log d.c. locomotives using address 00 as on some other DCC systems. The Prodigy Elite handheld cab weighs just 5.5 ounces. It has a blue backlit 2.3″ diagonal LCD screen, a large 1.1″ diameter throttle knob, and comfortably spaced control buttons. The “ENTER” and “STOP” buttons are differentiated both by shape and color. The cab is used to select and operate locomotives, to set up either advanced or universal multiple locomotive con- sists, to program two or four digit loco- motive addresses, and to program oth- er
CV’s and read back CV’s.
Locomotives can be selected either by keying in the locomotive address or consist number, or by rolling through a “stack” that remembers up to the last 25 addresses selected by the cab. The cab is also used to control up to 28 accessory functions, and to estab- lish up to 31 routes with up to 8 turnouts or other accessories in each route. Selecting a route causes the switch controls to align all of the turnouts in the route to programmed positions or the reverse of those posi- tions, sort of like a diode matrix in ana- log times. The cab is used to set up the built-in fast clock with time ratios from one to 60 real seconds per fast minute and to set all system functions. One nice feature of the Prodigy Elite
is the “yard mode” for switching or op- erating way freights. With the yard mode selected, the throttle acts like many European power packs with stop in the middle of the throttle rotation range, forward to right and reverse to the left, so there’s no need to use the direction control button. One other good feature is that all the basic in- structions for the Prodigy system are
printed on the back of the hand held throttle. Each cab must be set to its own number (unlike some other sys- tems where visitors can plug in their own throttles with no special set-up). The Prodigy Elite comes with a man- ual from MRC for setting up, operating, and trouble shooting the system. A more comprehensive manual is available at
http://www.modelrectifier.com/re- sources/DCC/0001417manual.pdf We tested the Prodigy Elite system on both an HO and a G gauge layout with a variety of locomotives from dif- ferent manufacturers, with different manufactured decoders, and with and without sound. All locomotives that we tested were recognized and controlled by the Elite system. We were able to operate all lighting and sound fea- tures. The Prodigy system allowed us to program addresses and other CV’s, and to read back these addresses and CV’s, on all of the locomotives tested. Setting up consists of multiple locomo- tive was straightforward and accom- plished easily. Our test layout uses Tortoise switch motors with Digitrax DS44 decoders. The Prodigy Elite instruction manual refers the user to a “Tips and Tricks” document on the MRC website for set- ting up other brand accessory de- coders. The Digitrax DS44 was not among those discussed, so we followed the Digitrax instructions, and were able to program and operate the turnouts with the Prodigy Elite. We also set up a Digitrax DS64 decoder and were able to control both an old Tenshodo twin-coil switch machine and an LGB bi-polar switch machine with the Elite. We also obtained the MRC No.
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E-Z Model Railroads The E-Z Track®
Includes 26 Track Plans Planning Guide
& Layout Book
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