Welcome to the ATCS Monitor Wiki Documentation Project

This site is a collaboration by many users of ATCSMon to aid in providing documentation about the software, and its use. In the spirit of Wiki, the documentation is allowed to be edited by anyone at anytime. Version control is maintained, so that changes can be rolled-back if necessary.

NEW ATCS MONITOR USERS: Start your journey by reading Monitoring Internet Servers, a step-by-step guide to monitoring ATCS servers. Then come back here to read other sections as needed. We've found this is the most requested information, so please read through it, you will save yourself lots of frustration!

Would you like to contribute to the ATCSMon documentation?

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Railroads and Technology - Background information on Radio Code Line technology
• Monitoring Railroad RF Data - An overview on how we monitor
• About ATCS Monitor for Windows, its author and contributors
• Prior Knowledge - Things that will be helpful for you to know
• Installing ATCSMon - Installation process and special procedures for your platform.
• Your First Session - Your first time running ATCSMon
• Monitoring Internet Servers - Configuring ATCSMon to monitor other users' servers
• Frequently Asked Questions - Questions most new ATCSMon users ask
• What Next^? - Now what?

The Program

• Main Screen
• Other Windows
• Configuration Dialog Boxes
• Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse Commands
• Release Notes - Read the current Release Notes for ATCS Monitor

Monitoring your own area

• Field Monitoring Basics - What you need to know to get started in the field
• Radios and Antenna Systems - Information on receivers, antennas, antenna cables, preamps and filters
• Computer Equipment - What kind of computing power you need
• Field Monitoring - You're getting data, and things look to be setup right, what else can you do?
• Decoding Mnemonics - How to decode a new control point

Layouts for Displays

• Existing Layouts - Using a pre-made layout
• Making Your Own
  • Layout Getting Started - What you need to create a new layout
  • Advanced Layout Topics
  • Geographic Approach Block Naming versus "Bounded"

Running a Server

• Hardware Considerations
• Network Considerations
• Server Administration

Troubleshooting

• ATCS Monitor Application - Topics related to ATCS Monitor operation
• TrackBuilder Application^? - Topics related to Track Builder versions 2 and 3 operation
• Radio Trouble - Topics related specifically to various radios used in conjunction with ATCS Monitor
• Bug Reporting - When you've confirmed it's not operator error, this is how to properly report bugs to the author

Advanced ATCS Monitor Topics

• Using DDE - What is DDE and how is it used in ATCSMon?
• Interfacing with External Programs^?
• Data Logging - Sift through logfiles or count train movements through a control point

Stupid Pet Tricks

• Other Programs - Other Programs you can use in conjunction with ATCSMon
• Fun with Rules^? - Rules, rules. They can be useful and fun!
• ATCS Tracker^?
• EOTMon - Using EOTMon to monitor End of Train Devices
• Create your own .MCP or .MDB files - Use ATCSMon to create your own database files w/o the need for Access or Excel

Appendices

• Glossary of Terms
• Mnemonic Quick Reference
• RF Codeline Protocol Reference
• Release Notes Archive - Archived copy so that it's searchable

Would you like to contribute to the documentation?

A Wiki is documentation for the people, by the people, so if you have knowledge, share it! You will need a username and password to login only if you want to make changes. It only takes a few minutes to sign up, get your confirmation email, and start editing. Note that you DO NOT need a login to read the wiki, just if you wish to edit.

• Registration - become a TWiki user

If you're new to contributing to Wikis you may want to read WelcomeGuest, and then play around in the Sandbox to get the hang of editing/creating Wiki Pages.

ATCSMon Wiki Utilities

Comments/Questions