ESU does do things a wee bit different.
One great thing about F8 turning on motor sounds? Not a huge "start up load" when you power up the tracks, as not every locomotive will suddenly need the power inrush. That does help on smaller layouts.
Less noise right away as well. (All my non-ESU sound units start right away, and I end up muting them all until I start operating a train with them. A small layout means all that noise sounds just like that - noise.)
Once you get the hang of a LokProgrammer, or even JMRI DecoderPro, programming becomes super easy. With ESU, a LokProgrammer goes way quicker than DecoderPro will.
I would never attempt to program anything without either the LokoProgrammer or DecoderPro available. It's just way easier to program decoders, even non-sound, with them.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
In my experience, Loksound decoders are far and away the most difficult to program, even using a Lokprogrammer to make adjustments. But it's not impossible, you just have to learn how they do it since it's very different from all the other manufacturers. It's kinda like I wouldn't take a 15-year old with a driver's permit and start teaching them to drive by sticking them in a 18-wheeler truck with a double clutch and a dozen gears or whatever. A regular car with automatic transmission would be easier.
richhotrain Rich. I have come to the conclusion that DCC has become a hobby inside of the hobby of model railroading. I am in the process of installing a Loksound V5 in an Athearn GE AC 4400. Even using the Lokprogrammer I am having great difficulty setting up the ditch lights. Function mapping them to turn on using F3 instead of the coupler sound. Pete Actually, DCC is easy to use. As I mentioned in your ESU Cab Control thread, blame the decoder manufacturers, not the DCC command station manufacturers, for the inconsistency of the F-key function from decoder manufacturer to decoder manufacturer. Another problem fostered by decoder manufacturers is the increasing complexity of Configuration Variables (CVs), especially on sound decoders. Until the advent of sound decoders, most of us were only concerned with a handful of CVs. Now, CVs number anwhere from 256 to 512. Add to that Indexed CVs and then, yes, DCC is no longer easy to use.
Rich.
I have come to the conclusion that DCC has become a hobby inside of the hobby of model railroading. I am in the process of installing a Loksound V5 in an Athearn GE AC 4400. Even using the Lokprogrammer I am having great difficulty setting up the ditch lights. Function mapping them to turn on using F3 instead of the coupler sound.
Pete
Actually, DCC is easy to use.
As I mentioned in your ESU Cab Control thread, blame the decoder manufacturers, not the DCC command station manufacturers, for the inconsistency of the F-key function from decoder manufacturer to decoder manufacturer.
Another problem fostered by decoder manufacturers is the increasing complexity of Configuration Variables (CVs), especially on sound decoders. Until the advent of sound decoders, most of us were only concerned with a handful of CVs. Now, CVs number anwhere from 256 to 512. Add to that Indexed CVs and then, yes, DCC is no longer easy to use.
Lastspikemike I'm still switching over from Tech 6 to ESU Cab Control and from a three page manual to a ten plus page manual....DCC is so easy to use. As I say, it would be handy if all makers agreed on the F key functions.
I'm still switching over from Tech 6 to ESU Cab Control and from a three page manual to a ten plus page manual....DCC is so easy to use.
As I say, it would be handy if all makers agreed on the F key functions.
Alton Junction
The manual does offer this cautionary advice.
Normally when you open the throttle, the locomotive will not start moving right away. First, the power plant (diesel engine) will rev up or the brakes will be released on a steam locomotive while the cylinders will be slowly filled with steam. Therefore, it takes some time before the locomotive actually starts moving.
However, not everybody appreciates this even though it is quite prototypical. Therefore, you may turn off the start-up delay. Then, the locomotive will respond to the throttle immediately. However, the sound effects will not be synchronized to the movement of the locomotive anymore.
Rich
Lastspikemike CV 124 set to 0 or 16 should eliminate the startup delay.
CV 124 set to 0 or 16 should eliminate the startup delay.
One thing is for certain. In every Loksound 5 manual, you disable the prime mover startup delay by using 0 as the value, and you enable prime mover startup delay by using 4 as the value. So, if your prime mover is delayed at power up, and you want the sound of the prime mover to start up at power up, subtract 4 from the value of CV 124.
There have been a variety of OEM configurations regarding "Startup/mute/shutdown" of both Loksound select and V5 DCC decoders regarding the F8 key.
For instance, as programmed, the Rapido F40 had a funky F4/F5 sequence where the HEP alternator had to go from standby to run before the locomotive would move.
I seem to recall others setup so that the "startup" sequence had to complete before the locomotive would move. The purchaser would have to change certain CVs in order to override these factory defaults.
I've spent quite a bit of time trying to standardize many of my functions through remapping and tweaking CVs but I'm far from having a comprehensible "system".
Scroll down to page 8 here if you'd like to fill your brain with all the finer points:
https://rapidotrains.com/content/manuals/Amtrak-F40-Instructions-Web-English.pdf
Regards, Ed
LastspikemikeF8 is often a mute function. For ESU it shuts down the locomotive also.
??? F8 only mutes or unmutes the decoder; it doesn't keep it from moving silently.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
That's great news, Chris! Yea, there should be a way to re-configure start up. I don't know the CV to do that right off hand but it should be in the Lok5 diesel manual, which you can download directly from the ESU website.
I think the ESU decoders are configured for no sound as the default to minimize the number of sound decoders on a layout firing up at the same time. Maybe not an issue for you but perhaps for someone with a large layout and a large roster of sound-equipped locomotives. That would make for quite a roar...
Tom
tstage Chris, You're getting "other sounds" so the speaker is working properly. You should get a start-up sound of the prime mover when you press F8 right out of the box. Try resetting the decoder back to original factory settings (CV8=8) and test it again. And be sure to cycle power after you do that. If that doesn't remedy it then I would contact TTE about returning the Lok5 to verify the issue and/or have them reprogram it again with the proper sound file. It sounds like the sound file was not installed. Tom
Chris,
You're getting "other sounds" so the speaker is working properly. You should get a start-up sound of the prime mover when you press F8 right out of the box.
Try resetting the decoder back to original factory settings (CV8=8) and test it again. And be sure to cycle power after you do that. If that doesn't remedy it then I would contact TTE about returning the Lok5 to verify the issue and/or have them reprogram it again with the proper sound file. It sounds like the sound file was not installed.
OK, pressing F8 on the throttle (Im using JMRI) got me the engine sounds! This is what threw me off, usually I expect F8 to mute everything, but it's reversed here? Is that something I can configure? I want the default to be that I get sounds on powerup, and F8 mutes it.
Thanks for the help here. At least the decoder is fine and sound file is installed.
-C
Summary of Problem:Not getting any "engine sound" from decoder when I test it on decoder tester. I get other sounds to play (bell, horn, etc). The motor runs and the front and back lights work as expected.
I'm expecting to hear the engine sounds when it gets power, but there is nothing. The strange thing is that the other sounds work. Is something configured incorrectly in the CVs or do I have a bad decoder? Should I contact TTE and/or send it back?
Note: I'm a newbie to Loksound and doing my own DCC installs, so entirely possible I'm not doing something right here!
Details:I got a LokSound 5 from TTE, preloaded with sound file S0746. This is for an F7 diesel that I want to convert to DCC.
EMD 16-567B
2EXH NT S0746
I'm testing it on ESU Decoder Tester 53900:
Link to sound file:
http://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/search?cat=18&q=EMD+16-567B+2EXH+NT
When I click the play button I get the engine sound I would expect from the decoder when it's "powered up"?