Rocrail or iTrain with NCE ?

[amdaley]

Hi Everyone.

 

Is anyone on here running either Rocrail or iTrain with their NCE systems ?

I have a few questions which someone may be able to help me with.

 

(1) What settings do you use in Rocrail to get it to connect with your NCE Usb adaptor or Power Pro system ?

 

(2) Can iTrain be used with the NCE systems ?

 

Thank you.

Regards.

Tony.

[WIMorrison]

iTrain will 'work' with the NCE Powercab/Powerpro using the USB interface however it isn't recommended and the advice would be to purchase a more modern system.

[amdaley]

1 minute ago, WIMorrison said:

iTrain will 'work' with the NCE Powercab/Powerpro using the USB interface however it isn't recommended and the advice would be to purchase a more modern system.

 

Thanks for the reply Iain.

Why is it not recommended to run iTrain with NCE ?

 

Regards.

Tony.

[WIMorrison]

The author of iTrain found that the protocol for connectivity was poorly implemented and really only designed for use within the NCE system. He has built an interface and if you already have the USB interface then you could try iTrain and see if it works for you, however it isn't on the 'supported' list.

 

If you don't have a USB interface his advice would be that you do not spend money on the interface, but put it towards another system that was designed with an interface.

 

Sorry, but at least I am being honest 😉

[amdaley]

Honesty is always best Iain.

That's the end of ITrain with me so.

I have Jmri working with both my Power Cab & Power Pro system but just wanted to try both Rocrail & iTrain to see what they were like.

I am trying to get Rocrail to work with my Nce Power cab through the Nce usb adaptor but I'm having trouble with the settings in Rocrail.

I put a question on the Rocrail forum but there doesn't seem too many on there.

 

My NCE systems are working well & I've invested too much over the years to scrap it.

 

Regards.

Tony.

[Nigelcliffe]

If you look in the JMRI documentation for NCE, its pretty clear that the NCE-USB interface is for the PowerCab system, and is not for the PowerPro system.     

 

So, expecting reliable connection to a PowerPro via the NCE-USB isn't likely to be successful.    For the PowerPro, one needs a general purpose USB-Serial adaptor,  the various NCE support forums will indicate which chipsets within the adaptor are likely to work correctly (it seems not all are equal). 

 

If seeking automatic running, rather than just computer screen for human driving, then I think NCE is going to be difficult.  Just a human operator via computer screen is likely to be OK.   

 

 

[amdaley]

7 minutes ago, Nigelcliffe said:

If you look in the JMRI documentation for NCE, its pretty clear that the NCE-USB interface is for the PowerCab system, and is not for the PowerPro system.     

 

So, expecting reliable connection to a PowerPro via the NCE-USB isn't likely to be successful.    For the PowerPro, one needs a general purpose USB-Serial adaptor,  the various NCE support forums will indicate which chipsets within the adaptor are likely to work correctly (it seems not all are equal). 

 

If seeking automatic running, rather than just computer screen for human driving, then I think NCE is going to be difficult.  Just a human operator via computer screen is likely to be OK.   

 

 

Sorry Nigel perhaps I didn't make myself clear.

What I said was  NCE Usb adaptor or Power Pro system ?

My mistake.

I'm using the NCE Usb adaptor for my Power Cab but I have the Keyspan Serial adaptor for my Power Pro System.

Both work well with JMRI.

I want to try out Rocrail on both to see if i like it.

 

Regards.

Tony.

Edited April 20, 2023 by amdaley

[beejack]

for Rocrail with powercab and power pro

see the link below 

https://wiki.rocrail.net/doku.php?id=nce-en

[amdaley]

2 hours ago, beejack said:

for Rocrail with powercab and power pro

see the link below 

https://wiki.rocrail.net/doku.php?id=nce-en

I've been there.

I tried the settings in the picture but couldn't get it to work but I will try again.

Tony.

[NIK]

Hi,

 

My NCE Power Pro works fine with Traincontroller and JMRI.

 

It has the advantage over some systems in that accessory commands sent from the cabs can be seen by the control software so the state of the layout accessories such as point positions is shown correctly and acted on correctly.

 

I think it also has the capability to send text to the cab displays but I haven't tried that yet.

 

Regards

 

Nick

[amdaley]

No matter what I tried I couldn't get Rocrail to work with either my Nce Usb adaptor or my Power Pro System.

I have no problem connecting either of the above to JMRI so I'm just going to let Rocrail go & move on.

Regards.

Tony. 

[peter1]

On 24/04/2023 at 05:46, amdaley said:

No matter what I tried I couldn't get Rocrail to work with either my Nce Usb adaptor or my Power Pro System.

I have no problem connecting either of the above to JMRI so I'm just going to let Rocrail go & move on.

Regards.

Tony. 

Hi

 Just stumbled across this  thread, sorry if it's too late.  

I'm using Rocrail with my NCE PowerPro 5. These are the settings I've used for my system. The com port is where my usb/serial convertor is attached.

Hope it helps 

Peter