Advanced Consisting 101

As a supplement to our Chief manual, this page is provided as a guide to using Advanced consisting.

As explained in the manual, there are three types of consisting available to users of the Digitrax Chief set. Basic consisting is performed by merely assigning the same address to whichever locomotives are to be MU'ed together. UniVersal consisting assigns two or more locos to a head end unit on a temporary basis. This is performed by having the head end or top loco assigned to the right throttle knob, the second unit assigned to the left throttle, and hitting MODE, MODE, + on the keypad. Un-assigning locomotives is performed by having the loco to be removed from the consist showing on the left throttle and hitting MODE, MODE, -.

Advanced consisting is similar to UniVersal consisting except that a consist address is programmed into the decoder to permanently MU locomotives together, even if removed from the layout and taken to another layout. This has been known to cause problems when locos consisted using advanced consisting are moved and not put back in the EXACT arrangement in which they were originally mu'ed together.

If you are using a Digitrax Command Station (DCS100 or DB150), we strongly recommend that you use UniVersal Consisting because it is much more straightforward.

Programming and assigning a consist address is performed automatically by the DCS100 when the locomotive to be MU'ed has a status number of 4 or 7 for the second digit. The status number is the number that appears to the right of the address when selecting a locomotive. For example, if a decoder is using 128 speed steps and one attempts to select this locomotive, the address will be to the left of the colon and 13 or 23 will be to the right if it is available to be selected. The "1" and "'2" means that the locomotive is available and the "3" means that it is using 128 speed steps. To perform Advanced consisting, it is necessary to change the "3" to a "7" for 128 speed steps or "4" for 28 speed steps. This is accomplished by performing a Status Edit.

To Status Edit a locomotive, press SEL as usual and turn a knob to the address, then hit FUNC and turn the right knob to 14, 24, 17, or 27, and hit SEL. Now that the locomotive is selected and the right digit is a "4" or "7", the DCS100 will recognize that this is a decoder that is capable of being Advanced consisted.

Two things should be noted at this point. The first is that the only Digitrax decoders that are capable of Advanced consisting are the FX type. At this time, these decoders are the DN140, DH140, DH150A, DH150K, DG380, DG580, DN144K, DN146A and any decoder name ending in 'FX' or having the FX feature.

The second item is that the head end unit's address (the one assigned to the right throttle) in an Advanced consist has to be a two digit (short) address. This does not mean that a locomotive with a two digit address actually has to be at the front of a consist. A locomotive with a two digit address could be the third unit in a consist, but be at the head end as far as the throttle is concerned. Also, if you only have four digit addresses, there is still a way to Advance consist. Simply select a two digit address that does not actually exist on the layout and assign it to the right throttle. Then MU all of the four digit addresses to the two digit address.

Once the locomotives to be assigned to a head end unit have the proper status, MU'ing the locomotives to be Advance consisted is then performed in the exact same manner as with UniVersal consisting (MODE, MODE, +). When the consisting takes place, the DCS100 will automatically assign the consist address to CV19 in the decoders being Advance consisted. When locomotives are removed from the consist, CV19 is automatically changed back to '00'.

Compatibility Note: A few problems have been reported when Advanced Consisting with some Digitrax Decoders and Some Wangrow Command Stations. If you experience these problems, please contact Digitrax for a free update to your decoder.