5. Press N -
(or any other key) if you do not want to steal.
Once a throttle has “stolen” a loco address, the slot following mode becomes
active and both throttles will update speed and direction information for the
loco address. This can result in strange locomotive behavior especially if one
throttle is trying to to stop the loco and the other is trying to speed it up at the
same time.
When you have gained control of the stolen loco and are finished running it,
release it from your throttle by setting the loco’s speed to 0 and pressing the
LOCO Key followed by the DISP or EXIT Key. See Section 14 for more infor-
mation about releasing an address.
8.5.1 Slot Following
When a DT400 detects that a loco address that is in-use on one of its throttles
is being changed by another throttle or computer, it will cause the DT400 to
“click” every time it sees a remote throttle change its locomotive settings. If
that locomotive is in the active throttle, its speed display will also show the
changes. This is called slot following. This allows two DT throttles to run a
single locomotive address with both throttles being able to send commands to
the loco. Both throttles will show the current speed and direction of the loco-
motive in their displays.
Slot following is useful for training new operators. The supervisor can “steal” a
locomotive that is selected on a trainee’s throttle & be able to “look over the
trainee’s shoulder” and closely supervise that locomotive’s control. The super-
visor can gain instant override control without having to physically “grab” the
trainee’s throttle. This lets you have unskilled visitors participating and enjoy-
ing operations without too much anxiety for either party.
Slot following also allows a computer on LocoNet to run CTC & routing con-
trol programs with automated control over locomotives. The computer can con-
trol speed and stop engines automatically while letting the engineer with the
throttle in his hand know what is happening.
8.6 “slot=max” Message
If the text area of the DT400 shows the message slot=max during the selection
process this means that the command station reached the limit of locomotive
addresses that it can manage at one time. If you want to select additional
addresses, you will need to release one or more loco addresses to continue the
selection process.
N
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