User Manual

yourlocosasyouwouldnormallywithanyofthetetheredhandhelds,andjustpressthe
“save”button.
Note:justturningoffthewirelesshandheldpowerswitchdoesnotautomaticallysave
yourlocomotivesintherecallstackforyournextoperatingsession.
“BatVoltage”Thisisyourbatteryvoltageindicatorbutton.Justpressittomonitorthe
voltagelevelpresentintheonboardbatteries,[thiswillreadoutontheLCDdisplay].
5.5voltsismaximumvoltage,andthehandheldshouldberechargedanytimethe
indicatorread4voltsorbelow.
IfyouwantallofthefeaturesoftheProdigyAdvance,[exceptthecurrentoutput],for
yourExpressDCCsystem,allyouhavetodoispurchasean“Advance”handheld,
[part#0001407],thenew“ProdigyAdvanceSquared”handheld,[part#0001415],or
thenew“AdvanceWirelessConversionSet”,[part#0001412].
UsingtheAdvanceSquaredortheAdvanceWirelesshandheldwiththeProdigy
Expresswillnotgive thehigherfunctionstoF28.YourExpressbaseunitwouldneed
tocomeinfortheNMRAF28/MTHK4upgradetogiveyouuptoF28.
Ifyoualso wantto bring yourcurrentoutputuptotheAdvance’s, purchasethe
ProdigyAdvanceDistrictBooster,[part#0001505].
USINGTHE“READBACK”FEATURE
The“ReadBack”FeatureoftheAdvanceortheExpress,oranyotherDCCsystemisnot
a100percenteffective.Therearesomeissuesinvolvedwiththisfeature:
Itcanonlybedoneona“ProgramTrack”.
Someolderdecodersdonotsupportorcannotbereadback.
Mostnewersounddecoders,duetoahighercapacitanceintheirdesign,cannotberead
back.
JustbecauseyoudogetareadingofaCVduringreadbackanditlooksabitstrange,do
notrelyonthisreadingasthecorrectvalueintheCVyouaretryingtoread.
ItmighttakeacoupleoftriestoreadbacktheCVtogetthecorrectreading.
“255”isusuallyanerrormessageandnotacorrectreading.
Thebestwaytoknowwhatisinyourloco’sCV’sistomaintainalogofeachLocoand
it’sdecoder.ThiswayyouknowwhatvaluesareineachCV,andupdatethelogifyou
changeaCVvalueinthatdecoder.Thiswillhelpyoukeeptrackofchanges,thatyou
madeinthedecoderandhowthelocorespondedtothesechangesforthebetterorworse.
ProdigyExpressandReverseLoops
TheProdigyExpressbecauseofit’sloweroutputrating,[1.6amp.],isverysensitiveto
shortcircuitsonthelayout.Itwilldisplaythe“SvdA”messageonthedisplaywhena
shortcircuitoroverloadconditionhappensonthelayout.Whenthisoccurs,unplugthe
cablefromthebottomofthehandheld,waitapprox.12seconds,thenplugthecable
backintoregaincontrolofyourloco[s].Themessageshouldbegone.Ifnotthereis