1. Consisting Revisited
25 March 2014

2. Recommendation
Move from Universal to Advanced Consisting

3. Recommendation
I recommend that we limit consists to Basic and Advanced and move away from Universal Consisting
Except where locomotives are not compatible with Advanced Consisting
This would reduce the traffic on the RailSync—the signal that is impressed upon the track—and reduce memory and computational demands on the Command Station
Would lead to a more robust system
Throttle commands could be sent out more rapidly rather than queued
Older (unchanged) commands could (potentially) be repeated to the track to use the added RailSync bandwidth
VP of Operations should develop a plan for assigning consist addresses to members and guests

4. Compare Consisting Universal What we’re used to
Automatic control over lead locomotive
All other locomotives in consist must be individually addressed
Nothing is written to the decoder
Flexible in moving from layout to layout
Advanced
Preset control over all locomotives
Other locomotives in consist may be individually addressed
Lower Rail Sync bandwidth use and lower computational and memory demands on Command Station
Probably best for modern Ops where we have many consists
Not all decoders work under Advanced Consisting
Just use Universal Consisting as you used to—Advanced Consisting only responds to a two-digit address
Writes to decoder
Must reset CV-19 to 0 for use on other layouts
We need a method for assigning addresses to non-club members at a run and for more than one consist per member

5. Advanced Consisting We may have up to 127 advanced consists
Each member would get one consist number (his member number)
Additional numbers would be pre-assigned by [someone in command]
Nobody is to run a locomotive whose address is #03
Each locomotive must have at least one CV set
CV-19 will be set to the consist address (normal direction)
To 128+consist address (locomotives that normally run in reverse direction)
CV-21, 22, 23, 24 may be set as well to give greater control

6. Consist Process
All programming is to be performed on the Programming Track (but not the one in Staging) or by programming on the main of another layout, such as your home layout!
Do not acquire individual locomotives on the layout
If you do so, tell me—this can be easily fixed in DecoderPro
Make sure you have a consist number
Your club membership number
OR an additional (one time) number assigned by VP of Operations
Program CV-19, 21, 22 (and if needed 23 & 24)
Place all locomotives on the main line in their designated positions
Acquire a (fictitious) locomotive whose number is your consist number
Operate

7. We Must De-Consist to Avoid Issues!
A locomotive cannot be removed from the consist and run on its own unless CV-19 is reset to zero
This should be performed on the Programming Track

8. The Negative
If we only change CV-19 then there is no control over the function buttons
We can add function control by setting:
CV-21 to 255
CV-22 to 63
Then leave these forever
We will only have control over 12 functions and the headlights
DecoderPro has a human interface to set these CVs
I have found that my BLI locomotive is already set
Each previously used locomotive must be checked (only once) for operation in the 128-FX mode

9. Background
We Presently Do Basic and Universal Consisting

10. Consisting Affects Our Command Rate
Four types of consisting:
Basic. Each locomotive has the same address
Lack of flexibility
Low use of RailSync bandwidth
Universal. This is what most of us do now
MU via DT 400 keyboard
Flexible
Uses up the most RailSync bandwidth
Advanced. This is new to me
Flexible, but should be considered permanent
Nested. Combines any or all of the above
I will not address this here

11. Basic Consisting Each locomotive has the same address
Some people use this for their A-B or A-B-B-A units
Simple, conserves RailSync bandwidth, but all units turn on their lights or blow their horns at the same time
Multiple sound units may afford a good quadraphonic effect

12. Universal Consisting This is what most of us do now
MU via DT 400-series keyboard
Add new locomotives to consist by pressing the [MU] and [+] keys
Each locomotive may be accessed individually for lights and other functions
Convenient and a known quantity
Uses up RailSync bandwidth, a three locomotive consist gets three commands sent when (for example) changing speed

13. Advanced Consisting, i Each locomotive must have at least one CV set
CV-19 is set to the Assigned Address
Each locomotive of the consist that travels in the same direction has the same CV-19
A locomotive that operates in reverse (such as the trailing FA unit) would have CV-19 set to a value of Assigned Address
Previously, CV-19 had been set to zero
CV-19 is set automatically by the Command Station
This would allow consisting performed in a way almost identical to what we do now
We must do some initial work
Change the Command Station settings
Each previously used locomotive must be checked (only once) for operation in the 128-FX mode
Consisting is performed by the MU and + keys
It is important that locomotives be properly de-consisted to restore their individual operation

14. Advanced Consisting, ii
Features
Consist information is maintained in the locomotives, not in the command station
Only one slot is used per consist
Command traffic is reduced. Only one command is sent to the consist rather than one for each locomotive
Consist is maintained from layout to layout
A locomotive cannot be removed from the consist and run on its own unless CV-19 is reset to zero
This may be performed automatically by the Command Station using the “MU” and “ –” keys
in which case the loco reverts to its previous (four-digit) number
CV-21 through CV-24 (see next section) need not be changed
Other locomotives remain consisted

15. More Than You Wanted to Know
About CVs

16. Instead, Use the Excel CV Calculator!! Some Examples—Lead “A” Unit
Inputs:
Results: CV
Value
My User #: 17 19 21
255
Direction: 22 61
Functions I Want:

17. “B” Unit Inputs: Results: CV Value My User #: 17 19 21 248 Direction:CV
Value
My User #: 17 19 21
248
Direction: 22 60
Functions I Want:

18. Trailing “A” Unit Inputs: Results: CV Value My User #: 17 19 145 21CV
Value
My User #: 17 19
145 21
248
Direction: 22 62
Functions I Want: