Hello,
I,m looking for some information on function control within a consist. I have an Atlas 8-40c with QSI Sound and an Atlas SD-35 with 4 function decoder. I,m using MRC Advance2. Both locos are programed with 4 digit address. Both fuction properly by themselves. When I consist them I lose bell, horn, and light control. I want the 8-40c to be lead unit. (SD-35 has no sound). The Advance manual and both loco's manuals have very little about CV programing of consists. Any information would be helpful.
Thanks,
Jim
Hmm, not sure how MRC goes about building consists, but with other systems the lead unit is the fisrt one added unless other settings are made, and the horn and so forth function on the lead unit and don;t by default on a trailing unit. It sounds as if you may be getting the non-sound unit in the consist as the lead unit, have you tried reversing the order in which you add them to a consist?
I'm pretty sure MRC uses CV19 conisting, there is also CV21 and CV22 which control which functions are active in a consist - these apply only when the consist is made using CV19. To get ALL the information on your Atlas loco you need to visit the QSI web site and download the full manual for the QSI decoder - that lists and describes every CV there is in the decoder, which is a LOT - more than you need but it has the information on CV21 and 22 in there.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
The information can be found in the reference manual here. The things you are looking for are in CV21 and cv22
http://qsisolutions.com/pdf/QuantumDCCRefManual_4_6_1.pdf
Springfield PA
Thanks for the responses. I tried reversing order of entry as suggested, but had no effect. However, I re-read the Advance manual. The consist method that I can't get to work is the "advanced consisting". The Advanced2 also supports "universal consisting" so I tried that and I did gain control of the functions on the Lead loco. Still no lighting contol of the helper. I glanced at the QSI reference manual, and I guess I'll have to reserve some time to study it, but I'm out of play time for today. I will post update after I have time to work on this again.
Universal is when the command station handles things. I think you are limited to only one such consist on the MRC system. Not sure how they handle it, but this Universal consisting is the default method with Digitrax systems, and when locos are in a consist like that you cna call up the address of any loco in the consist and activate the functions. This si really easy to dosince the DT- throttles for Digitrax have 2 knobs to control 2 locos at the same time. So you have the consist dialed on on one side and you dial up the loco in the consist that you need to control on the other and do whatever - so the mid unit of a 3 unit consist can be the one with the sound decoder and the other two be non-sound and you cna still easily access the sounds.
Digitrax can also do Advanced consisting with CV19, but you run into the same issues. You need to set with CV21 and 22 which functions work in the consist. Which changes. Say you have 2 locos running nose to tail (both facing front, vs back to back). If they both have sound, you want motor sounds and dynamic brakes and so forth to work on both units. You want the horn only ont he lead unit. You want the headlight on the lead unit but not the trailign one - on the trailing one you want the rear light to come on when you back up. If you reach the end of the lien and go back the other way without turnign the locos on a turntable or wye, now you want the horn to be on the former trainling unit and not on the old lead unit - yes, it;s complicated. I guess that's why it's 'advanced' consisting Getting absolute prototypical operation out of CV19 consists means resetting CVs21 and 22 as you rearrange the consists.
Randy, on a Digitrax system on a layout not equiped with a turning facility, I will use my DT400 just as you do when handling and turning consists.
On a similar NCE layout, I will use the double end method provided by NCE to turn around the consist. NCE when building advance consist will issue alias to the leading and trailing loco so the consist can be run by either loco's cab address. Turning a consist is easy just by using the recall button. One must make sure CV22 is set to 0 for this to work properly.
Jack W.
Yes, NCE has a macro built in to swap consist direction. And they do a bt of hybrid stuff, it programs CV19 witht he consist address but the lead loco is aliased as the consist address so you 'drive' the lead loco by actual address not some pseudo consist number that is 1-127 and has little meaning.
Problem solved. I reviewed the QSI manual and programed CV21 and CV22 as recomended.That did the trick, control of the functions on the QSI 8-40c within the consist. However, the older Atlas DMD in the SD-35 does not support CV21 and CV22. Fortunately I found out that the MRC system, like the Digitrax, will allow you to call up the address of a loco in the consist and activate it's available functions. The Atlas DMD remained directional within the consist as far as lighting fuction. So I found that when I wanted to reverse the direction of the consist, all I had to do was use the recall button to address the invidual loco's and use the F0 button to turn lights on/off as required depending on which loco was lead or trailing unit. A couple of extra button pushes, but no big deal ! Thanks to all who replied.