Starting the NCE Pro-Cab
Radio.
The most reliable way to start
the radio is to press the e-stop and the enter button
at the same time, this yields vastly improved response over just the
e-stop as stated in the manual.
Radio Notes &
History
The Radio supports Cab addresses
3 through 49 for a total of 47 cabs. (Addresses 1, 2 and 18 are
reserved)
2) The radio is going to force some cab address conventions to be
used. Addresses 3-17 are ProCab (and ProCab like cabs) and 19-49 are
smaller cabs (Cab04 - Cab05). The radio limits Master/Pro Cabs to
the address range of 3 to 17. If you use a Master/Pro cab or any cab
with a display above address 17, the display will not function, but
the key press actions will still work. Essentially it is like using
a smaller Engineer's Cab (cab04/Cab05). An Engineer cab is capable
of working in the 3 to 17 range but there will be a reduction in
response time for that cab since the radio base station thinks it is
talking to a Master/Pro cab. Not recommended.
3) Average radio range can vary a lot. Some people get 25 Foot
radius while others get a 50+ Foot radius. Unobstructed line of site
range is much longer. Sources of interference such as computers,
wireless phones, wireless computer network, screen wire scenery
supports all work to reduce the range. The human body will also
block the signal. NCE makes no promises as to the range you can
expect in you particular situation.
4) The radio will use any type of AAA battery such as rechargeable
or standard using 4 cells. As long as the TOTAL battery voltage is
between 3.6V to 12V, the radio will run from it. The radio cab does
NOT recharge batteries. You must provide your own charger.
5) Battery Life: Using Alkaline batteries (1250mAH), it is
calculated an Engineer cab can last for about 60 hours if used for 2
or 3 hour stretches. That translates to about 30 to 40 operating
sessions. A master cab will last about 2/3 to 1/2 as long due to the
extra power required by the LCD backlight or about 15 to 25
operating sessions. To maximize battery life on the master cab, the
backlight turns on for 3 seconds when you press a button that will
require reading of the display. You can also press the "SHIFT" key
to just turn on the light for 5 seconds. Smaller cabs can also get
away with just 2 AAA cells but will only get about 25-30 hours.) Jim
is also testing Ray-O-Vac NiMH rechargeable cells (750mAH). Results
to be posted later.
6) You can plug the radio cab into the cab bus at any time. The
radio automatically shuts off control of the train remains the same.
This includes conditions where the battery dies. Just plug in the
cab to regain control. The ProCab detects low battery voltage
(3-3.6V) and displays "BATTERY" in the fast clock position on the
LCD. This can be defeated.
7) Out of radio range conditions/symptoms are as follows.
a) The Master/Pro Cab display update will "USUALLY" start to slow
down first. For example, you will still be able to change train
speed without noticing any change in response, but the display will
not keep up with the current speed step value in real time. As you
approach maximum range the update of the speed steps stops
completely but actual control of the train continues. As you move
back closer to the base station the display updates will resume but
may come in 'out of order' i.e.: "FWD: 021" "FWD:018" "FWD:024". A
more deliberate (not harder) press of a button of say, two seconds,
generally results in better results. This response is the same as
the Engineer Cab.
b) The Engineer cab range limit show up when you get erratic control
or key press command lag. You will only know when you do something
and nothing happens. Like the master cab, a more deliberate (not
harder) press of a button for say, two seconds, generally results in
better results.
More range notes:
The Engineer cabs will "seem" to have more range than the Master/Pro
cab does but the range is the same. You will think it is less
because you see the FIRST effects of the range limitations in a
master Cab display because of how the radio works. In fact you can
have a non functional display and still control your train. At that
point the master cab will act like an Engineer cab with no display
and continue to control the train. But when you finally hit the
range limit, there is no warning on either cab. It would be best to
"MAP OUT" the limit of the radio range before you run some real
trains. We've had good results placing the base station on the
ceiling with the antenna pointing down.
Some Technical Notes about the Radio for those who are
interested.
The radio base station acts like a mini command station for the
radio cabs only. It keeps a copy of each radio cab current status in
its internal memory. When the real command station comes along and
want to talk to cab, say a radio master cab 15, the command station
will read from the radio base station who has a copy of cab 15
status. The real command station has no idea it talking to a radio
cab or more specifically, the radio base station than talking to
radio cab 15. The radio base station job is to prevent isolate the
radio cab bus from the wired cab bus. It does this so that issues
such as radio noise or out of range problem that would cause memory
loss of cab control from effecting the wired cab bus. The radio base
station always presents a clean picture of the radio cabs to the
command station. For example, if the cab goes out of radio range,
the radio base station keep the last know status of the radio cab in
question on hand keeping the status quo. At the same time, if the
command station sent a message to the cab, the base station stored
that information as well. Mean while the radio station keeps trying
to restore communication with cab. On the cab side, the out of range
cab key press sequences are kept in a local memory waiting to be
sent to the base station. Once communication is restored, the base
station check the cab for new key presses to pass on to the command
stations. The stored key pressed sequences are then passed on to the
radio base station and then on to the command station. When that is
done, then the radio cab display is updated. Since reading of a cab
has higher priority than updating the display, this is the reason
the cab display may lag the key presses. The goal is reliable
communication over fast communication. No lost key presses can be
tolerated for they would cause unforeseen consequences. Hence the
radio base station and cab radio are in constant check with each
other. Consequently the polling of the radio cabs is different from
the wired cab bus due to the nature of naturally occurring real
world radio problems.
The radio uses 916.55MHz at 0.00025W (0.25mW). One of the delays in
the radio was caused by the FCC reduction of radio transmission
power from 1mW to the lower wattage during the radio cab
development. Hence radio range became an issue and more changes
where needed in the radio to compensate for this loss.
If you are wondering why the master cabs are limited to the first 16
radio addresses, it simply was an issue of cache memory in the base
station. Each cab with a display must have a copy of the contents of
the display in local memory so the display can be restored or
updated when momentary loss of radio communication goes away and
operation resumes. Bottom line, the radio base station processor has
only room for 16 cab display's worth of memory.
Finally in case you wanted to know, the reason the cab address range
stopped at 46 was simply a recognition of practicality and the fact
the clubs using AIU (Auxiliary Input Unit or the logic signal
feedback device) need to have some ranges of addresses reserved for
their use.