This section has been divided up into two subsections.
1) KNOWN RADIO BUGS AND FIXES
2) TROUBLE SHOOTING FLOW CHART
3) VERY OLD RADIO BUG HISTORY
1) KNOWN RADIO BUGS AND FIXES
Below are known radio system bugs with solutions or workarounds.
2) TROUBLE SHOOTING FLOW CHART
Below is the diagram of communication USING RADIO between the Cab and the Command Station (CS)
Cab/Throttle<--> Radio board inside the cab <--> "over the air" <--> "RB" Radio Base Station <--> Cab Bus <--> Command Station
A) BATTERY PROBLEMS
All radio throttle use batteries. If you radio throttle does not power up, replace the batteries. Make sure there is no battery leakage that is causing contact corrosion. You must clean out the "gunk" and remove all the contaminants. IF the damage is permanent, you will have to contact NCE for replacement contacts (Procab) or battery holder (all other cabs).
PROCAB NOTE: Battery contacts can break especially if the ProCab was dropped on the floor. The batteries will become loose. Inspection of the battery bay will tell you if the contact if broken. Contact NCE for replacement contacts.
B) RADIO PROCAB COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
What is shown on the ProCab display can give you clues to where in the chain the communication is broken.
When you first power up the PowerCab in radio mode, there are 2 unique display messages displayed on the screen in quick succession order before you see the normal train operation display. The first two messages happen so fast that you many not notice them for the display of a working Procab normally goes quickly to the operating screen. But if that normal screen does not show up, then the message you see indirectly tells you something about what is wrong.
1st Message:
NCE PROCAB v1.3
CAB ADDRESS = xx (xx can be any number. does not matter)
CHECK: If this is the only screen message you see, then this is telling you that you do NOT HAVE communication with the radio board inside the throttle. The most likely problem is in the 9 conductor cable the goes between the Procab PCB and the radio PCB at the top of the cab. The cable, which has 2 plugs on each end, may have on of its plugs partially come lose or has broken wire. You will need to check the plugs. If you have another radio throttle, you can temporarily swap 9 pin cables between the two and see if the problem follows the cable. You can purchase new cables from NCE.
2nd Message:
NCE 12:00AM
RADIO 1.x ID=y
CHECK: "1.x" where "x" can be any number. Does not matter what the number is as to solving this specific problem. (BUT if you have any version that is less then V1.5, you need to upgrade it) IF this is the only screen message you see, then this tells you you have working radio board inside the cab. Proceed to the next Check.
CHECK: The value of "y" needs to be "0". If it is, proceed to the next check. If not, to fix the problem, set the layout ID to zero through the following procedure:
Press EXPN button to enter the radio menu.
Press 2 button on the menu to enter the SETUP RADIO menu.
Press ENTER button to bypass setting the shutdown timer duration.
Press 0 button to set the Layout ID to “0”
Press ENTER
FIX CHECK. Did the display return to the normal? If so, your done. If not, then the problem has no moved to the Radio Base Station side. Proceed to the CHECK BASE STATION
CHECK BASE STATION: Are the LEDs on on the Cab and the Radio Base station blinking?
If yes, that says the radio base station has power and the radio base station layout ID is zero. The problem is between the radio base station and the command station. Go to CHECK CABLE.
If not, that indicates one of two potential problems with the radio base station.
a) The radio base station has no power.
b) The radio base station have a non zero layout ID value.
CHECK DCC SYSTEM POWER: Is the DCC system power on?
FIX CHECK: If the DCC system was off and upon turning it on the radio cab operation returns to normal, your done. If not, proceed to CHECK CABLE:
CHECK CABLE: Unplug the radio base station at the base station location. This is the cable plugged into the single jack side of the Base Station. Take your ProCab without a cable and plug it on the end of the cable that connected to the base station.
CHECK: Did the PowerCab power up and show a normal display?
IF yes the Cab bus Cable is OK.
IF No, the Cable is bad and needs to be repaired or replaced.
3) VERY OLD RADIO BUG HISTORY
PROBLEM #1: BAD OLD RADIO SOFTWARE
The NCE radio system has evolved into a very reliable radio system. For those who are reading this these changes, it should be noted that these changes have been effect since 2007. The system has no more problems. Unless you have a old NCE radio system, this information is more about the history of the NCE radio.
A) Old RB02 and Radio Cab Software.
When the radios system was first introduced, there were some problems that became more noticeable as more and more people converted to radio cab operation. The signs people saw were (not in any specific order):
1) Slow responses to key presses.
2) Garbage LCD displays.
3) Lack of radio range. Needed to install NCE radio repeaters to get good layout coverage on a 3 car or larger layout.
4) Overall slower and slower radio responsiveness the longer you used the radio system.
5) Runaway locomotives that would take off at any time. But you could get back control.
6) Some cab addresses did not work very well with radio. Bad Radio Cab Addresses were identified.
7) Key presses were lost despite how careful you were.
8) Sudden Loss of radio operation on power up from a previous session of no problems.
SOLUTIONS:
The solution to a rock solid radio system came in two steps:
1) Upgrade of EVERY single Radio Cabs/Throttle to version 1.5 radio. For more information go here:Cab Radio Updates
2) Upgrade of the Radio Base Station RB02 to at least version 2.0 or higher. For more information go here:Base Station Radio Updates
UPGRADE METHOD:
Upgrades are done by calling NCE and sending the equipment in.
PROBLEM #2: RADIO "LAYOUT ID" SETTING CORRUPTION OR LOSS
When the radio system was introduced, NCE attempted to implement Radio Channels using a software method. Unfortunately it did not work like a true radio channel and in fact created problems.
The system required both the Radio Cab and the Base Station (RB02) to have matching LAYOUT ID numbers. If the radio cab and the base station did NOT have matching LAYOUT ID numbers, the Cab and the Base Station will not communicate. That part of the system works. Furthermore, the DEFAULT Layout ID value of "0" or zero allowed any cab to talk to any RB02 and Visa Versa. But for complete two way communication to take place properly both Radio IDs, cab and base station, must be zero.
PROBLEM: The Radio Cab or the RB02 Base Stations somehow unexpectedly losses or has it Layout ID number changed to a NON ZERO NUMBER.
On the RB02, it simply happens randomly and very infrequently but it does happen.
On the Radio Cabs, it can only happen on a ProCab because it allows you to access the Radio Menu. Someone by accident can change this number.
When this happen, you will not see any flashing LED on the RB02 nor on the Radio Cab even through power is on.
RB02 SOLUTION: To solve this problem on the RB02 and to fix other radio performance issues such as runaway locomotives, NCE updated the RB02 software to eliminate the Radio ID. In other words it now set permanently to zero. You need to update to V2.x (x is any number) or higher software. IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED YOU DO THIS. For more information about the base station software updates go here: Base Station Radio Updates
If you have older RB02 software, you can temporarily Fix the layout ID issue by reprogramming the Layout ID. To do that follow the following steps:
• Unplug the RB02 from the Cab Bus. Do not turn off system power.
• Plug a ProCab into the PORT A connector of the RB02 using any standard Cab Bus cable. (If a repeater cable is already plugged into this expansion port temporarily remove it.)
• Restore the Cab Bus connection to the RB02.
• Type “0” (zero) for the Layout ID number then press ENTER.
• Unplug the ProCab from PORT A to enable radio operation of the RB02 . The radio will not operate until the cab is unplugged. (Restore the repeater connection to PORT A if it was removed.)