Hi all, I purchased a Train Control Systems T1 9 pin decoder the other day and installed it into my Athearn Genesis SP MP15AC. It says in the manual and online that this decoder supports gyro lights. I have tried remapping many different CVs and still no gyro/ mars lights. Any advice or how to's?
Thanks, Travis
Yes, the decoder supports those IF you have the bulb connected to the white headlight wire or the yellow backup light wire.
Even if your 9-pin wiring harness does have green and purple wires, those colors are not connected internally to the decoder because it is only a 2 function decoder. In order to activate lights connected to the green and purple wires, you'll need a 4 function decoder such as the TCS T4X.
If you want to change the regular headlight to a gyralight, program CV 49 with a value of 7 to have the light on only in the forward direction, 23 only in the reverse direction, or 39 in both directions. You will then have a gyra-light as the headlight.
Function mapping is not suported by the T-1
If you want to have special lighting features in addition to the normal headlight and backup light that are connected to the white and yellow wires, you'll have to get a more capable decoder than the T-1.
cacole
The T1 can function map its white and yellow wire to any function button. In my switchers I function map the reverse light to F1 for independent control of the lights.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Travis.
Are you sure the Athearn loco has a gyro light? If the decoder is plugged into the nine pin connector then the Athearn on board circuit will filter out the gyro effect. If you want Gyro and headlight then you will have to wire it separate.
Well, the rear only has one pair of lights, but the front had 4 lights, (2 sets of wires) So i was assuming that i could do gyro and headlight separate, but i forgot that it was only a two function decoder. Ill try setting it to all the time. Thanks Guys
locoi1sa, how can i set the individual lights to function buttons? Sorry, i just bought a Prodigy Advance Squared last month, so im kinda new to CV programming, even though i have done my homework, i can adjust all the simple CVs such as acceleration, deceleration, TV, SV and Mid Voltage and of coarse, the adress.
I set CV 49 to 39 and got a really slow and dim cycle light, so i just started punching in random numbers, i cam up with 6, it leaves the rear light full always and the front is always a mars light, it looks really good, thanks for the advice, although, i would still like to know how to programm function buttons to control the lighting...
The TCS instruction sheet shows what the CV values are for different light effects. If you lost yours, you can get one on the TCS web site, along with more detailed technotes on configuring things. To get all your lights to work independently, you need a decoder with more than 2 functions, and you also have to seperate out the conenctions to the lights you want to make gyra-lights as it would appear they are all tied together with the front headtlights. The 9 pin plug actually contains enough function wires for the extra lights, but it will involve moving the existing light bulb wires to someplace else on the Athearn circuit board - and possibly adding a resistor as well, the resistors are there for the headlights and rear lights but probably aren;t there on the 'extra' terminal to connect the gyra-lights to.
Once you do that you should have headlights on F0, and the gyra-light on F1 (after you program the F1 output for a gyra-light). Or follow the configuration sheet from TCS and remap the functions as desired.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks, i might look into a higher grade 4 function decoder. I only bought this one because it had BEMF and was not too much money. Didnt even know that the Athearn had gyro lights, i thought that had to be all scatchbuilt. Thanks! Travis
Here is the MP15AC Genesis light board.
There is a spot to add one extra function, marked FL1. Using a T4X would enable use. There are LM317 voltage regulators on the other side of the board to enable use of 1.5 volt bulbs. The versions with beacons use this terminal (when wired correctly).
If you are not afraid of soldering, to get all the lights on the SP version to work, you'll need to put in a TCS A6X. Take out the stock board and put this in, then solder the headlight wires to the proper spots. The A6X has regulation built into it to run 1.5 volt bulbs without adding any extra resistors. Just have to solder to a different spot on the board.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com