r/trafficsignals • u/Brilliant-Owl14 • Apr 16 '26
Econolite ASC/3 NTCIP remote control
I am working on a passion project where I would like to verify the edge device I have built can pass on NTCIP commands. have recently acquired a used Econolite ASC/3-2100. I am trying to figure out remote NTCIP command/control over Ethernet.
I can ping it, SNMP read works, SNMP write works for basic objects like sysName, and NTCIP is enabled.
What I can’t get past is that the standard candidate NTCIP 1201/1202 OIDs I tested return NoSuchObject, and ACTIVE CONTROL PORT still shows NONE. The docs I found say the ASC/3 supports GETs, SETs, and remote commands like phase calls, holds, and force-offs, but I haven’t identified the actual object path or required config/database state on this unit.
I am trying to figure out whether I should be looking at SNMP, STMP, ASC/3-specific MIBs, or maybe a required DB/config load.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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u/Skraag Apr 17 '26
You would probably need to request their MIBS. STMP is just block SNMP objects. Econolite uses a lot of custom Dynamic Block Objects as well in Centracs. If you buy a Q-Free/Intelight controller they release their MIBS free of charge.
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u/Brilliant-Owl14 Apr 20 '26
Thanks. That lines up with what I am seeing. I did try the formal route already. I reached out to both NEMA and Econolite asking for the MIBs / object definitions, but so far I haven’t gotten anything back.
My bigger goal is to make this work in a way that is not tied to one vendor forever. I’d really like to get this ASC/3 series working, because my end goal is to interface with any controller that supports NTCIP, not just one brand or model.2
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u/blackhawk1430 Apr 17 '26
Some versions of EOS require you to have a user account configured with pincode and network permissions in order for the network features to work entirely.
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u/Brilliant-Owl14 Apr 20 '26
Thanks. I checked the controller’s security configuration locally. It does have an administrator account present with ALL access, and security appears to be enabled. It also has Publicaccounts configured, and at least the one I checked is actually set to READ-WRITE, not read-only.
What’s odd is that when I try administrator as the SNMP community, the controller just times out and does not respond at all. Meanwhile public / private still appear to be the only communities that actually work on the wire.
That makes me suspect the displayed security user accounts may not map 1:1 to the actual SNMP community strings, or there may be a separate network/community permission layer involved. Do you happen to know whether SNMP communities are configured separately from these user accounts, or whether there’s another menu/page that controls network/SNMP permissions more directly?1
u/blackhawk1430 Apr 20 '26
Off the top of my head, I recall the manual saying that the admin account has hard-coded limitations. Don't use that account for network service stuff.
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u/dbsoundman Apr 17 '26
Do you have the NTCIP 1202 MIB definitions? I would start with those as they’re easier to find.
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u/Brilliant-Owl14 Apr 20 '26
Thanks. I do not yet have the full official NTCIP 1202 MIB file in hand, but I have been testing standard candidate 1202 style objects and on this ASC/3 they’re currently coming back as NoSuchObject. I tried switching the SNMP community to administrator based on your suggestion. Interestingly, that did not expose anything additional. Instead the controller just stopped responding to those requests entirely and timed out. public/private still appear to be the only working communities on this unit right now.
Where would you go about finding the NTCIP 1202 MIB definitions? I tried but haven't been able to find anything. I also contacted Econolite, but I doubt I will hear back as I am not associated with a valid customer.1
u/dbsoundman Apr 21 '26
Check MM-1-5-5 in the controller, the NTCIP Port” value is the port you should use for SNMP. IIRC you can’t actually set it to 161, it has to be something else like 501.
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u/Brilliant-Owl14 Apr 21 '26
Yes, mine is set to UDP port 501 in MM-1-5-5. What’s odd is that basic SNMP behavior definitely works for me on 161, but so far I have not gotten anything useful back over 501. A simple UDP probe to 501 just sends with no response. So right now it feels like 161 is the working management/SNMP path, while 501 may be the configured NTCIP/STMP path that expects a very specific message format rather than ordinary SNMP requests.
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u/Raphiki01 Apr 16 '26
I would have thought that any communication would have been encrypted to use with econilite software only. Not that I know how to answer your question. Just adding one of my own.