LENZ GmbH LC100 DCC to X-BusConverter

LC100 Command Station Converter (discontinued)

The command station converter LC100 connects the input devices other manufacturer's digital systems with the XpressNet of the DIGITAL plus system. This allows reuse or expansion of other systems with DIGITAL plus.

Please select from the following:

Devices to be used with LC100
Function of the LC100
XpressNet Connecting the LC100
Connecting the LC100 to the XpressNetBus
Using Roco and LGB Digital
Emergency Stop
Using Arnold and Marklin Digital
Setting Turnouts
Stop and Go

Devices to be used with LC100

All devices that send the standard Lenz format to the track can be connected to the LC100, including the following systems:

ROCO 'Digital is cool'
+ LGB Digital
the components of Märklin Digital for DC systems and Märklin Digital I. In this case, the control 80(f), keyboard, switchboard, memory, and interface can be reused as input devices.
+ Arnold Digital and Arnold Commander 6

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

The function of the LC100:

The LC100 "listens" to the track output of the other digital system. All commands that would be send over the track to your engines and turnouts are read by the LC100. The LC100 looks for changes in the data received, and sends those to the command station LZ100, using the XpressNet . The communication is strictly one way, no information can be send back from the LZ100 to the 'foreign' digital system.

The advantage of this set up is that you can use any input device as long as it uses the standardized Lenz-track signal.

For example, you will be able to use a dispatchers panel built from switchboards to set your turnouts, or you could set complex routings through the interface.

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

XpressNet-address:

The LC100 is fixed to the XpressNet-address 30. Therefore, no other device connected to the XpressNet can use the same address. You might have to change the address on your Hand Held LH100 or on the Computer Interface LI100. The procedure is described in the appropriate manuals.

If you need to use 2 LC100 units, they have to be programmed to different addresses. Please contact LENZ for further advice.

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

Connecting the LC100

The connections to the LC100 are always according to the same principle, independent of the other digital device:

The terminals that connect the other digital system to the tracks is connected to the screw terminals labeled " Gleisanschluß central unit=" on the LC100, as demonstrated in figures 1 and 2.

Please switch off the supply voltage to the digital system before connecting to the LC100. (Disconnect the power lines from the wall plug)!

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

Connecting the LC100 to the XpressNet

The terminal connecting the LC100 to the is XpressNet located on the right hand side of the unit. Please connect the four poles (L, M, A, B) on this screw terminal with the identical terminals on the Command Station LZ100.
The connection does not need to be directly to the LZ100, but can be done at any point on the XpressNet , for example at a connector plate LA150/151. If you have to wire a branch to the LC100, it cannot be longer than 1 m. As always, when wiring an XpressNet extension, the cables L and M and the cables A and B have to be laid out as a twisted pair.
Now you can reconnect the supply voltage to the LZ100 and the other digital system.

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

Using ROCO and LGB Digital

Illustration1: ROCO/LGB Digital an DIGITAL plus

Controlling locomotives

The locomotives using the addresses 1 to 8 can be moved as usual with the 'loco mouse'. If the desired locomotive is not selected by another 'loco mouse', you will have immediate command over the selected locomotive. This might result in sudden changes in speed and direction of travel.
If you select an address that is already selected on a Hand Held LH100, the display on this Hand Held is starting to blink.
You can control the locomotives at addresses 1 to 8 from the 'loco mouse'.
Please select the modus '8 Digitalloks' on the LGB central unit, since the information for a conventional engine cannot be send from the LC100 to the LZ100.

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

Emergency Stop

Triggering an emergency stop on the 'loco mouse' leads to a shut down of track voltage on the connected DIGITAL plus System. The LED's on the 'loco mouse' will start to blink, and a message is posted on the Hand Held LH100.
Pressing the emergency stop on the 'loco mouse' again will release the 'Emergency Stop' condition.
Information about an emergency stop triggered from the DIGITAL plus system, a short circuit on the layout or too high a power draw is not send to the 'loco mouse', therefore the LED's will not start to blink.

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

Using Arnold and Märklin Digital

Controlling locomotives

As usual, the desired locomotive address is entered on the control 80(f). Control of the engine is transferred immediately, therefore the speed and direction information is send instantaneously to the engine. This may lead to sudden changes in speed and direction, as the settings for speed and direction are stored in the central unit. A change in direction on a Hand Held LH100 is not send to the central unit. Similarly, none of the auxiliary function settings are send from the Hand Held LH100 to the central unit. Therefore, the headlights on an engine might shut off when the engine is called up from the control 80(f).
If desired unit is already under control of another control 80(f), the display panel will be blinking. There is no information send to a control 80(f) if the locomotive address is already dialed in on a Hand Held LH100. Instead, the display on the Hand Held LH100 starts blinking.
A control 80 can control locomotive addresses from 01 to 80, a control 80(f) from 01 to 99.
Please use the mode "analog off", since control information for a conventional engine cannot be transferred from the LC100 to the LZ100.

Illustration2 : Arnold / Märklin Digital an DIGITAL plus

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

Setting turnouts:

Turnouts are set as usual either by pressing the push button on the keyboard or, for a route, on the memory unit. The LED on the keyboard is switched on or off, but the indication might not be the same as the real setting of the turnout. The turnout might have been set from the Hand Held LH100, and this information is not fed back to the central unit.

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page

STOP and GO:

Pressing the red control button on the control 80(f) switches off the power to the entire layout, and the red LED on the central unit goes off. This is equivalent to the emergency off "NOTAUS" or off "AUS" states in the DIGITAL plus system. This modus will be indicated on the Hand Held LH100 (depending on the software revision of the Hand Held as "NOTAUS' or "AUS").
Pressing the "GO" button switches the power back on, and the indication is erased from the Hand Held. The emergency off condition can also be annulled from the Hand Held LH100 (see the manual for the LH100).
The central unit will not know if a NOTAUS or NOTHALT is triggered in the DIGITAL plus system. The LED on the central unit stays on. If you want to remove the emergency condition from the control 80(f), you have to press first the 'stop' and then the 'go' button on the control 80(f).

LC100 Index | Lenz Home Page