Changes in DCC Tester Firmware Version 1.51 (from version 1.4) Any questions, comments, problems, bug-reports, etc. Please contact me directly: Bob Scheffler bob@pricom.com 719-510-0008 cell GENERAL NOTES ============= - v1.52 - 2 Bugs snuck through in one release! The serial port statistics dump, as used for JMRI and also LocoNet Checker by Stefan Trachsler, will require this update. There is a non-printing character inserted in several places in the output text string. If you use a terminal program to view the Serial Port output, this will not affect you. If you use the above mentioned programs or your own program, you will want to install this new firmware. - v1.51 - Bug snuck through! In the Ops-Mode screen a 2-digit address will not clear the first char of a 4-digit address if it was on the list beforehand. - The rest of this document is unchanged from v1.5 - Added an Auto-Repeat feature. This works on ALL 5 keys. After holding a key for 1 second, the key will automatically repeat at 5 presses per second. This is especially useful when scrolling in the "Mobile Addresses", "Accessory", and "Ops-Mode" screens. If you are running many, many, locos, scrolling the list to get to the 100th loco can be quite tedious on the fingers. The repeat rate is set for 5 per second so that the LCD has enough time to update so you can see where you are. - Added Ops Mode Monitor Screens. See specific details below. - Added LCD Contrast adjustment to the Setup Screen. See details below. - Added many changes and enhancements to the Serial Packet Dump, see next section. SCREEN BY SCREEN LIST OF CHANGES ================================ DATA SUMMARY SCREEN ------------------- - Added a listing for Analog Packet Count. This displays the total number of Analog Function packets received. This is typically used for 'playing' the F2 Whistle. MOBILE MONITOR SCREEN --------------------- - Added the Analog Whistle Playing packet display. This function works on the Digitrax DT400 and maybe soon the NCE ProCab. You will see the F2 go on, and a new line on the LCD to display the Analog Function number and the Value. Since most systems will not have this Analog function, we display "no" when the DCC Tester doesn't see any of them. When you scroll to a new Mobile Address, the Analog Function and Value will show "no" since any throttle could be controlling the displayed loco. When the DCC Tester sees the first Analog packet for the selected Mobile Address, it will update the Analog: and Value: fields to show the most recent data. Here are a couple examples of the LCD screens: Analog: no Value: no (this is what you will see until you play the whistle) Analog:127 Value:040 (DT400 uses Analog Function 127, and a value of 0-127) - To make space for the Analog packet display, the "Steps" and "Direction" were placed onto the same LCD line, and the prompts made smaller to "Steps" and "Dir". ACCESSORY ADDRESSES Screen -------------------------- - Added the listing of Extended Accessory Addresses. Listed in the NMRA RP 9.2.1 as being used for Aspect Control to Signal Decoders, or for more complex accessories. The screen format has been expanded to show "Closed" "Thrown" or Aspect value. The new Aspect display format is: ADR=2012 State=021 (the extended accessory decoder at address 2012 is at aspect 21) OPS MODE ADDRESSES Screen ------------------------- - Added this screen. Here you will see a list of the ADR and CV combinations sent on the track. Each list entry is specific to the ADR and CV, so if the same CV is changed twice, this will only show as a single line. But the count will increment. - Only the most recent 32 ADR and CV combination will be displayed. The most recent is displayed at the BOTTOM of the list. For your convenience, as each ADR and CV is recognized, the display will scroll to the bottom of the list. - For each ADR and CV combination, you will see a COUNT of the total DCC packets sent. If a single CV is modified, or read and written, the count will increase. - You can always scroll up on the list. If you manually scroll, the DCC Tester will hold the location you have scrolled to for 10 seconds. Any new arriving data will NOT cause the screen to scroll. After the 10 second delay, the auto-scroll to the bottom will resume. OPS MODE MONITOR Screen ----------------------- - Added this screen. Here you will see a list of the ADR and CV combinations sent on the track. Each list entry is specific to the ADR and CV, so if the same CV is changed twice, this will only show as a single line. - The most recent Value written to the specified CV will be shown on the list. If a bit modify command was issued, the bit and SET or CLEAR command will be displayed. - Only the most recent 32 ADR and CV combination will be displayed. The most recent is displayed at the BOTTOM of the list. For your convenience, as each ADR and CV is recognized, the display will scroll to the bottom of the list. - You can always scroll up on the list. If you manually scroll, the DCC Tester will hold the location you have scrolled to for 10 seconds. Any new arriving data will NOT cause the screen to scroll. After the 10 second delay, the auto-scroll to the bottom will resume. GENERAL SETUP Screen -------------------- - Added LCD contrast adjustment. Since this is a new feature, when first opened, the DCC Tester will set the LCD Contrast to the default value of 32. You can change this by selecting the Contrast with the UP and DOWN arrows, then pressing SEL to change the value. When you are done changing, the value will be saved permanently for the next time you use the DCC Tester. We set the LOW limit to 22 and the HIGH limit to 42 to keep the display visible if you have a mishap. SERIAL SETUP Screen ------------------- - Added new "Raw ASCII Hex" to the "Format:" selection for Serial Data Dump. See above for the actual data format. - Added new "CV Access Only" to the "Filter:" selection to only show Ops Mode programming activity on the track. All speed, accessory, and Idle packets will be disabled. This new Filter mode can also be accessed from the Serial Port by pressing the "C" key. SERIAL PACKET DUMP CHANGES ========================== - Added HEX dump mode. This will send the complete DCC packet as ASCII Hex to the serial port at the baud rate specified. The data format looks like this: "Hex= 81 F9 78" (set Accessory Switch 1) (note the Check Byte is included) - To support this new mode, an additional command has been added to the serial port recognized commands, "H" or "h" will start the Hex dump, "S" will stop as before. - To help minimize confusion, the "T" command has been added to start the "Text Dump" mode. This is in addition to the existing "G" (go) command, either one works the same. - Added support for Text Decode of Extended Accessory packets used for aspect control in a signaling system. "ADR=0628 CMD=Extended VAL=021" (Extended accessory at Address 0628 set to aspect 21) "ADR=2012 CMD=Extended VAL=000" (Extended Accessory at Address 2012 set to aspect 0) Where ADR= is the extended decoder address in 4-digit (nnnn) addressing Where CMD= "Extended" to indicate it is an "Extended Accessory" Where VAL= is the aspect value sent, 000=Absolute Stop Aspect. Range is 000-031 - Added the Analog Packet dump. This is typically used for 'playing' the F2 Whistle. The format of the line is: ADR=1234 CMD=Analog NUM=127 VAL=069 Where ADR= is the decoder address in 2-digit ( nnn) or 4-digit (nnnn) addressing Where NUM= is the function controlled by the Analog Packet Where VAL= is the value displayed in decimal (000 to 255) - Added Programming Packet Dump. This will display all CV Access on the Main when using Ops Mode programming. The Serial Output Format is as follows: ADR=1234 CMD=WriteCV NUM=0023 VAL=072 (write VAL to CV #NUM) ADR=1234 CMD=VerifyCV NUM=0023 VAL=069 (ask decoder if VAL is in CV #NUM) ADR=4343 CMD=BitModCV NUM=0029 BIT=5 Write Set (set single bit in CV #NUM) ADR=4343 CMD=BitModCV NUM=0029 BIT=5 Write Clear (clear single bit in CV #NUM) ADR=4343 CMD=BitModCV NUM=0029 BIT=5 Verify Set (verify single bit in CV #NUM) ADR=4343 CMD=BitModCV NUM=0029 BIT=5 Verify Clear (verify single bit in CV #NUM) Where ADR= is the decoder address in 2-digit ( nnn) or 4-digit (nnnn) addressing Where NUM= is the CV being changed or read by the Packet Where VAL= is the value sent to the Decoder in decimal (000 to 255) - Added a new filter function called "CV Access Only". This is enabled by pressing the "C" key on the keyboard. To shut off the CV Only filter, hit the "F" key to disable all filters. This filter mode is also available on the Serial Setup LCD Screen. - Added support for unknown packet types when dumping in Text mode. If the tester encounters an unknown type that it can not decode into Text, it will dump the RAW ASCII Hex instead. Prior versions ignored any packets it could not decode. This does not affect the RAW, HEX, or Packet modes, only the Text Mode. - Fixed a bug in the F0-F4 display: was "CMD=Function GRP=F0-4 VAL= (F1,F2,F3,F4,F0) now "CMD=Function GRP=F0-4 VAL= (F0,F1,F2,F3,F4) This only affected the Serial Data Dump and not the values on the internal LCD. - Added Statistics Query from the Serial Port. The new commands are "1" through "8". Each of these will respond with a ASCII Decimal Long Integer and a Label. This will allow programs such as LocoNet-Checker and JMRI to query ALL the captured data available from the DCC Tester. For example, sending or pressing the "5" key will get this response: " 5A=0000062082 5B=0000000000 5C=0000000000 5D=0000000000 5E=0000000000" Where " 5A=" is the label header, and is always 3 chars. Ending in a CR/LF Please see our download web page for a more detailed packet format example! - Added the "Q" Track Query. This will return the Track Voltage measured. Example of the response: " TV=0000013417" Always " TV=" as the label. This value indicates 13.417V