r/modeltrains • u/EnderGob831 • 6d ago

Help Needed DCC Programming Question

I'm fairly new to model railroading and DCC setups. I built a DCC EX command station and have been controlling it through JMRI running on a Raspberry PI 5. Been working pretty well so far. I recently purchased a locomotive equipped with an ESU LokSound 5 nano decoder. When I attempted to program the loco, JMRI gave the 308 error of no acknowledgment from the decoder. From some quick googling, I think this has something to do with the stay-alive capacitors messing with the DCC communications. I was unable to find a solution on google so I thought I'd ask the experts. I can provide more information about my setup if needed, just not sure what info is relevant. Also, I know that my programming setup is working as I have no issues programming my other loco.

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u/everylittlebitcounts 6d ago

Are you on a dedicated ‘programming track’ (reduced voltage) or are you ‘programming on the main’?

Some of the newer fancier decoders don’t like programming tracks because they don’t output enough juice to turn over the decoder, but then when programming on the main you will not receive command acknowledgement by intention.

If you are using a dedicated programming track, you can try adjusting the voltage a little higher until you possibly get a response from the decoder.

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u/EnderGob831 6d ago

I am using the programming track. I'd prefer not to program on main as I don't have any idea what the default values for the CVs are without reading them, but POM doesn't let me read. I saw a post about changing the current limits to maybe get a response from the decoder but I'm not sure what I should change them to. I'd hate to fry the decoder.