Model Railroading > Using Decoder Pro with a NCE PowerCab

I am also posting this question in both JRMI and NCE yahoo groups.

Every so often, when I am using Decoder Pro with a NCE PowerCab and USB adapter, decoder pro will stop reading CV's and the screen on the PowerCab has all sort of strange characters on it. So something has locked up. Close decoder pro, turn the powercab off and back on, restart decoder pro.

Here is the problem. Once I have done that I get a "error using com3" or "nce programmer is offline" depending on the version of decoder pro. So far I have had this happen with v2.12, v2.14 and v2.99.

So even if I do the above steps, unplug the usb cable from the computer or even rebooting, I can not get the error to clear. But if I wait until the next day, everything works fine.

As I have mentioned I have had this issue with several different versions of Decoder Pro and on two different computers, using two totally separate PowerCabs and USB adapters. FYI, one computer is running Windows 7 and the other is running Windows XP SP3.

Any ideas? While at home it is frustrating but not earth shattering, but at work, trying to program a decoder for a customer and have everything hang up is unacceptable.

Thank you,

Charles

And the answer is.....

Unplug the power supply from the back of the PCB, wait a few seconds, and then plug it back in. Tell Decoder Pro to start reading again and all is well.

Charles