LokProgrammer 5 firmware now released

[tstage]

FYI: For those who have and use the ESU LokProgrammer 4, the LokProgrammer 5 firmware is now available from ESU.

I found that the "Check for new version" inside V4 (via the Help tab) will NOT upgrade it to V5.  You have to physically go to the ESU website and download a standing copy of the firmware to install it.

I left 4.7.2 on my laptop after installing V5.  Since they are standalone, you can run either; just not at the same time.  LokProgrammer 5 is designed for the new V5 Loksound decoders due out in Feb '19 but says it will still program V4 decoders.  Not sure yet about V3.5...

Tom

[mbinsewi]

Question Tom, is the Lokprogrammer a must have if one is thinking on using Lok sound decoders?  Is it the only way to do any programming?

Mike.

[tstage]

Mike,

Nope.  You can program Loksound decoders - just like any other decoder - with your own DCC system.  The advantage of the LokProgrammer is being able to upgrade a Loksond decoder's firmware to utilize any newly released features or sounds fiels for that decoder version - without needing to uninstall it physically from the locomotive:

1. Connect your laptop or tablet to the LokProgrammer module with the USB adaptor cable
2. Connect the LokProgrammer to your programming track
3. Insert the power cable into the LokProgrammer module
4. Install and open the LokProgrammer software

One of the opening options is "Perform a complete decoder update".  This is where you can upgrade to the latest firmware - i.e. assuming your laptop or tablet is connected to the interent.  (The other way is to click Tools > Update decoder firmware in the menu bar.)  If it's a Loksound V4.0 Select decoder, you can switch out and install sound files downloaded from the ESU site.  If it's a V4.0 decoder, you can actually modify those files, or create your own sound files to be used with that decoder.

For everyday programming purposes though, your DCC system is just fine programming your Loksound decoders.  The advantage of the LokProgrammer is the convenient interface for reading, writing, and storing your "projects" in a single folder.  You can liken it to JMRI Decoder Pro - just in a more limited scope.

I'm sure Randy (rrinker) will chime in and expound on the advantages he's found using the LokProgrammer to program his fleet of Loksound decoders.

Tom

[mbinsewi]

OK, thanks Tom, that's what I needed to know.

Mike.

[rrinker]

 I only use Loksound decoders. There aren't too many current factory equipped sound locos for my era, so I don;t worry about other brands of sound decoders - and frankly if they came with anything EXCEPT a Loksound, I would buy the DC version and put my own decoder in it. So since I have no other decoders to worry about, getting the programmer was a no-brainer for me. 

 You DON'T need it just to program standard CVs - any DCC system can do that, and JMRI can help. You DO need it to change sound projects (in a Select series this does NOT mean editing sound files - it's one file, already set up, that you upload to the decoder - V4, and I presume the new V5, allow you to also edit each sound file, but that's not something I'm interested in doing, I don't have the recording equipment nor the connections to get access to running locos to make such recordings). You DO need it to upgrade the firmware in the decoder. I haven't had a running layout for over 5 years now, so all my Loksound equipped locos do not have the newer features like Full Throttle. But that is just a firmware upgrade in the decoder - it does not need a whole new decoder. So I can pull those locos out and with the Lokprogrammer upgrade them all to the latest features without even taking the shell off.

 It can be very handy to have if you do alot of function remapping. The V4 and Select decoders allow for some very complex function mapping - complex only because it is entirely free-form, ANY button can turn on ANY function wire and/or play ANY sound slot, and each has several conditions. This is all set via CVs - so you don't NEED a Lokprogrammer to do it. The tables are even in recent JMRI versions. But because there are so many CVs involved, it can take a long time for a traditional programming interface, either the one in your DCC system or even a faster one like SPROG or the new PR-5 from Digitrax, to read and write those changed. There are, i think, more CVs for the function mapping than all the other CVs in the decoder combined (the standard stuff like address, the volumes, etc). Rge Lokprogrammer users ESU's proprietary protocol that the decoders support in addition to standard NMRA DCC to read/write this large bock of data far faster than any of the standard NMRA protocols can. So if you do a lot of function mapping and configuration, the Lokprogrammer caa be a huge time saver.

                                        --Randy