LT-50 Release Notes

Instructions for Updating

As of the authoring of these instructions, it is only possible to update firmware on the LT-50 using JMRI and a LCC USB device.

Visit our Firmware page to find and download the latest firmware file.

When using JMRI to apply an update, the LT-50 will enter bootloader mode automatically. To update your LT-50, follow these steps:

1. Plug in the LT-50 to the LT-50 jack.
2. Connect the LCC USB device to the LT panel using any available LCC port.
3. Connect the LCC USB device to your PC
4. Open JMRI Panel Pro. (If you have not created a profile, you must do so. See the instructions in the LT-50 Quick Start Guide on how to do so.)
5. On the Panel Pro main window, select "LCC" (or "OpenLCB") from the menu, then select Firmware Update.
6. in the Firmware Update window, browse for the firmware file, select the correct device (Node ID), then click the Load button.

This process is slow, and can take a minute or more to complete. During the update, the LT-50 screen will go blank and flash periodically. Once the update is complete, the LT-50 will reboot.

Release 2.2.1

======== Command Station Changes ========

New Feature Additions

• Adds support for backup and restore of the entire internal database of the LT-50. Use the LCC Memory Tool in JMRI (Version 5.4 or newer required) to “get” and “put” memory space 80. Get will create a backup, Put will restore a backup onto the LT-50. Warning: performing a write to this memory space will overwrite all of the consists and roster entries in your CS-105 with the backup you are restoring!
• Adds support for controlling DCC extended accessories using the LCC Well-Known event identifiers 01.01.02.00.01.<addr>.<addr>.<aspect>, with the two address bytes being 0..2047 (MSB-first), and aspect being 0..255. Example: to set Signal address 1123 (binary address 0x460) to aspect 99 (binary 0x63), send Event 01.01.02.00.01.04.60.63.
• Adds Program On Main (POM) support for accessory decoders. To use this feature, currently you must perform an LCC memory config protocol write to memory space 0xf8. To compute the address, use formula 0x04C00000 + (turnout binary address (0..2047) << 10) + cv_number. This is addressed using output numbers. Example: to program CV 515 (binary representation 0x202) for turnout 650 (binary address 0x287), use address 0x04CA2A02 (which is 80357890 in decimal).  For DCC Extended accessories, use 0x04A00000 + (accessory binary address (0..2047) << 10) + cv_number. The accessory binary address is denoted by A10A9…A1A0 in the DCC and RCN standards.
• Adds support for the draft LCC Stream protocol. This is considered experimental.
• Adds Macro editor into the Settings menu.

Bug Fixes and Misc. Changes:

• Fixes a bug in macro creation where the configuration display for “Normal” and “Reverse” on a DCC accessory turnout were mistakenly flipped. The bug fix aligns the displayed text for "Normal" and "Reverse" in the Command Station’s macro configuration with the UWT-100’s "Normal" and "Reverse" buttons, as well as the DCC & LCC standardized commands. This is a display-only change in the configuration window. Stored macros will continue to send the same DCC packets and LCC messages, and thus do not need to be updated.
• This release optimizes the roster storage in the LT-50, which fixes issues with locomotive selection after the LT-50 has been in use for an extended period of time. Existing locomotive roster entries will be optimized when the LT-50 is first turned on after updating the software.
• Adjustments have been made to the Program Track to improve the reliability when reading CVs, particularly with locomotives with large capacitance on board. These changes now better support the case when a (second) locomotive is placed on the program track when the programming track is already in operation.
• To improve safety and standards compliance, the “high current” mode of the Program Track will only be in effect only until the next power cycle, at which time the setting will automatically revert to the normal 250mA limit.
• Fixes an issue where the throttle display would not visually update the state of a function when running a macro which controlled said function.
• Changes the LCC “Custom Short Event” producer to simply indicate whether the track output is on or off. Now the LT-50 produces events that indicate the reason why the track was turned off (see LCC Events Information).
• Fixes issue where a momentary function on a roster entry does not operate as momentary when a function name is not configured.
• Fixes to the LCC initialization steps: removes spurious “Track voltage brownout” and “Track Fault” events at startup. Removes unneeded duplicate initialization messages at startup when the LCC cable is already plugged in. Adjusts incorrect Producer Range Identified message. Removes global AME message when starting up in throttle mode.
• Avoids crashes on non-compliant LCC messages that have a zero source alias.
• Minor fixes for LCC standards compliance in the CDI XML: added a trailing zero, removed non-compliant empty groups, and fixed a case where min/max was not matching the map values. Updated capitalization of menu items.
• Fixes issues when there is exactly one other CAN-bus device, which gets sometimes unplugged, sometimes plugged in again (e.g. a layout with just two LT-50’s). Displays “Throttle Mode: No Conn” when the LT-50 is in throttle mode (not plugged into the track socket), powered but there is no LCC network (e.g. not plugged into another LT-50 or a CS-105).
• Fixes ‘free storage’ information in the status window.
• Adds e-Label for current consumption in LCC Throttle mode.
• Updated DCC accessory addresses according to the newest standard RCN-213 and NMRA S-9.1.2 from 2023. This changes the behavior of turnout address 2045-2047, and extends the maximum to turnout address 2048. Turnouts 1-2044 did not change as part of this update.

======== Throttle Changes ========

• Fixes bug when the locomotive speed would jump to 126 unexpectedly after the throttle has been sitting idle for some time.
• Adds a configuration option for disabling or changing the sensitivity of the ballistic tracking (acceleration) for the encoder knob. Menu > 8 Settings > 1 Throttle Settings > 3 Drive Settings > Encoder Ballistics > Off/Low/Mid/High. The default of this setting will be Mid, whereas software before 2.x had the same behavior as Low. Changing the setting to Off will disable all ballistics and the knob will control the speed at a constant rate with the rotation.
• Removed ballistic tracking when using the Encoder knob in the menus and text entry window.
• Improved behavior when the encoder knob is turned very fast. This is independent of the Ballistic setting and will have more consistent behavior even with Ballistics turned Off. Users who are accustomed to the behavior before this release may prefer to reduce the ballistics setting to Low or Off.

Download Release 2.2.1

Download LT-50 R2.2.1 (06-06-2024)

Note on Downgrading to R1.0 from R2.X

TCS does not recommend downgrading the software from Version 2 to any earlier version. Such a downgrade, as well as any following upgrade will cause loss or inconsistency of Consist and Roster information. A computer backup of Roster information is strongly advised.

For Instructions on how to back up your CS-105 database and configurations/settings CLICK HERE.

Release 1.0

Release 1.0 is the first production release for the LT-50 which was shipped in the first production run.