Help - with DCC - New to DCC and feel like a dummy

[railimages]

I just finished my main lines wired correctly etc.. I have been out of model railroading since 1999 and just got back into it. I have always been in HO scale and just purchased several Athearn DCC plus the Prodigy Advance2.

Here is my problem the day I got both mains wired, I put one of my SD45-2 w/sound on the track (did like the manual said and deleted everything but one address) and it ran great, so I put an F3A w/sound on track could not hear sound but engine ran great, then I put 4-6-6-4 challenger on track w/sound it ran and sounded great. Then I decided to put my daughters sd45-2 non sound on and the headlight was dim and would not run same with 2nd unit I tried. So, I reprogramed my sd45-2 w/sound to change loco number and accidently changed it to my daughters number, so I went back in and changed it again and that is when all my problems began. after changing it I was unable to get any locomotive to run or sound. HELP I fEEL like a compete dummy.... I have tried everything the manuals say plus all the athearn codes and still nothing. There is power to the program track main track....Can anyone send this dummy a complete what to do next as I would like to get the locos up and running..

if you have time to send me a complete dummies manual you can e-mail
railimages@aol.com

Thanks,
Ron

 

[UP SD40-2]

Charlie has given you some good advice:thumb: .

here are a couple things i will add you can try:

i usually only use the program track to "read" the engines "current" address:winki: , this will help to reset the loco's address.

99% of the time i do all my programing right on the mainline, the mainline seems to have more power to it then the program track, i know it sounds weird, but i have found programming easier on the mainline:winki: . MAKE SURE NO OTHER ENGINES ARE ON THE TRACKS WHEN PROGRAMMING ON THE MAINLINE, THAT is VERY IMPORTANT .

AS for the engines that you DON'T hear the sound, but should, is the sound on? what i mean is, depending on the sound decoder, sometimes you can hit a button un-accident, that will turn the sound off, this would be worth checking:winki: . EXAMPLE: if you have an engine that has QSI sound in it, and if you hit the "8" button, that will turn the sound off, but the lights will still work, and the engine will still run.

Please try the things Charlie and i have mentioned, and if that doesn't work, well go further:thumb: .