Find out whats happening with the DCC Pocket Tester Essential for in-depth testing
"A Fantastic tool, all the information you need" More Information: Pocket tester Manual Pricom Design website
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Ever wanted to see all the data on your rails, or find out why a loco doesn't respond? The DCC Pocket Tester is a complete protocol analyzer and data capture device for DCC model railroading. Test all your track, sidings, controllers, and wiring. Detailed and accurate. Two Versions Available; Pro & 'Lite' for budget testing. Select from options below. Quick Summary A good quick-view into your DCC system from ALL LEVELS.
Displays a simple PASS/FAIL for the following parameters:
Track Voltage Bit Timing Bit Errors
Packet Timing Packet Errors Packet Rate Bit Summary A good quick-view into your DCC system from the Bit Level.
Displays the Total Bits Received, Total Bad Bits Received, then calculates a Bad Bits Ratio to let you see how your system is running.
A Peak-To-Peak Track Voltage is also displayed. Bit Totals Detail showing the Total Bits, as well as the Total ONE and Total ZERO bits. Bit Timing This screen displays the Current Length, Minimum Length, and Maximum Length for both the ONES and ZEROS. If you use Zero Stretching for non-decoder equipped locos, you will see the Zero Time go up significantly. (This Screen not available in the Lite Edition) Bit Errors With the Bit Errors Screen, you can quickly see any errors broken into 3 categories. Bit Too Short means that the bit time was too short to be recognized as a valid bit. Bit Too Long means that the bit time has violated the DCC Standard for maximum bit time. Bit Between is a transition that is somewhere between a ONE and a ZERO. Packet Summary The Packet Summary Screen gives a quick snapshot of the Packet Statistics. Measurements include: Total Packet Count, Bad Packet Count, a Ratio of Bad to Good Packets, and a Packet Rate Measurement. Packet Lengths The Packet Lengths screen is quite useful to see the distribution of Packet Lengths. As you can see in the sample screen, the tested system was only sending 2-Byte packets which means only 2 digit addressing was used. The tested system was actually only sending throttle updates to locos 1-32. Packet Errors The Packet Error screen displays Total Packets, Bad Checksums, Bad Preambles, Packet Too Long, and if the DCC Pocket Tester Buffer Overruns. Address Summary This screen shows the Address status at a glance. Total Address Count and also the number of Broadcast Packets is displayed along with a Ratio of Broadcast Packets. The Lowest Address and Highest Address being sent on the rails is also displayed on this screen. Both 2-digit AND 4-digit addresses can be used at the same time (NCE). Data Summary A quick-look at the types of Commands being send on the DCC Rails. Categories include Total Count, Speed Command Count, Mobile Function Packets, Analog Packets, Decoder Reset Command Count, Decoder Idle Command Count, and Broadcast STOP Command Count. Mobile Address List This screen shows the total number of Packets Addressed to each of the Addresses on the list. Only addresses in use will be listed here. Simply scroll up and down to find the loco you want. Both 2-digit AND 4-digit addresses can be used at the same time (NCE). Mobile Monitor The Monitor allows you to see all the data being sent to the selected Mobile DCC Address. The Current Speed, Speed Step Mode, Direction, Lights On/Off, F1-F12 On/Off Status, as well as the new Analog Playable Whistle packet, and total Bytes Received. Use the Up and Down keys to select the loco of interest and see what it is being told. No more questions about mapped functions! Accessory Address List This screen shows the most recent 32 accessory addresses used, and the total number of Packets Addressed to each. The list is sorted chronologically with the most recent command placed at the bottom. Use the Up and Down keys to scroll this list. Accessory Monitor Displays the current state of the most recent 32 accessories controlled. The list is sorted chronologically with the most recent command placed at the bottom. Use the Up and Down keys to scroll this list. Will display simple Closed and Thrown status as well as Extended Accessory signal state values. Ops-Mode Address List (new in v1.5) Displays the most recent 32 Ops-Mode programming packets, and the number of packets sent to that Address and CV combination. The list is sorted chronologically with the most recent command placed at the bottom. Use the Up and Down keys to scroll this list. Ops-Mode Monitor (new in v1.5) Displays the value written for the most recent 32 Ops-Mode programming packets. Each line represents a unique Address and CV combination. The list is sorted chronologically with the most recent command placed at the bottom. Use the Up and Down keys to scroll this list. Will display Writes, Verify (read), as well as Bit Manipulation instructions. Serial Dump (This Function not available in the Lite Edition) Allows you to send the complete DCC Stream out the RS232 Serial Port as readable TEXT! Baud rates are selectable, and we even provide filtering functions to 'block' data you don't want to see. You can turn off all the filtering and see EVERYTHING on the Rails! All you need is a Terminal program such as Hyper Terminal included FREE in Windows. Loconet Checker (not usable with the Lite Edition) Utilizing the DCC Tester Serial Dump and new Statistics mode, the LocoNet Checker allows you to control, capture, sort, and display all the DCC Traffic in a beautiful table display! This program uses the DCC Tester as the capture front-end and the power of your PC running Windows to store and display the details! You must see this program! No LocoNet connection is needed, just a DCC Tester! The Loconet Checker software is written by Stefan Trachsler, and can be downloaded FREE from his web site.
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