work incorrectly. It is not designed to do both at the same time. This caused the very poor sensitivity that limited the range of the original radios to 25 ft or so. With a version 1.5 radio software upgrade installed, the range of the external antenna cab was GREATLY increased to somewhere in the range of 600 to 1000 ft. The need for one to install NCE radio repeaters is practically eliminated.

Included in the radio version 1.5 software upgrade was a small hardware upgrade. The voltage regulator circuit NCE designed to power the radio transceiver chip was not meeting the chips regulation requirements. The old circuit was replaced with a regulator IC for better regulation. This change improved the sensitivity a bit more but this was a minor improvement compared to the TX line fix.

7/31/17

10/14/18

4/29/19